Ticking time bomb

‘No way’ to prevent flooded US chemical plant from exploding

A FLOODED chemical plant in a small town outside of Houston was poised to explode, a spokeswoman for the French company that owns the plant said yesterday. But the timing and the extent of the danger were not immediately clear.

The Arkema Inc plant in Crosby, Texas, about 40 kilometres northeast of Houston, lost power and its back-up generators amid Harvey’s dayslong deluge, leaving it without refrigeration for chemicals that become volatile as the temperature rises.

“The fire will happen. It will resemble a gasoline fire. It will be explosive and intense in nature,” spokeswoman Janet Smith said. There was “no way to prevent” the explosion, CEO Rich Rowe said earlier.

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,” Ms Smith said. “So the fire is imminent. The question is when.”

The company shut down the Crosby site before Harvey made landfall last week, but a crew of 11 had stayed behind. That group was removed and residents within 2.4km were told to evacuate after the plant lost power.

“The facility is surrounded by water right now so we don’t anticipate the fire going anywhere,” said Harris County Fire Marshal spokeswoman Rachel Moreno.

Tropical Storm Harvey has spun across southeast Texas into Louisiana, sending more people fleeing for shelter after swamping Houston with record rains and flooding that killed at least 35 people and drove tens of thousands from their homes.

The storm has forced 32,000 people into shelters since coming ashore as the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in half a century.