USA: Houston Canal Closed Fire at ITC Plant in Texas Flares Up Again

A fire at the tanks of the Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) in Deer Park, Texas, has flared up again, the company announced on Friday. A major fire broke out at the tank farm on March 17 and had been extinguished on March 20.

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Deer Park/USA — On Sunday, March 17, 2019 at about 10 am, a storage tank caught fire at the premises of the Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) in Deer Park, reports deerparktx.gov. Industrial neighbors and several local authorities have actively fought the fire to prevent its spread and extinguish it as soon as possible. This was initially achieved on Wednesday.

During a press conference on Saturday, officials announced that three tanks in Deer Park had caught fire again on Friday and could be extinguished again in the afternoon of the same day. Afterwards, however, a retaining wall broke. This led to a mixture of foam and tank contents spilling into the nearby Houston Canal. The authorities then closed part of the Houston Canal between Tucker Bayou and Crystal Bay.

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Also on Friday, the Texas Attorney General filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Texas Environmental Protection Agency (TCEQ) against ITC for "violations of the Texas Clean Air Act". Due to the ongoing investigation of this incident, only violations of air quality were cited in the complaint against ITC. All other violations, including surface water quality, were referred to the Attorney General's Office for Civil Prosecution as part of this action, TCEQ reported.

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