World News | Shell: Renewed fire at Texas plant has been extinguished

HOUSTON, May 9 (AP) Crews are finally extinguishing a fire at a petrochemical plant in the Houston area that has been burning on and off for days, according to Shell, which operates the plant.

Firefighters were first to respond to the blaze at the Deer Park facility Friday afternoon. On Saturday morning, Shell said the fire had been extinguished. But hours later, Shell announced the fire had reignited.

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Shell spokeswoman Natasha Qamar said Monday that the fire was finally extinguished on Sunday night. The reignited fire was contained in a controlled area.

“Air monitoring is ongoing and no hazardous chemicals have been detected affecting neighboring communities. There is no danger to nearby communities,” Shell said.

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Deer Park did not issue a shelter-in-place order for residents during the fire.

The fire started at the plant’s olefins unit, which produces plastics and rubber. The unit was undergoing routine maintenance when the fire broke out.

Nine workers who were taken to hospital were released after undergoing preventive medical assessments. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Shell said on Sunday that the volume of water used to fight the fire had exceeded the plant’s wastewater storage capacity and was being discharged into the Houston waterway.

Floating barriers or fencing are being used to prevent any chemical products from the plant from escaping with wastewater and contaminating channels, Qamar said.

Shell said there was a “light sheen” outside the boom after a bout of rain on Sunday, but it had been cleaned.

“Our teams are working around the clock to validate the environmental and safety precautions that have been taken to date,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the county’s top elected official, said in a statement Sunday night.

Local environmental groups have not been reassured by Shell’s statement that the community is not at risk.

“History has shown that these early statements were made for industry public relations rather than public health,” said Jennifer Hadayia, executive director of the Houston Air Alliance.

Facility fires are not uncommon in the region due to the large presence of the petrochemical industry. In March, one person was injured in an explosion and fire at a INEOS Phenol plant near Pasadena, Texas.

In 2019, a fire at an Intercontinental Terminals Company-owned facility burned for days, causing no injuries but triggering an air quality warning. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)