Arkema says workers still on site at foundering chemical plant in Crosby - (Plant has been evacuated

Watching this feed:



And there was a live message report to one of the anchors that the Crosby Chemical Plant has been evacuated and that there was a danger of fire or explosion.

I do believe that they are referring to this plant:

The company that owns a flooded chemical plant in Crosby where refrigeration of explosive, heat-sensitive chemicals failed says workers are still on site but have been moved away from the hazard.

The chemicals were moved to diesel-powered refrigeration cars, which the company is still monitoring, Arkema spokeswoman Janet Smith wrote in an email.

READ ALSO: Explosion, fire at building in downtown Houston amid flooding

A wife of one of the workers had previously reported that Crosby firefighters evacuated a group of about 12 employees overnight. But Smith said the workers were given the option of leaving with rescue crews, and only one chose to do so.

"Arkema does not believe that the situation presents a risk to the community or the ride-out crew, due to the distance between the refrigerated cars and any people," Smith said.

No link regarding the evacuation yet, but I will edit OP if one shows in time otherwise will make follow-up post.



Found tweet from local judge:

Chemical Plant that makes ammonia in Crosby is in danger of fire/explosion. The local area is being evacuated. Stay out of area. #Harvey

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

Update from feed:

It is the plant mentioned in OP, they've lost electricity and generators and can't refrigerate chemicals that have to be cooled otherwise they become explosive.

From the company website:

Arkema Statement: Status of Plant in Crosby, Texas
3:30 pm est., August 29, 2017

The situation at the Crosby site has become serious. In order to ensure the safety of our ride-out team, all personnel have been evacuated from the site at this time.



We are working with the Department of Homeland Security and the State of Texas to set up a command post in a suitable location near our site. Refrigeration on some of our back-up product storage containers has been compromised due to extremely high water, which is unprecedented in the Crosby area. We are monitoring the temperature of each refrigeration container remotely. At this time, while we do not believe there is any imminent danger, the potential for a chemical reaction leading to a fire and/or explosion within the site confines is real.

Source

The only thing I can think to say is.

Good Lord.



We were talking about sinkholes the other day.

With the salt domes below, and holding fuel.

What if this place does go off?

Just when the hell are people gonna realize certain places shouldn't be chosen for chemical plants and other dangerous substances. I'll admit I am not college educated, trade school yes, but who makes the decision that hey this place would be great for a chemical plant. And why aren't they held accountable? How many times since the early 1900's has this played out over and over again then we do the same thing and never change. Just gonna step away from the madness now before I blow my lid.....

a reply to: crappiekat

Pretty sure they're far enough down to not be affected by a surface explosion.

he danger with this particular plant is that it is on Green Bayou which empties into Buffalo Bayou which then empties in the Galveston Bay;



I looks like it's also nearby other chemical plants and or refineries, so perhaps there might be more problems at more plants.



loam has the correct information:

originally posted by: loam
a reply to: jadedANDcynical

Are you sure it isn't this plant off Hwy 90?

Link.

Thank you loam!

jadedANDcynical Thanks for pointing this thread out.

The Arkema plant produces liquid organic peroxide.

The main hazard related to organic peroxides are their fire and explosion hazards. Organic peroxides may also be toxic or corrosive. Depending on the material, route of exposure (inhalation, eye or skin contact, or swallowing) and dose or amount of exposure, they could harm the body. Corrosive organic peroxides can also attack and destroy metals.

... The peroxy group is chemically unstable. It can easily decompose, giving off heat at a rate that increases as the temperature rises. Many organic peroxides give off flammable vapours when they decompose. These vapours can easily catch fire.

Most undiluted organic peroxides can catch fire easily and burn very rapidly and intensely. This is because they combine both fuel (carbon) and oxygen in the same compound. Some organic peroxides are dangerously reactive. They can decompose very rapidly or explosively if they are exposed to only slight heat, friction, mechanical shock or contamination with incompatible materials.


