Thousands of storage tanks dot the Houston Ship Channel. A new bill introduced this state legislative session would create tougher rules for tanks in flood-prone areas.
Click here to subscribe to Fire Triangle, a new podcast produced by Texas Public Radio in collaboration with Houston Public Media looking at chemical disasters in the state.
Juan Flores was at home in Galena Park when Hurricane Harvey hit Houston in August 2017. As the rain fell, he and his neighbors started to notice an odd smell.
“Everybody’s complaining on Facebook, ‘do you smell that? It smells like chemicals, it smells like petrol, ” he said. “We could all smell it. It smelled so bad.”
Texas Lawmakers Look To Tighten Rules For Storage Tanks In Flood-Prone Areas To Prevent Chemical Spills, Fires
Storage tanks have been the source of several chemical disasters, including the fire at ITC Deer Park and a major gasoline spill during Hurricane Harvey. Now, they’re the focus of two bills this Texas legislative session.
February 2, 2021, 6:00 AM
Thousands of storage tanks dot the Houston Ship Channel. A new bill introduced this state legislative session would create tougher rules for tanks in flood-prone areas.
Click here to subscribe to Fire Triangle, a new podcast produced by Texas Public Radio in collaboration with Houston Public Media looking at chemical disasters in the state.
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A massive chemical fire near the Houston Ship Channel led to shelter-in-place orders, closed schools and polluted the area s air and water. It took days to extinguish and impacted hundreds of thousands of people. Part two of Fire Triangle explores what the State of Texas is and isn t doing to prevent chemical disasters. When state regulatory agencies and companies don t do enough to prevent chemical disasters, community members are forced to take action. We meet two advocates impacted by the fire who are fighting back against pollution in their communities.
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A massive chemical fire near the Houston Ship Channel led to shelter-in-place orders, closed schools and polluted the area’s air and water. It took days to extinguish and impacted hundreds of thousands of people. Part two of Fire Triangle explores what the State of Texas is and isn’t doing to prevent chemical disasters. When state regulatory agencies and companies don’t do enough to prevent chemical disasters, community members are forced to take action. We meet two advocates impacted by the fire who are fighting back against pollution in their communities.
A nearby industrial warehouse, the Watson Grinding and Manufacturing facility, had exploded.
Cruz went to the emergency room and was eventually released. He moved his wife and their two children into a hotel because their home was destroyed.
Two weeks later Cruz died, his lawyer says, from those injuries.
The explosion ended up damaging more than 470 homes and businesses, injuring at least 18 people and killing three.
Edward Castillo
The explosion aftermath at Watson Grinding and Manufacturing in Houston on Jan. 24, 2020.
Down the street, Frank Peters said he was working on home repairs when he was thrown against a wall. I was just convinced it was an atomic bomb, Peters said. You know, dirty bomb or something terrorism.