About that chemcial plant explosion near Houston....

[legion]

What were they storing? Why didn't they move the goods when a hurricane was on the way?

[JackDidley]

They said something about hydrogen peroxide. They also said they have several more trailers that will blow. The stuff expands when it gets hot. Probably in plastic 50 gallon drums but thats just a guess. We used to get 35% where I worked years ago. A 5 gallon jug would swell big time when it got over 80* F.

[ossiblue]

My understanding when I first heard the story was that the ability to cool the peroxide was compromised because of the loss of power to the plant. If that's the case, moving the goods prior to the hurricane would be risky, logistically difficult, and you'd still have the issue of keeping it cool wherever it wound up--all this without really knowing if there would be a problem. At the time I heard this, there was just speculation there might be an explosion and evacuation of the area was under consideration. I guess it all came to pass.

[Scott Douglas]

I heard the same L.J. but it was more of a 'when' not 'if' situation. Once they lost power they knew it would blow up, thus the evac order.

[Rikao4]

read 2 or 3 of the generator back up system failed..
no power..no a/c..= boom..

Rika

[Deschodt]

Heard from a local guy, media hype at work... Generators flooded, backups were also flooded, and there even was a third system used for cooling that also died because of flooding... So tanks are popping from pressure. Not really a hollywood movie fireball, and not an environmental catastrophe either... Who do you trust these days....

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by JackDidley

They said something about hydrogen peroxide. They also said they have several more trailers that will blow. The stuff expands when it gets hot. Probably in plastic 50 gallon drums but thats just a guess. We used to get 35% where I worked years ago. A 5 gallon jug would swell big time when it got over 80* F.

Multiple 50,000 gallon (200K liters) tank cars as well. mostly the smoke is like "campfire" smoke, and not hazardous. Eye irritant.

[speeder]

When the tanks explode, where do their contents go? Into the flood waters?

[arcsine]

19.5 tons of organic peroxides (which are not hydrogen peroxides) doesn't seem trivial to me considering the explosion risk organic peroxides carry.

Now Arkema is hiding behind a Homeland Security Act saying companies do not have to release chemical inventories as they could be used as a source in a terror attack. And hiding behind the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) saying that all requests for chemical inventories must be approved by the TCEQ. Meanwhile the TCEQ is saying that Arkema is free to release that information as they see fit. The TCEQ has no say in that matter.

Luckily, the Arkema spokespeople have said their 'worst-case' chemicals (sulfur dioxide and isobutylene) are stored 'hundreds of yards away' from the exploding peroxides.

[fingpilot]

Friend lives 3/4 of a mile away in Crosby. They evec'd him middle of the night. Said it was an 'irritant', not poisonous.

He's still at his Mom's house in Dallas.

[Jolly Amaranto]

I read where it would have been real easy to dilute those organic peroxides to stabilize them. They would have been useless at that point but could be disposed of safely after the flood with no violent destruction at the plant.