Harvey-related flooding may have caused an explosion at a chemical plant in Crosby, Texas Thursday morning. Though the fires have since been extinguished, the federal government is stepping in to investigate what ultimately led to the disaster — especially since the company, Arkema Group, and safety officials fear more fires and explosions are possible. According to ABC News, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) opened an investigation into the incident at Arkema’s chemical plant late Thursday.
The company blamed the incident on the plant’s refrigeration system failing because of power losses caused by flooding. As a result, the chemicals contained therein became unstable after warming up. Arkema officials also suggested Thursday morning’s blasts weren’t actually explosions, but “an overpressurizatiom that was followed by a fire.” Located about 15 miles from Houston, the chemical plant was seen emitting “noxious” smoke on Thursday, but Arkema would not confirm whether or not the smoke was toxic. However, the EPA determined there were not “toxic concentrations” at the plant:
“Following this fire, EPA sent aerial surveillance aircraft to test resulting smoke and did ground-level air quality monitoring,” read a statement. “EPA’s plane instrumentation is capable of measuring 78 different chemicals, including peroxides. Neither testing methods found toxic concentration levels in areas away from the evacuated facility.”
The EPA said more fires are expected at the plant since conditions have not changed. They also determined that the best course of action was to let those fires burn out on their own instead of putting first responders at risk. Interestingly enough, the chemical industry earlier this year lobbied to have new federal safety regulations cut.
(Via ABC News)