Fire reignites at US ITC facility in Deer Park

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Fire re-erupted at tanks at the west side of the Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) facility in Deer Park/La Porte area in Texas, the company said on Friday.

The tanks within the “containment area have re-ignited”, ITC said in a statement posted on its website at 16:00 hours Houston time (21:00 hours GMT).

The US Coast Guard earlier on Friday closed a portion of the Houston Ship Channel between Tucker Bayou and the San Jacinto Monument to Crystal Bay after a dike partially collapsed.

There have been no shelter-in-place orders issued for the surrounding Deer Park community, but the local government earlier issued one to industrial neighbors and the San Jacinto Texas state historic site.

Also on Friday, the Texas Attorney General on behalf of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) filed a petition against ITC on Friday for “violations of the Texas Clean Air Act”.

“Due to the dynamic, ongoing investigation of this incident, only air quality violations have been cited in the State of Texas lawsuit against ITC… Any additional violations, including surface water quality, will be referred to the Office of Attorney General for civil enforcement as part of this action,” the TCEQ said in a statement.

The tank farm facility was the site of a massive fire which began on 17 March and extinguished later on 20 March.

Pictured: A plume of smoke rise from ITC’s facility in Deer Park, 18 March 2019
Source: David J Phillip/AP/REX/Shutterstock