Link

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

Are you sure it isn't this plant off Hwy 90?



Link.

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

Thanks, Ketsuko brought this very thing up as a potential last Friday I believe.

Hopefully this gets resolved without issue.

a reply to: loam

You are correct, thank you

Apologies folks

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

No worries. KHOU can't even get near it. Hwy 90 is completely flooded out.

Well well...so another natural disaster and the weak link again appears to be the generators that no one thought would be flooded. Sounds like a certain nuclear plant in Japan. Maybe at some point someone will wake up and start pushing for regulations that ensure that back up generators for hazardous situations like this are able to function in flooding or other disaster scenarios even if it is unheard of to have such disasters. Jesus us humans can be so dumb.

a reply to: RickyD

The thing that is different about this and Fukushima is that there had been tsunamis in the area in which the Fukushima plant was located.

There has never been rains and flooding like we are experiencing currently. I'm willing to give them a bit of the benefit of the doubt in this case.

Last I heard, they were not able to get near the plant yet to get more accurate information, but the feed I linked in the OP circles back to the story as new information arrives.

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

Sure and as they said in fukashima...they've never had such a big earthquake or tsunami either...and they thought the measures they'd taken were plenty good too. Is the gamble worth it even if the odds are good?

Other non- explosive (so far) releases are being reported too.

Harvey triggers spike in hazardous chemical releases

Source

a reply to: DancedWithWolves

There is a huge chemical industry in Texas. From oil and refining to chemical manufacturing...there is a whole lot that can go wrong with no reliable power and massive flooding going on.

Update:

Arkema Statement: Status of Plant in Crosby, Texas
6:50 pm est., August 29, 2017
...
The site lost refrigeration to all of its cold-storage warehouses when electrical power was lost and back-up generators were flooded. Our team then transferred products from the warehouses into diesel-powered refrigerated containers, and continued to monitor the situation.

At this time, refrigeration on some of our back-up product storage containers has been compromised due to extremely high water, rising to levels that are unprecedented in the Crosby area. Arkema is limited in what it can do to address the site conditions until the storm abates. We are monitoring the temperature of each refrigeration container remotely. At this time, while we do not believe there is any imminent danger, the potential for a chemical reaction leading to a fire and/or explosion within the site confines is real.

We have no higher priority than the safety of our employees, neighbors and the environment. We have been working without pause to keep our materials safe.

link

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

So I looked at some youtube videos to see how powerful an explosion even a small amount of this stuff can make, and let me tell you, it's impressive.

a reply to: RickyD

So many compounding risks due to this storm. If even the backup containment has been breached at this chemical plant, and they have had to pull staff, this plant appears to be in imminent danger.

The STP nuclear plant is also being called upon to shut down as waters continue rising.

Three groups—Beyond Nuclear, South Texas Association for Responsible Energy, and the SEED Coalition—are calling for the immediate shutdown of the South Texas Project (STP) which sits behind an embankment they say could be overwhelmed by the raging flood waters and torrential rains caused by Hurricane Harvey.

Source

a reply to: DancedWithWolves

A Reuters article has this:

“We’ve got significant rain but flooding has not been an issue here,” spokesman Buddy Eller said in a phone call about the reactors, located 90 miles (145 km) southwest of Houston.
...
Eller said 250 “storm crew” workers were running the plant and did not have to venture out into the storm after work shifts because there are beds on site.

The reactors, 44 percent of which are owned by NRG Energy Inc, provide 2,700 megawatts of power to 2 million customers in Texas. The rest of the reactors are owned by the city of San Antonio’s CPS Energy utility, with 40 percent, and the city of Austin’s Austin Energy, with 16 percent.

Personnel from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) are also at the plant, assessing storm conditions.

Will be keeping a close eye on this too.

Lots of the plants along the ship channel predate the boom in Houston and housing expansion.