More than two years after a chemical leak triggered a massive tank fire at the ITC Deer Park Petrochemical plant near Houston, lawmakers in Texas appear close to passing new safety rules to prevent a repeat of that catastrophe.
If passed, SB 900 would empower the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to establish new performance standards to ensure the integrity of large, above-ground storage tanks in the event of an accident or natural disaster. Among other things, the law mandates that such tanks be equipped with remote shut-off valves, overflow protection, and anti-fire technology.
ITC Deer Park Fire Burned for Days
“Had these things been in place, that could have prevented the ITC fire,” state Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston and author of the bill, told the Texas Tribune.
Alvarado’s constituents were among those endangered during the ITC Deer Park fire that erupted on March 17, 2019. The blaze continued to burn for nearly a week, during which time a thick, black plume of noxious smoke hovered over much of the Houston Metro Region. People living in its path were forced to shelter-in-place for days.
Although no ITC workers were injured or killed in the incident, hundreds of people throughout the Metro Region sought medical attention for sore throats, headaches, nose bleeds, nausea, vomiting, and other symptoms likely related to the toxic hydrocarbons released by the inferno.
Houston Metro Experienced 4 Major Petrochemical Disasters in 2019
The ITC Deer Park tank fire was the second of four major petrochemical disasters to strike the Houston Metro Region in 2019. The first of those incidents occurred just a day earlier when a furnace fire erupted at the ExxonMobil Baytown refinery.
Less than three weeks after ITC Deer Park, an explosion and fire at the KMCO chemical plant in Crosby killed one worker and critically injured two others.
Then on July 31st, a fire broke out at the ExxonMobil Olefins plant in Baytown. More than five dozen workers were taken to area hospitals following that incident, including 41 treated for burns and other injuries.
Environmentalists Pushed for Tougher Regulations
Senator Alvarado has spent the last two years negotiating with industry groups to draft the safety standards. In doing so, she had to ensure the proposed rules would be acceptable to the state’s powerful oil and gas lobby. Otherwise, the bill would have no chance in the Republican-dominated legislature.
SB 900 passed the Senate late last month and received preliminary approval in the House late Sunday night. According to the Texas Tribune, once the House grants final approval – usually a formality – the Senate would need to accept minor changes made by the House or ask for a conference committee to resolve any differences. The legislation would then go to the governor for his signature.
Environmentalists had hoped the legislation would go further. The Sierra Club, for example, had pushed to include smaller tanks and require more inspections. The group also wanted the new regulations to take effect sooner than September 2023 and criticized a provision that would allow exemptions for companies that convince regulators their tanks are at low risk of flooding, hurricanes, fires, and explosions.
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