MORE EXPLOSIONS ROCK HOUSTON CHEMICAL PLANT
EPA, local officials say public safe from smoke
HOUSTON — Thick black smoke and towering orange flames shot up yesterday from a flooded Houston-area chemical plant after two trailers of highly unstable compounds blew up a day earlier after losing refrigeration.
It was the second day that flames and smoke could be seen at the Arkema plant in Crosby. Arkema says Harvey’s floodwaters engulfed its backup generators and knocked out the refrigeration necessary to keep the organic peroxides from degrading and catching fire. Arkema executive Richard Rennard said two containers caught fire yesterday, and that the company has six more that it expects will eventually catch fire.
The Environmental Protection Agency and local officials said an analysis of the smoke that came from the plant early Thursday showed no reason for alarm.
A 1 1⁄2-mile buffer around the plant was established Tuesday when Arkema Inc. warned that chemicals kept there could explode. Officials remain comfortable with the size of the buffer, Rachel Moreno, a spokeswoman for the Harris County Fire Marshal Office, said last night.
The second fire broke out as officials in Houston sought to safeguard parts of their devastated city by intentionally flooding others that were inundated by Harvey, which retained enough rain-making power to raise the risk of flooding in the middle of the country a week after it slammed into Texas.
The mayor announced plans to release water from two reservoirs that could keep as many as 20,000 homes flooded for up to 15 days.
Residents were told to evacuate ahead of the planned release from two reservoirs protecting downtown Houston. The move was expected to flood homes that were filled with water earlier in the week. Homes that are not currently flooded probably will not be affected, officials said.
Also yesterday, hundreds of volunteers in Boston helped package 280 tons of supplies into seven trucks bound for Houston, Mayor Martin J. Walsh said.
By yesterday evening, Harvey had dumped more than 9 inches of rain in parts of Arkansas and Tennessee and more than 8 inches in spots in Alabama and Kentucky.
Its remnants were expected to generate another 1 to 3 inches over parts of Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia.
National Weather Service meteorologists expect Harvey to break up and merge with other weather systems over the Ohio Valley late today or tomorrow.