Chemicals from ITC Deer Park facility fire spill into water, officials say
LA PORTE, Texas - Chemicals from the Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) facility in Deer Park have leaked into the Houston Ship Channel abd Tucker Bayou following the collapse of a containment wall on Friday, officials say.
Officials say at approximately 12:15 p.m. on Thursday, the secondary containment wall surrounding the western tank farm adjacent to tank 80-7 was breached, releasing foam and product into the ditch that runs East to West on Tidal Road. The breach was approximately 10 feet wide.
While some of the liquid remained contained behind the barrier, a lot of it escaped. The root cause of the breach is currently under investigation.
As a result of the breach, there was a release of product causing a localized elevation in volatile organic compounds (VOCs). On the same day around 3:45 p.m., a fire reignited on multiple tanks.
Officials at the news conference stated the fire spread to the liquid that had escaped through the containment wall into the adjacent ditch. Firefighters on scene responded immediately by placing foam on the fires, extinguishing the flames at approximately 4:45 p.m.
ITC officials say they continue to monitor VOC levels in the community. Current readings in the community are below action levels.
Independence Parkway, the San Jacinto Monument, the Battleship Texas State Parks, and the Lynchburg Ferry crossing are currently closed due to intermittent levels of volatile organic compounds.
As a precaution, Harris County Commissioner Precinct 2 has closed the following parks with waterfronts in the ITC incident area. Scheduled events at these parks are cancelled until further notice:
- Bay Area Park in Houston
- Clear Lake Park in Seabrook
- Sylvan Beach in La Porte
- Juan Seguin in La Porte
- Rio Villa Nature Trail
- Meadow Brook
- River Terrace
- Moncrief Park
The Baytown Nature Center will be closed until further notice due to the ITC facility incident. Full Moon Hike is cancelled.
Extracurricular activities scheduled Saturday for La Porte ISD will continue as planned if they are NOT being held in La Porte ISD or other districts that will be closed.
The following east area Houston ISD campuses have canceled weekend activities have been canceled:
- Austin HS
- BCM Biotexh Academy at Rusk
- Booner ES
- Briscoe ES
- Burnet ES
- Cage ES
- Carrillo ES
- Chaves HS
- Chrysalis MS
- Crespo ES
- Davila ES
- DeZavala ES
- East Early College HS
- Eastwood Academy HS
- Edison MS
- Franklin MS
- Furr HS
- Gallegos ES
- J.R. Harris ES
- R.P. Harris ES
- J.P. Henderson ES
- High School for Law & Justice
- Lantrip ED
- Laurenzo ECC
- Lewis ES
- Middle College HS-Fraga
- Milby HS
- Mount Carmel Academy HS
- Navarro MS
- Oates ES
- Ortiz MS
- Park Place ES
- Patterson ES
- Pleasantville ES
- Port Houston ES
- Robinson ES
- Rucker ES
- Sanchez ES
- Southmayd ES
- Stevenson MS
- Tijerina ES
- Whittier ES
- Young Scholars
Continue monitoring here for updated air quality monitoring information.