Description
Twenty-one workers were injured Saturday morning when a fiery explosion rocked a Pasadena industrial plant.
About 270 workers were inside when a valve blew, sparking a flash-fire just at 10:22 a.m. at Kuraray America EVAL facility on Choate and Bay Area Boulevard in the southern Harris County, officials said.
Crews quickly doused the blaze, but 19 workers suffered burns and were taken by ambulance to local hospitals, according to John Krueger, spokesman for the La Porte Office of Emergency Management. Another two were flown to hospitals.
None of the injuries were life threatening, Krueger said. No shelter-in-place order was issued. Initial reports indicated 22 people were injured, but late Saturday officials revised that number to 21.
"There was never any release into the community or atmosphere, and we've done all the air monitoring," said corporate emergency manager Jeff Suggs.
Houston is the U.S. headquarters of Tokyo-based specialty chemical maker Kuraray, which employs about 800 people in the U.S. Kuraray America, Inc. produces dental, fiber, resin and elastomer products.
"We send our thoughts and prayers to those who were injured and impacted by today's incident," said Eric Bass, plant manager of the EVAL Plant of Kuraray America, Inc. "Our team is committed to determining the cause of the incident."
Preliminary findings indicate a pressure safety valve released ethylene, causing a flash fire in a process, officials said.
The EVAL plant opened in 1986. It's now the world's largest ethylene vinyl alcohol plant, capable of producing 47,000 tons annually. There are four production lines on site.
The company is expanding the plant to produce 58,000 tons a year. The project is expected to wrap up this year.
In 2016, the company opened its third and largest local facility in the Bayport area. That plant employs about 100 people and produces polyvinyl alcohol for paper, textiles and other uses.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Chemical Safety Board records show no past violations at the site.
Company officials said it would take at least a couple days to assess the damage and determine when operations can resume.
