ITC resumes rail, truck activity at Deer Park

Rail and truck activity is ramping back up at Intercontinental Terminals Co.’s chemical storage complex in Deer Park two months after a days-long fire and subsequent chemical spill temporarily cut off regional markets from a large petrochemical hub relied on by dozens of refineries and petrochemical plants.

The closure of the terminal, which has 242 tanks with 13 million barrels of storage, has created disruptions in supply for solvents, methanol and other chemicals across the Gulf Coast region, analysts say.

Government officials gave ITC permission to reopen most of its docks on the Houston Ship Channel in early May, but rail and truck shipments were still severely limited. Last week, the market research firm ICIS reported that rail and truck activity returning to the terminal.

An ITC spokesperson confirmed this week that rail and truck operations have resumed normally, except in the area in front of the affected tanks. The March 17 chemical fire, which burned for three days, destroyed 11 storage tanks and sent chemicals spewing into the ship channel. ITC is owned by the Japanese conglomerate Mitsui.

The Coast Guard closed the Houston Ship Channel for three days during the cleanup and shipping was restricted for nearly a month, constraining shipments and forcing refineries to limit production.

Last week, a small flash fire erupted at the plant as workers took apart one of the tanks in the farm that caught fire in March. Firefighting crews quickly put out the fire. No injuries were reported injuries. Air monitoring during the incident didn’t show elevated levels of benzene, officials said.

“Flash fires are not unusual during this process, and we have a fully dedicated fire team on site to respond as needed,” an ITC spokesman said. Crews have disassembled one of the affected tanks and will continue to take apart the tanks one by one for safety, the spokesman said.