Appalachian Murder, Mystery And Legend · Larry Bentley

The Devil’s Dust

·21 min
Larry Bentley examines the Kepone disaster in Hopewell, Virginia, framing it as corporate slow-motion murder. Hopewell, called the 'Chemical Capitalist,' was built on DuPont's gun cotton production through WWI, evolving into a company town where generations worked for chemical companies. By the 1970s, the air tasted like burnt metal and payroll. When the EPA began investigating Kepone, a pesticide Allied Chemical produced, the company outsourced production to 'patsies'—Allied alumni Virgil Huntroft and William Moore. They created Life Science Products in a converted gas station in a residential neighborhood next to a 7-Eleven, jerry-rigged with baling wire and hope. Producing 6,000 pounds daily, the facility contaminated neighborhoods with chemical waste, representing corporate negligence disguised as entrepreneurship.

As heard by us

An Appalachian poison story that turns workplace neglect into a blunt warning about what drifts from the plant to the home and river.

This episode tells an Appalachian poison story with a steady moral pulse. A young worker takes a job that pays well enough, then learns the fine dust is treated as harmless while it settles on lunch, clothes, homes, and even washing water.

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Why you'd press play

Press play for a blunt Appalachian warning about poison dust, bad faith, and the families who paid.

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