HOUSTON - A fire at a fuels storage company at the Houston Ship Channel spread on Monday to eight massive petrochemical storage tanks, shutting schools and forcing residents in the suburb of Deer Park to stay indoors.
Tanks containing naphtha and xylene, petrochemicals used to make gasoline and base oils commonly used as machine lubricants, were burning, officials of the Intercontinental Terminals Co said. The burning tanks are surrounded by several other storage tanks within a spill containment dike. Firefighters used a foam fire retardant on nearby tanks to try to limit the fire from spreading.
Air emissions tests detected the presence of a volatile organic compound six miles away from the facility. Levels were below those considered hazardous, ITC said.
More reason to StopUsingFossilFuels FossilFuelsAreKillingUs pollutionKILLS Deadly air in our cities: the invisible killer pollution
that's just normal Houston air
The Houston area is, at its heart, a petrochemical third world country where the highways flood and the airport shuts down anytime there's a quarter inch of rain. And that's exactly how the Republicans running Texas want to keep things.
OMG
abigailplatt maybe this is why nobody is at work today?
Good thing they have regulations in place to prevent this sort of thing...
Hope there are burn into ashes?