Some manufacturers that use toxic chemicals keep large amounts of these chemicals on site. Some of these stocks of chemicals may have been swept away by the waters of the recent Tropical Depression Allison flood in East Texas. The table below shows 20 chemicals at facilities within the flood zone. These facilities reported having at least 100,000 pounds of these chemicals on site at some point in 1999. The chemicals in this list are among the most dangerous known in their potential for causing chronic human health problems. They would not poison anyone during the flood, but they might be left behind and linger on as contaminants later.
|
Facility Name |
City |
Chemical Name |
Maximum pounds onsite in 1999 |
Pounds released in 1999 |
|
SOLUTIA - CHOCOLATE BAYOU |
ALVIN |
ACROLEIN |
100,000 - 999,999 lbs |
170,005 |
|
BAYER CORP. BAYTOWN |
BAYTOWN |
HYDRAZINE |
1,000,000 - 9,999,999 lbs |
105 |
|
BAYER CORP. BAYTOWN |
BAYTOWN |
DIAMINOTOLUENE (MIXED ISOMERS) |
1,000,000 - 9,999,999 lbs |
1,835 |
|
UNION CARBIDE CORP. TEXAS CITY PLANT |
TEXAS CITY |
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS |
100,000 - 999,999 lbs |
45 |
|
STERLING CHEMICALS INC. |
TEXAS CITY |
MALONONITRILE |
100,000 - 999,999 lbs |
150,985 |
|
VALERO REFINING CO. - TEXAS |
HOUSTON |
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS |
1,000,000 - 9,999,999 lbs |
1,333 |
|
ETHYL CORP. |
PASADENA |
1,2-DIBROMOETHANE |
1,000,000 - 9,999,999 lbs |
2,279 |
|
ALBEMARLE CORP. HOUSTON PLANT |
PASADENA |
2,4-DIAMINOTOLUENE |
100,000 - 999,999 lbs |
394 |
|
AIR PRODS. L.P. |
PASADENA |
DIAMINOTOLUENE (MIXED ISOMERS) |
1,000,000 - 9,999,999 lbs |
91 |
|
ENGELHARD CORP. |
PASADENA |
TITANIUM TETRACHLORIDE |
100,000 - 999,999 lbs |
0 |
|
SPECIFIED FUELS & CHEMICALS |
CHANNELVIEW |
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS |
100,000 - 999,999 lbs |
0 |
|
OXY VINYLS L.P. - DEER PARK C/A |
DEER PARK |
MERCURY COMPOUNDS |
100,000 - 999,999 lbs |
1,364 |
|
DEER PARK REFINING L.P. |
DEER PARK |
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS |
100,000 - 999,999 lbs |
33 |
|
EQUILON LUBRICANTS CO. DEER PARK |
DEER PARK |
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS |
100,000 - 999,999 lbs |
1 |
|
SAFETY-KLEEN (DEER PARK) INC. |
DEER PARK |
POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS |
100,000 - 999,999 lbs |
20 |
|
SAFETY-KLEEN (DEER PARK) INC. |
DEER PARK |
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS |
100,000 - 999,999 lbs |
0 |
|
SHELL CHEMICAL L.P. |
DEER PARK |
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS |
100,000 - 999,999 lbs |
15 |
|
WASTE MANAGEMENT INC. |
PORT ARTHUR |
POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS |
100,000 - 999,999 lbs |
5 |
|
MOBIL CHEMICAL CO. OLEFINS & AROMATICS PLANT |
BEAUMONT |
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS |
100,000 - 999,999 lbs |
73 |
|
BETZDEARBORN-BEAUMONT |
BEAUMONT |
ACRYLAMIDE |
1,000,000 - 9,999,999 lbs |
69 |
These chemicals are just the tip of the iceberg. Large numbers of other facilities using toxic chemicals exist in this area, too many to list here. For a more complete list, try searching the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) database on RTK NET, EDF Scorecard, or EPA's Envirofacts.
Many of these facilities release relatively small amounts of these chemicals during normal operations. Those amounts could increase dramatically for 2001 if the flood carries even a fraction of these chemical stocks away.
This tables was created using EPA's Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) database for 1999 (the latest year available). Facilities included were within the counties declared eligible for disaster relief by FEMA. Chemicals included were those with an oral toxicity weighting of 5000 or more in the EPA Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators database. Only chemicals at facilities that reported maximum amounts on site of 100,000 pounds or more were included. This page was prepared by Rich Puchalsky of Grassroots Connection.
June 12, 2001