Henrico knew about toxic gas leak the day it happened. Here's why they didn't notify the public.

Though a top Henrico administrator expressed frustration that the county was not notified about a recent toxic gas release into the community, records show county emergency officials were in fact made aware of the incident the day it happened.

On April 9, nearly 600 pounds of ethylene oxide (EtO) was released into the atmosphere at Sterilization Services of Virginia, a plant in Eastern Henrico that sterilizes medical equipment.

According to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), the leak was caused by a check valve malfunction. DEQ said the incident violated permit requirements and resulted in a proposed $53,600 fine.

CBS 6 submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to find out who knew what and when.

On June 2, nearly two months after the fact, Henrico Deputy County Manager Steven Yob emailed DEQ saying he learned about the incident at a neighborhood meeting with Virginia Interfaith Power and Light.

"I am disappointed that Henrico County did not receive any notification of this event. We should not hear of an incident of this magnitude at a neighborhood meeting," Yob said in his email.

However, emails obtained by CBS 6 showed the Henrico Fire Department actually did receive a notification on the very day of the incident from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM). The records showed Sterilization Services of Virginia reported the incident to VDEM, and VDEM forwarded the report to Henrico.

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