Things That Go Boom: Texas Chem Plant Edition

The residents of Port Neches, TX, some 80 miles east of Houston, were awakened early this morning by a huge blast, blowing out windows and shaking homes at a good distance, as a chemical explosion rocked a plant there. Residents were ordered to evacuate near the petrochemical plant, which is owned by TPC group, and indication that a "chemical plume" was released in the explosion and fire. Three workers were reported injured, one with serious burns that required evacuation to a Houston hospital.

One local resident, a pistol-packing Judge no less, described his experience:

"Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick told Beaumont TV station KBMT the blast awakened him early Wednesday at his home, and that it initially sounded like someone firing a gun into his house.

“When I got out there and grabbed my pistol and ran to the front door, I saw that the front and back door were splintered and wood had flown everywhere ... I could see the flames from the backyard,” Branick said."

The physical damage from the blast and fire is one thing, but the ongoing threat is the expanding toxic plume:

"The Nederland Volunteer Fire Department warned people living south of Interstate 10 near the plant to minimize their exposure to the chemical plume by sheltering in place, closing windows and turning off their heating and air conditioning systems. A mandatory evacuation was ordered for everyone within a half mile of the TPC plant, and the fire department said that evacuation could expand to wider area." (our emphasis)

It was just three weeks ago that we saw a Dow Chemical plant in Plaquemines, LA producing petrochemicals suffer a large explosion, fortunately with no loss of life. Whether this or the Texas blast this morning are the result of relaxed regulations brought about by State and local bridge collapse/ E. coli conservatives and/or the environmentally-toxic Trump regime remains to be analyzed.  But two explosions at petrochemical plants in the oil and gas patch of Texas and Louisiana within a month is a powerful coincidence.