‘Devastating day.’ 2 dead, 30 injured in chemical leak at Texas plant, officials say
Five tons of acetic acid leaked at a Texas plant Tuesday, leaving two people dead and 30 more injured, officials say.
The leak at LyondellBasell in La Porte was reported at 7:35 p.m. Tuesday and all individuals inside the facility at the time are accounted for, according to site manager Stephen Goff. Out of the 30 people who were injured, one person suffered serious burns and the others had respiratory complications, Goff said in a news briefing streamed by KTRK.
LyondellBasell describes itself on its website as “one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world.” Its facility in La Porte is about 25 miles east of Houston.
The leak occurred in a unit that had been partially shut down due to planned maintenance, according to the site manager. The leak of 100,000 pounds of acetic acid was quickly stopped and is believed to have been contained.
“Yesterday was a devastating day for our site and our La Porte family,” Goff said Wednesday.
The current conditions of the employees hurt are unknown and the identifies of the two people who died have not been publicly disclosed. The cause of the leak is being investigated.
The Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office said late Tuesday the leak was isolated and air monitoring showed no impact to the surrounding communities.
Prolonged skin contact to acetic acid can cause tissue destruction, according to the Virginia Department of Health. Mild inhalation can trigger irritation of the eyes, nose and throat while a more severe inhalation can cause lung irritation and skin damage.
“No one ever wants an incident like this to happen and when it does it has an effect on us all,” Michael VanDerSnick, senior vice president of LyondellBasell, said during Wednesday’s briefing. “We will found out what led to this release and will work to understand how it happened to prevent a situation like this from ever happening again.”
Harris County Judge Linda Hidalgo said late Tuesday she is “heartbroken to hear of the two fatalities.”
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