At a heated public hearing, residents urge state agency to reject permit for chemical facility that burned in 2019

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In Deer Park near Houston, memories of the massive ITC fire are still fresh. At a public hearing Thursday, residents told state regulators they should reject the company’s permit renewal. But officials said the fire won’t be part of the decision.

Erandi Trevino, Houston organizer for Public Citizen, questions representatives for ITC — which is applying to renew a federal permit for its Deer Park plant that caught fire in 2019 — and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality at a public hearing Thursday in Deer Park., The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

Tracy Cook Schmidt, who lives about 2 miles from the facility, told ITC officials they “will answer to God” for her son’s leukemia. She is suing ITC and blames the benzene in the air for her son’s sickness.A recent investigation by The Texas Tribune and Public Health Watch revealed that During Thursday’s hearing, held in Deer Park High School’s auditorium, residents asked the TCEQ representatives questions about ITC’s previous violations and often received “I don’t know” as a response. The responses from agency representatives drew sarcastic laughter and shouts from the audience. “What’s the point?” of the meeting, residents asked.

Shanon DiSorbo, a consultant representing ITC at Thursday's public hearing, responds to community members about the company's permit renewal application.“It’s sad and disgusting to hear that you don’t know anything. You are just sitting there like laying ducks,” Gonzales said. “You are not doing your job. You are not protecting the citizens and the people that live in the surrounding areas of this company. I demand that you don’t pass this permit for them.

“These incidents and investigations suggest a systemic failure in the regulatory oversight of ITC, and they raised serious concerns about the facility’s ability to operate safely and within regulatory compliance,” Alvarado’s statement said.

 

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