Arkema Inc. Chemical Plant Fire

On August 31, 2017, a fire erupted at the Arkema facility in Crosby, Texas, when refrigerated organic peroxides decomposed following the effects of Hurricane Harvey. The fire started after vapors from the facility traveled across a public highway and twenty-one emergency responders sought medical attention from exposure to fumes generated by the decomposing product. Due to hurricane relief efforts, officials decided to keep this highway open despite a 1.5-mile evacuation zone around the Arkema facility; however, it was closed after the first fire started. Over the next several days, a second fire and a controlled burn consumed eight trailers holding Arkema’s remaining low-temperature organic peroxide products. Over the course of the three fires, in excess of 350,000 pounds of organic peroxide combusted. As a result, more than 200 residents living within 1.5 miles of the facility evacuated and could not return home for a week.

Although the Arkema Crosby facility is located within the 100-year and 500-year flood plain, extensive flooding from heavy rainfall exceeded equipment design elevations and caused the plant to lose power, backup power, critical organic peroxide refrigeration systems, and standby refrigerated trailers needed to keep the organic peroxide cool. This flooding also eventually forced all of Arkema’s employees to evacuate from the facility.

The incident at the Arkema Crosby facility developed over twelve days, from August 24, 2017 through September 4, 2017. Figure 1. Overview timeline for the Incident at the Arkema Crosby facility. Figure 1 shows a summarized incident timeline. This incident can be separated into three primary phases:

• Arkema’s Hurricane Harvey preparations before and in the initial stages of the Hurricane;

• Arkema ride-out crew’s efforts to keep the organic peroxide products cold during the flooding to prevent decomposition and combustion;

• Emergency response activities after significant flooding forces Arkema personnel to evacuate from the facility and a series of three fires consumes over 350,000 pounds of organic peroxide products.