(Photo: The Deer Park tank fire from the bridge near Bay Area Park on March 17. Credit: Douglas Y, Flickr Creative Commons)A fire that broke out at Intercontinental Terminals Company’s petrochemical storage site in Deer Park, Texas, near Houston on March 17 has led the Texas attorney general and Harris County attorney to file separate lawsuits over emissions.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an environmental lawsuit against Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) saying that the fire released air pollution in violation of the Texas Clean Air Act, ABC13 reported. A few days later, Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan filed a separate suit against ITC seeking a temporary restraining order and temporary and permanent injunctions in an environmental enforcement action, the outlet said.
The fire burned for three days and spread panic in the area, the Houston Chronicle reported. Local authorities issued shelter-in-place warnings and closed schools after elevated benzene levels were detected on March 21.
“Firefighting foam sprayed on the burning tanks by ITC and industrial wastewater were discharged into the surrounding water,” ABC13 reported. “A containment dike breached on March 22, allowing the discharge into Tucker Bayou, before the tank reignited.” The US Chemical Safety Board has opened an investigation into the fire.
Eleven days after the disaster, ITC CEO Bernt Netland posted a brief apology on YouTube and was a no-show at Thursday’s media briefing, Bloomberg’s Joe Carroll and Kevin Crowley reported. Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia, a former sheriff, called the corporate response to the fire “cowardly.”
“The state of Texas works hard to maintain good air quality and will hold ITC accountable for the damage it has done to our environment,” Attorney General Paxton said, according to ABC13. Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan said that the company would be held responsible for their actions.
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