The Exploding Chemical Plant Outside Houston Faces Its First Lawsuit

“Toxicity is a relative thing.” So Arkema

a

executive Richard Rennard described the noxious fumes emanating from a plant that had been flooded by Hurricane Harvey last week. Locals had claimed that the plant, which is dangerously close to residential areas, had caught fire—with some containers possibly exploding—and sent potentially poisonous chemicals across the area. Rennard and other Arkema officials vehemently denied those claims, claiming that the “pops” residents heard were not explosions, and that the chemical fumes leaking from the plant were “noxious,” but not necessarily poisonous.

A new lawsuit filed in a Harris County district court not only directly contradicts those claims from Arkema, but paints a much more harrowing picture of the facility’s meltdown following the flood. The suit alleges that a series of explosions on August 31 spread dangerous fumes to a perimeter 1.5 miles around the plant, where it incapacitated police officers charged with maintaining that perimeter, and then even overwhelmed medical professionals responding to their calls. The suit—filed by some of those first responders who say they were made ill by the fumes—also alleges that a series of negligent decisions by Arkema and operators at the plant led directly to those explosions, and to planned explosions on September 3 that it claims spread contaminated material into the surrounding neighborhoods.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/09/first-responders-file-suit-against-exploding-houston-chemical-plant/539154/