Was fire avoidable?
Past violations raise questions about ITC and its petrochemical storage facility.
The ominous black plume wafting above the chemical fire at Intercontinental Terminals Co.’s Deer Park facility is enough to send shivers down the spine of every Houston resident. Not knowing if the blaze was preventable has increased that fear. After all, the metropolitan area includes more than 500 chemical plants and 10 refineries. A massive fire at any of them could similarly fill the skies with smoke.
It’s too early to say what caused the Deer Park fire, which has been burning since Sunday. Fire officials Tuesday didn’t know how long it would take for fuel feeding the blaze to burn off. That uncertainty opened the door wider for speculation that ITC could have done more to prevent an accident of this proportion from occurring.
ITC spokeswoman Alice Richardson teared up Tuesday in apologizing to Deer Park residents for endangering their community. “This isn’t an event that was planned,” she said to a reporter. Of course it wasn’t planned. But could it have been prevented? ITC’s record of environmental violations over the years makes trusting that the company did everything it could have a risky proposition.
Records show the Deer Park facility, which stores petrochemicals for Chevron, Phillips 66 and Exxon Chemical Company, has been cited multiple times by federal, state and county regulators since 2009 for breaking clean air and clean water rules. ITC’s punishment: a grand total of about $65,000 in civil penalties.
That’s a slap on the wrist for a company that earns millions. Failure to ensure public safety should be worth more than what ITC paid. Failed inspections at a burger shop are one thing, but companies like ITC put human lives at risk when things go wrong. Maybe ITC wouldn’t have broken so many rules had it faced serious consequences. Following the rules earlier also would have made its apology now more believable.
Making sure ITC isn’t spewing toxic fumes doesn’t require fining it out of existence. It requires a serious commitment to safety and transparency, which are sorely lacking in this state. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has a history of lax monitoring and enforcement. And Texas has refused to require widespread public disclosure of chemical inventories and Risk Management Plans of facilities that would improve journalists’ ability to inform the public during a crisis. A reporter who wants to see a facility’s RMP has to make an appointment with federal marshals to view it.
Patrick Jankowski, senior economist with the Greater Houston Partnership, told business reporter Jordan Blum: “We need these facilities here because it’s how we get our products to market.”
Of course. But what is a booming economy without quality of life? Without peace of mind? Parents sent their children back to Deer Park and La Porte ISD schools Tuesday, but they couldn’t have felt great confidence when school officials restricted outside activities. Houston ISD took the same precaution. Good to err on the side of safety, but no parent should have to fear that just walking to school might endanger their child’s health.
At one point, eight tanks containing gasoline components were on fire. Five tanks were still burning Tuesday. Public officials said local air quality had not been jeopardized by the ITC fire, but fog expected Wednesday morning might pull harmful particulates toward the ground.
“I know the cloud of dark smoke seems ominous as it spreads over parts of the city of Houston, but we want to assure that the air quality is being monitored around the clock,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner.
Such assurances are appreciated, but they have proven wrong before, as we saw during Hurricane Harvey. An investigation by the Chronicle and the Associated Press revealed that much higher levels of toxic materials than originally reported were released into the air and water when the storm hit Houston’s petrochemical corridor. Let’s not have a repeat of that with the ITC fire.
The public must be kept up to date on both the progress made to put out the fire and the severity of any damage it has caused to the environment or public health. If investigations reveal regulatory violations by ITC were a factor in the fire, Texas agencies should do more than charge another paltry fine.
We shouldn’t have to choose between a thriving economy and our health. Responsible companies can and should deliver both.
The public must be kept up to date on both the progress made to put out the fire and the severity of any damage it has caused to the environment or public health.