Harvey Update: Flooded Chemical Plant Explodes. Trump Policies Increase Future Risk [View all]

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Harvey Update: Flooded Chemical Plant Explodes. Trump Policies Increase Future Risk

September 1, 2017

Cable news and newspapers across the country are headlining the continuing explosions at the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, that was flooded by Hurricane Harvey. The plant was evacuated after power failed and several containers full of volatile chemicals that required cooling threatened to explode when power was lost and the generators failed. At 1:00 am early Thursday morning, the first of the nine containers exploded, sending a plume of black smoke into the community. The other eight containers are also expected to explode.

This Incident Raises a Number of Issues

During an interview with Hallie Jackson on MSNBC yesterday, I tried to outline some of the issues that concerned me beyond the immediate threat of the plant. You can view a slightly edited video and a full written transcript of the interview below:

{snip}

My major concern is that there is a huge concentration of chemical facilities on the Gulf Coast containing volatile chemicals much more hazardous than the chemicals exploding at the Arkema plant. Hydrogen flouride (HF) for example, can damage skin, eyes, lungs, bones and the heart in humans. Exposure can be fatal, and HF acid can form into vapor clouds that are able to spread over large distances. Explosions are easy to see, but no one knows at this point the less visible damage being done by leaking pipes, failed valves, overflowing tanks and swamped Superfund sites.

What the Trump administration fails to recognize is that you can deny climate change all you want, but the fact is that it’s here; it’s happening and the Gulf Coast and its vulnerable chemical infrastructure will inevitably experience great and more damaging storms. Gulf Coast states and chemical facilities need to prepare, and the federal government is betraying its duty to the American people if it doesn’t play a leading role in protecting workers and communities from the damage that these storms will continue to do to the area’s chemical facilities.