The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Staff Reports
Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 03:49 PM
Flooded Houston Chemical Plant Exploded For Second Time In Two Days
Arkema says Harvey's floodwaters engulfed its backup generators at the plant in Crosby and knocked out the refrigeration necessary to keep the organic peroxides, used in such products as plastics and paints, from degrading and catching fire. Arkema executive Richard Rennard said two containers caught fire Friday evening, and that there are six more it expects will eventually catch fire.
Arkema spokeswoman Janet Smith said that the company expects the rest of the containers will ignite "within a matter of days."
Preliminary analysis of data captured by Environmental Protection Agency surveillance aircraft Friday did not show high levels of toxic airborne chemicals, agency spokesman David Gray said. No serious injuries were reported in the last two days as a result of the fires.
The height and color of the flames from the plant Friday suggested incomplete combustion of the organic peroxides, Texas A&M chemical safety expert Sam Mannan said. With complete combustion, he said, the byproduct is carbon dioxide and water, posing about the same amount of risk as standing too close to a campfire. But incomplete combustion implies something else is burning.
The fire burned not just the organic peroxides but also the plastic packaging, insulation, and the materials used to construct the trailers, Smith said.
Daryl Roberts, the company's vice president of manufacturing, technology and regulatory services in the Americas, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the floodwater inundating the plant would cause any toxins produced by the fire to quickly vaporize. By Friday, the water had receded but Smith could not comment on whether that had changed the calculation of risk.
A 1 1/2-mile buffer (2.4 kilometers) around the plant was established Tuesday when Arkema warned that chemicals kept there could explode. Employees had been pulled, and up to 5,000 people living nearby were warned to evacuate. Officials remain comfortable with the size of the buffer, Rachel Moreno, a spokeswoman for the Harris County Fire Marshal Office, said Friday evening.