Fire at Arkema chemical plant in Texas causes evacuations

A fire connected to Hurricane Harvey at an Arkema SA chemical plant in Crosby, Texas has forced the evacuation of nearby residents.

Flooding from Hurricane Harvey caused several cooling systems at the Arkema SA plant in Crosby to fail, Akrema officials said in a statement. As liquid organic peroxides stored at the facility warmed up, they became unstable and caused an explosion on Aug. 31.

The plant is located about 40 kms northeast of downtown Houston.

Early evacuation of the site and surrounding community prevented serious injuries, media reports have said. Arkema and local officials have made the decision to allow all 500,000 lbs of the organic peroxide chemicals stored at the site to burn.

Last year, an analysis led by Texas A&M University researchers identified Arkema’s facility as posing one of the region’s biggest risks in the event of a natural disaster, based on such factors as the type and amount of chemicals and the population density.

The plant was among dozens of chemical facilities in the storm’s path that were damaged, shutting down more than half of U.S. production of some of the most-used chemicals and plastics.