Via the Houston Chronicle: Chemical plant struck by Harvey now apt to explode. Excerpt:
Crosby fire officials are bracing for an explosion at the Arkema chemical plant in the city where floodwaters have knocked out power and generators needed to keep volatile chemicals stored at the facility cool.
All employees of the plant at 18000 Crosby Eastgate Road were evacuated late Tuesday, as were resident from about 300 homes within a mile and a half of the plant.
At a press conference Wednesday, Rich Rowe, Arkema's CEO said that if the volatile organic peroxides stored at the plant get too warm, some sort of explosion is inevitable.
"There is no way to prevent an explosion or fire," Rowe said.
Late Monday night, the facility lost power from both its primary supply and its backup generators. Employees moved the highly volatile organic peroxides into back-up containers to keep them cool. If that class of chemical gets too hot, it can cause fires or explosions.
The Crosby Fire Department evacuated its last employee Tuesday night. Eleven other staff members had been evacuated during the afternoon when the refrigeration in some of the back-up containers also started to fail.
Once government officials saw the chemical inventories for the facility, they ordered the evacuation of nearby residents.
