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Nothing was unusual Saturday morning, June 21, in the Mayfield neighborhood that surrounds United Waste Water Services Inc.

Several neighbors said the smell was typical. So strong — one woman said it was like "a dead animal" — that they went inside and closed their windows.

A few hours later, something went terribly wrong inside the plant at 2640 Lefferson Road when an employee was killed by a chemical reaction, according to the Middletown Police Department.

Tom Rogers of Cincinnati died after a chemical reaction caused a release of toxic gas hydrogen sulfide around 10:30 a.m. at the plant, said Capt. Greg Justice of the Middletown Fire Department.

Dave Brown, president of the company, said he had no idea how the accident happened and he didn't want to speculate.

Brown said his company, which is employee-owned, recycles nonhazardous materials. He said it was the company's first accident in three years and the first fatality in its history. Brown, on vacation in Panama City, Fla., with his family, said he was "devastated" by the fatality and was left in "absolute shock."

Brown, the company's president for eight years, knew Rogers and his family. He planned to return to the Middletown area today, he said.

Two Middletown firefighters, Jess Challie and Tim Scott, were treated for exposure to the fumes and released from Atrium Medical Center, Justice said.

Pam Griffith, who has lived on Carolina Street for more than 20 years, said she calls the waste pre-treatment and recycling plant president when the smell becomes nasty. She said once the plant uses deodorizer, the smell improves.

"The odor can be very bad," she said.

Sherry Proffitt, who lives across the street from the plant, called the smell Saturday "unbearable" and "pretty normal."

Sandra Moore, a mother of three, said police officers told her to take her children inside and close her doors and windows. She noticed a smell Saturday, but it wasn't stronger than normal, she said.

The investigation is being handled by the Middletown Fire Department, company officials, the Environment Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2842 or rmccrabb@coxohio.com.