Smaller blasts heard from Harvey-flooded chemical plant

Smaller blasts heard from Harvey-flooded chemical plant

AP Photo TXHOU407, NYJK514, RPCA201, GFX4168, TXHOU454, TXGB104, TXGB110, HOUSTON (AP) — At least 2 tons of highly unstable chemicals used in such products as plastics and paint exploded and burned at a flood-crippled plant near Houston, sending up a plume of acrid black smoke that stung the eyes and lungs.

The blaze that began early Thursday at the Arkema Inc. chemical plant burned out around midday, but emergency crews continued to hold back because of the danger that eight other trailers containing the same compound could blow, too.

Additional small blasts, or “pops,” were heard coming from the plant Thursday night, but it wasn’t clear if they were caused by exploding containers or pressure releasing from valves, Rachel Moreno, a spokeswoman for the Harris County fire marshal, said Friday.

No serious injuries were reported from the initial explosions or fire. But the blasts added a new hazard to Harvey’s aftermath and raised questions about the adequacy of the company’s master plan to protect the public in the event of an emergency in the flood-prone Houston metropolitan area of 5.6 million people.

“This should be a wake-up call (for) all kinds of plants that are storing and converting reactive chemicals in areas which have high population densities,” said Nicholas Ashford, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology expert.

The Environmental Protection Agency and Texas environmental regulators called the health risks minimal in Crosby, but they urged residents downwind to stay indoors with the windows closed to avoid inhaling the smoke.

Arkema warned earlier in the week that an explosion of organic peroxides stored at the plant was imminent because Harvey’s floodwaters engulfed the backup generators and knocked out the refrigeration necessary to keep the compounds from degrading and catching fire.

All employees had been pulled from the plant before the blast, and up to 5,000 people living within 1 1/2 miles (2.4 kilometers) had been warned to evacuate on Tuesday. That buffer was still in place Friday, though it wasn’t known how many people may have remained in their homes.

The first two early-morning explosions blew open a trailer containing the chemicals, lighting up the sky with 30- to 40-foot (9- to 12-meter) flames in the small farm and ranching community of Crosby, 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Houston, authorities said. Aerial footage showed a trailer carcass, its sides melted, burning in a flooded lot.

The Texas environmental agency called the smoke “especially acrid and irritating” and said it can impair breathing and inflame the eyes, nose and throat. Fifteen sheriff’s deputies complained of respiratory irritation. They were examined at a hospital and released.

The plant is along a corridor near Houston that contains one of the biggest concentrations of refineries, pipelines and chemical plants in the country.

Andrea Morrow, a spokeswoman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, said the agency had not received any reports of trouble at other chemical plants in the hurricane-stricken zone.