CRISIS/TEXAS: “Containers of unstable chemicals stored at a Texas plant near Houston heated up and caught fire early Thursday [8-31-17] morning, hours after the facility’s owner urged residents and others to stay away.
Arkema SA, an industrial chemicals manufacturer, had warned earlier in the week that heavy flooding and the loss of power in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey had hobbled critical refrigeration at the plant used to keep organic peroxides cool and stable.
The company evacuated the site, and residents within a one-and-a-half mile radius were urged to leave their homes this week, because the company said it wouldn’t be able to stop the degrading chemicals from catching fire and sending noxious fumes into the air.
On Thursday morning, one of nine tractor trailers full of the peroxides burned, sending up a thick black cloud of smoke, said Rich Rennard, an executive with Arkema SA…
The Arkema plant, which was in 6 feet of water, lost primary power and two emergency backup power sources, which led to a shutdown of ‘critical refrigeration,’ North American operations Chief Executive Rich Rowe said earlier…
Speaking to reporters Thursday morning at a site roughly seven miles from the Arkema plant, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez called the incident a ‘release’ rather than an explosion, and said that while more such incidents are expected, the county doesn’t believe there is any danger to the community…
The France-based company said it was working closely with federal, state and local authorities to manage the situation. It said it had set up a call center for affected residents, and a center that will process property claims.”
-Russell Gold, Erin Ailworth, and Dan Molinski, “Chemicals Catch Fire at Plant Flooded by Harvey,” The Wall Street Journal online, Aug. 31, 2017 11:09am