60,000 forced to evacuate after explosions at chemical plant
Port Neches, Texas — Two explosions at a chemical plant in Texas put 60,000 people under evacuation orders Wednesday. The first blast, which blew out the windows and doors of nearby homes, injured three workers.
The first explosion occurred just after 1 a.m. Wednesday. Officials said the blast could be felt up to 30 miles away, and that by sunrise, toxic plumes could be seen for miles.
The impact sent debris flying through the air as frightened homeowners scrambled for cover.
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“It’s like the whole house was shaken,” one woman told CBS News. “Kind of like a little mini earthquake.”
On Wednesday afternoon, there was a second explosion, forcing officials to issue a mandatory evacuation.
All employees have been accounted for, TPC said, confirming two employees and a contractor were injured. KHOU reports that Mike White, the Jefferson County Emergency Management coordinator, said there are a couple of chemicals housed at the facility, including Butadiene. It is a colorless gas with a gasoline-like odor, used to produce synthetic rubber products like tires, plastics and other chemicals.
Long-term exposure has been associated with cardiovascular disease and cancer, and can damage the nervous system. That’s why the air quality will continue to be monitored, the station reported.
The plant in Port Neches in southeast Texas, about 80 miles east of Houston, makes chemical and petroleum-based products. TPC said Wednesday morning that it had no details on the cause of the explosion or the extent of damage to the plant.
Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick told Beaumont TV station KBMT the blast awakened him early Wednesday at his home, and that it initially sounded like someone firing a gun into his house.
“When I got out there and grabbed my pistol and ran to the front door, I saw that the front and back door were splintered and wood had flown everywhere … I could see the flames from the backyard,” Branick said.
Jefferson County Emergency Management coordinator Mike White told the Beaumont Enterprise that five residents were being treated for minor injuries, mostly related to shattered glass.
White said state environmental officials are monitoring air quality but that no elevated chemical levels had been detected.
Branick told Beaumont TV station KDFM that it’s a miracle that no one died. Branick said one worker suffered burns and was taken by medical helicopter to a Houston hospital. The others had a broken wrist and a broken leg.
Texas has seen multiple petrochemical industry blazes this year, including a March fire that burned for days near Houston and another that killed a worker at a plant in nearby Crosby.
In the March fire, prosecutors filed five water pollution charges against the company that owns the petrochemical storage facility after chemicals flowed into a nearby waterway.
Another chemical plant fire
The blast in Texas wasn’t the only chemical plant incident on Wednesday evening. Authorities in Charleston, South Carolina were working to contain a leak at the LANXESS chemical plant after a fire broke out there, forcing a brief shelter-in-place order for some residents.
CBS affiliate WCSC-TV said residents in the area, north of downtown Charleston, got a call from emergency services warning them to close their windows and doors and remain inside for a short period after the alarm was raised. The fire, which was quickly brought under control, triggered an alarm at about 2 a.m. Eastern.
The order for residents to keep their homes shut tight was later lifted, but WCSC said officials were still working to determine what substance was leaking from the facility and to contain it.
LANXESS is a chemicals production corporation with facilities across the globe. Its website says the Charleston facility is used to produce “phosphorus chloride plus numerous derivative products such as flame-retardant additives and intermediate products for agrochemicals.”
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