The Unified Command post at the Deer Park Chemicals facility has stood down and ongoing response activities are being managed under Shell’s incident response plan. The EPA and TCEQ will continue to monitor the response.
Response Update # 11
The response to the incident at the Deer Park Chemicals facility continues. EPA and TCEQ, formerly members of Unified Command with Shell, will continue to monitor the response in federal and state regulatory capacities respectively.
Water samples collected on May 12th in the Houston Ship Channel continue to be within the permitted levels. Currently no water is being discharged to the channel.
Air monitoring continues on and around the site and has not detected any harmful levels of chemicals affecting neighboring communities. While there is no danger to the community, residents and neighbors may notice flaring. We are working to minimize these impacts to the community.
We will continue to provide updates and encourage people to visit our regularly updated FAQs page.
Response Update # 10
The response to the incident at the Deer Park Chemicals facility continues and is being managed by the Unified Command consisting of EPA, TCEQ and Shell.
We continue to conduct water sampling. Samples collected on May 11th and on May 12th are within the permitted levels and no water is being discharged to the Ship Channel at this time.
Air monitoring is ongoing and has not detected any harmful levels of chemicals affecting neighboring communities. There is no danger to the community, however, residents may continue to notice flaring from the facility. We are working to minimize the impact to the community as much as possible.
We will continue with incident updates but encourage people to visit our FAQs which are updated regularly.
Response Update # 9
The response to the incident at the Deer Park Chemicals facility continues and is being managed by the Unified Command consisting of EPA, TCEQ and Shell.
With the fire extinguished since May 7, crews are working to fully secure the unit to allow investigators to safely enter OP3.
The response team continues to manage the movement of water on the site following the rain which includes deploying preventative boom, vac trucks, skimmers, and other mitigations to clean the site and prevent product from entering the Houston Ship Channel.
We continue to conduct water sampling in the Houston Ship Channel and samples collected on May 10th and early on May 11th indicate pH levels within the acceptable range.
Air monitoring is ongoing and has not detected any harmful levels of chemicals affecting neighboring communities. There is no danger to the nearby community, however residents and neighbors may notice flaring and increased noise from the facility. We are working to minimize the impact to the community as much as possible.
We will continue with incident updates but encourage people to visit our FAQs which are updated regularly.
Our top priority remains the safety of people and the environment.
Response Update # 8
Due to the significant rainfall amounts, the on-site storage reached a point that required runoff water to be directed to the Houston Ship Channel as part of a controlled discharge at approximately 11:28 a.m. Boom continues to be used to prevent any product from entering the channel and the facility continues water sampling.
After eliminating discharge to the channel on May 8, the Unified Command continued to monitor on-site retention ponds and established conditions for managing water in rain events. A controlled release will be executed when the pond reaches 70% capacity and will be closed when water capacity lowers to 50% when discharge will cease.
News Release # 7
The re-ignited fire at Shell’s Deer Park Chemicals facility was extinguished last night. With the fire extinguished, we are using less water to manage the hot spots and have closed the valve eliminating discharge to the Houston Ship Channel.
Water continues to be added to nearby retention ponds as we continue to cool equipment.
Air monitoring is ongoing and has not detected any harmful levels of chemicals affecting neighboring communities. There is no danger to the nearby community, but residents may continue to see intermittent flaring from the facility.
The cause of the fire will be the subject of a future investigation.
Our immediate priorities remain the safety of people and the environment.