Pollute, and pay up
ITC was a habitual rule-breaker before a fire erupted in March; wrist slaps need to stop.
New information about the Intercontinental Terminals Co. chemical fire that shut down the Houston Ship Channel for three days in March makes it even clearer that Texas must come down harder on companies that consistently break environmental and workplace safety rules.
A preliminary report by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board said the petrochemical company’s tank farm in Deer Park didn’t have a remote emergency shutoff valve that could have stopped the release of thousands of gallons of naphtha, a highly flammable chemical used to produce gasoline that spilled for nearly 30 minutes before catching on fire. Nor did the fires set off any alarms to alert workers that there was a problem before the leaking chemical erupted, the report said. Fortunately, no injuries occurred. However, toxic smoke from the blaze spread across much of the area just southeast of downtown Houston, causing nearby schools to close and residents to stay inside their homes. When a dike wall at the plant failed, thousands of gallons of contaminated water gushed out into nearby streams, including the Houston Ship Channel.
Scientists for the Galveston Bay Foundation and Texas A&M Superfund Research Center who’ve analyzed water samples say it’s uncertain whether that pollution will affect human or aquatic life. But even the possibility that years from now a public health or food supply problem might be traced to the ITC fire is mind-boggling. It’s yet another reason why ITC, which had been fined only $65,000 in civil penalties since 2009 for multiple violations of environmental and workplace safety rules, should not get off so easily this time.
In fact, it’s another reason why companies of all sorts that are found responsible for repeated environmental lapses should be punished severely enough that the fines change their behavior. For large companies, that means large penalties.
It’s good that Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg has filed five criminal charges against ITC, each of which could result in a $100,000 fine. Even better, Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a civil suit against ITC, claiming the Deer Park fire emitted benzene and other toxic contaminants in violation of the Texas Clean Air Act.
Paxton also filed suit against the KMCO chemical plant in Crosby after a fire in April left one worker dead. That was a surprise. Environmental groups have long accused Paxton of being too protective of the petrochemical industry, which contributes greatly to the Texas economy.
We hope these suits are evidence that Paxton has begun to take his responsibility to use the courts to make sure companies that pollute Texas’ land, water and air are punished.
Petrochemical companies that habitually trample over rules that help keep Texas’ air and water clean need to know that this state’s attorney general isn’t going to let them do that anymore. They need to know the days of wrist-slap fines that can be written off as a cost of doing business in this state are over.
It’s time for Texas to make polluters feel it where it hurts when they hurt our environment.