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| 2 explosions, black smoke reported at chemical plant outside Houston |
| 2017-08-31 |
| [FoxNews] Officials in Harris County early Thursday reported two explosions and black smoke billowing from a flooded chemical plant about 25 miles northeast of Houston. Fox 26 Houston reported that officials evacuated a 1.5-mile radius around the Arkema Inc. plant in Crosby. The plant lost power Sunday and its backup generators amid Harvey's days-long deluge, leaving it without refrigeration for chemicals that become volatile as the temperature rises. One deputy was reportedly taken to hospital after inhaling fumes. Nine others drove themselves to hospital as precaution, the report said. There was "no way to prevent" the explosion, CEO Rich Rowe said earlier Wednesday. In its most recently available submission from 2014, Arkema said potentially 1.1 million residents could be affected over an area of 23 miles in a worst case, according to information compiled by a nonprofit group and posted on a website hosted by the Houston Chronicle. But, Arkema added, it was using "multiple layers of preventative and mitigation measures" at the plant, including steps to reduce the amount of substances released, and that made the worst case "very unlikely." Rowe told Reuters that the company has no way to prevent the explosion because the plant is swamped by six feet of water. The company did not move the chemicals, but told Reuters that it made extensive preparations. Arkema manufactures organic peroxides, a family of compounds used for making everything from pharmaceuticals to construction materials. "As the temperature rises, the natural state of these materials will decompose. A white smoke will result, and that will catch fire," Smith said. "So the fire is imminent. The question is when." The company shut down the Crosby site before Harvey made landfall Friday, but a crew of 11 had stayed behind. That group was removed and residents within 1.5 miles were told to evacuate Tuesday after the plant lost power. Harris County Fire Marshal spokeswoman Rachel Moreno said the 1.5-mile radius was developed in consultation with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other subject-matter experts. "It's a concerning situation, yes," Moreno said. "But the facility is surrounded by water right now so we don't anticipate the fire going anywhere." Daryl Roberts, the company's vice president of manufacturing, technology and regulatory services in the Americas, did not dispute that worst-case scenario but said that assumed all the controls in place failed and strong winds blew directly toward Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city. "We have not modeled this exact scenario but we are very comfortable with this 1.5-mile radius," Roberts told the AP. He added that it mostly resembled less serious scenarios that would affect a half-mile radius and a few dozen people. Roberts said the vessels containing the organic peroxide are equipped with controls to slow the release of chemicals. Because of the water, he said, the chemicals will quickly vaporize, reducing the size and scope of the fire. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #11 #8 - He IS out of the closet. It's not that he's gay, right, Lindsey? It's that he's such a virtue-signalling drama queen |
| Posted by: Frank G 2017-08-31 20:35 |
| #10 That's true for the large ones, Deacon. In this case, the utility power delivery, on-site normal power substation and both large emergency generators failed due to flooding. We try to talk 'critical facilities' in areas prone to tropical storms and/or flooding into raising their emergency systems and generators to at least thirty feet above the average site grade elevation. Whether the facility does that or not is usually driven by cost. Ultimate cost in doing so would have been cheaper in this particular case as it appears that this facility left their essential systems at grade level. Sorry Raj, but I'm sure it was the bean counters that drove the decision. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2017-08-31 20:26 |
| #9 As I recall a "per" oxide has 2 oxygen molecules. That makes it a toxic, corrosive cloud which will facilitate the combustion of most anything in its path. What doesn't explode gets etched. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2017-08-31 19:00 |
| #8 ...watch shep pee his shoe. I often wonder why FOX doesn't take this over the top drama queen (who should just come out of the closet) off the air in these situations when they know he's gonna blow a gasket. |
| Posted by: Raj 2017-08-31 18:39 |
| #7 Chemical plants have their own electricity generating systems. They are not usually subject to power outages. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2017-08-31 16:40 |
| #6 I would have thought the Japan nuke crisis would have changed disaster prep thinking but no. Disaster prep thinking is traditionally ignored. I remember reading about the ancient Japanese language monuments along the tsunami-prone coastline that warned against building anything valuable in that territory - naturally these were ignored by modern Japanese. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2017-08-31 14:08 |
| #5 Organic peroxides, ok..not making light of it, but was afraid we were talking chlorine or something. Controlled release, let it burn, take pictures, watch shep pee his shoe. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2017-08-31 11:20 |
| #4 Agreed, Skid. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2017-08-31 11:13 |
| #3 I would have thought the Japan nuke crisis would have changed disaster prep thinking but no. Cost/benefit analysis still includes loss insurance as a factor. Different budget line items for operations vs. infrastructure. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2017-08-31 11:05 |
| #2 This will be a case study for years to come regarding electrical infrastructure and backup power generation for such facilities in areas potentially affected by hurricanes and flooding. The lawyers will be sniffing around soon, if they're not already. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2017-08-31 10:30 |
| #1 Fire insurance may cover losses that flood insurance doesn't. Way, way back during Hurricane Agnes, a family owned manufacturing plant were very lucky to have a fire break out during the flood. They were the only ones in the industrial block to get insurance relief. |
| Posted by: Capsu78 2017-08-31 09:32 |