DuPont revises estiale of deadly chemical leak in La Porte

[Winehole23]

About 23,000 pounds of a flammable, foul-smelling toxic gas leaked from the DuPont chemical plant in La Porte where four workers died earlier this month, the company said Saturday.


That’s significantly more than the 100 pounds of methyl mercaptan that DuPont estimated had escaped the plant in its initial report, and was enough to asphyxiate the four workers and hospitalize another.


Companies are required to report all releases of at least 100 pounds of the gas to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. DuPont said it revised its initial estimate after determining how much gas was in the plant’s pipes and vessels before and after the tragedy.


“The release occurred inside a process building at the site’s Crop Protection unit and dissipated from openings in that structure over time,” the company said in a statement.

http://www.texastribune.org/2014/11/...nds-toxic-gas/

[Winehole23]

The plant, about 30 miles southeast of Houston, makes products like alcohol resins and a popular insecticide called Lannate.


In the past five years, the TCEQ has cited it at least two dozen times for violating state law. The plant has failed to perform routine safety inspections, keep equipment in proper working order and prevent unauthorized pollution leaks, according to violation notices issued by the agency. In a few instances, the agency demanded fines of a few thousand dollars from DuPont for more serious lapses.



But the unauthorized leaks of toxic chemicals are common in Texas. Thousands — and even millions — of pounds of toxic chemicals beyond what permits allow have spewed from the state's facilities, as The Texas Tribune has reported. Though many of those events were close calls that prompted evacuations at worst, some triggered deadly explosions that, in turn, caused even more gas to be released.


Since 2009, Texas chemical manufacturers have reported at least 19 other unauthorized releases of methyl mercaptan, according to state data. DuPont’s was the only methyl mercaptan release that killed or injured workers during that period.

[Winehole23]

"DuPont revises estimate...."

[boutons_deux]

"TCEQ has cited it at least two dozen times for violating state law"

citatations! EXTREMELY PAINFUL, EXPENSIVE CI ing TATIONS!

TCEQ! the baddest regulator in the world, handin out them citations like date rape pills at a frat party.

[FromWayDowntown]

It sounds a lot like DuPont reported a leak that it knew involved at least 100 pounds of toxins and then revised the report.

With that said, one wonders about the utility of regulations that require reporting of minimal amounts as an initial matter when the danger posed by the leak could be at its highest. If this was any state other than Texas, I'd expect that there would be a stair-stepped approach to reporting requirements. But in Texas, where any regulation of business is apparently an absolute taboo (for everything other than women's health facilities that provide abortion services and plaintiff's lawyers, it seems), requiring the regulated to provide only bare minimums in initial reporting is probably to be expected.

[Bender]

"DuPont revises estimate...."

I was wondering what the estiale meant. WH has a better vocabulary than most on this board, so I thought it might be a big word I have never heard of. Or maybe french.

[boutons_deux]

BigCarbon OWNS Texas, don't need no steenkin regulations.

TCEQ!

[mouse]

In other news Monsanto purchased the patient for water.

[Winehole23]

DuPont reported regular malfunctions with a multimillion-dollar exhaust and ventilation system inside its La Porte pesticide plant that exposed workers to potentially dangerous fumes for years before a catastrophic release killed four there on Nov. 15, public records obtained by the Houston Chronicle reveal.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news...ly-6010262.php

[FromWayDowntown]

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news...ly-6010262.php

The addendum to this story will be the "tort reform" legislation that shields DuPont from any liability for its indifference to its workforce.

[boutons_deux]

For BigCorp, employee and environmental protection are costs to be minimized. Profits ALWAYS trump employees, the environment.

[RandomGuy]

BigCarbon OWNS Texas, don't need no steenkin regulations.

TCEQ!

In this I don't disagree with you.

The Texas government generally is almost run entirely by business interests. This is a double edged sword for Tea partiers, who have to actually contend with dimly more moderate Republicans.

Anything that has even a whiff of being "anti-business" is ruthlessly crushed, so all any special interest has to do, is use that dog whistle and the Lege obliges.

In this environment consumers and people without money are, to put it mildly, marginalized.

[boutons_deux]

In this I don't disagree with you.

The Texas government generally is almost run entirely by business interests. This is a double edged sword for Tea partiers, who have to actually contend with dimly more moderate Republicans.

Anything that has even a whiff of being "anti-business" is ruthlessly crushed, so all any special interest has to do, is use that dog whistle and the Lege obliges.

In this environment consumers and people without money are, to put it mildly, marginalized.

but it kills you to say "I agree with The Great Boutons!"

"consumers and people without money are, to put it mildly, marginalized."

in our kleptocratic, plutocratic corporatocracy, mythically a democracy "for the people", Human-Americans, voters, anybody outside of the corporatocracy don't count for , their votes don't count, they are truly marginalized, disenfranchised, and finally disaffected from political life, which is EXACTLY what the VRWC/Repugs want, because they only way they win is when voter turnout is low (eg, 2014 elections, lowest in 70 years). briefer, America is un ed and un able.

[RandomGuy]

but it kills you to say "I agree with The Great Boutons!"

"consumers and people without money are, to put it mildly, marginalized."

in our kleptocratic, plutocratic corporatocracy, mythically a democracy "for the people", Human-Americans, voters, anybody outside of the corporatocracy don't count for , their votes don't count, they are truly marginalized, disenfranchised, and finally disaffected from political life, which is EXACTLY what the VRWC/Repugs want, because they only way they win is when voter turnout is low (eg, 2014 elections, lowest in 70 years). briefer, America is un ed and un able.

It doesn't kill me to agree with you. You are given to hyperbole at times, but I have become a bit more angry and aghast as the corporatist drift the US has taken in my lifetime. Personally I view you as something akin to my id.

There is a kernel of truth in a lot of what you say, just as there is one in some of the Infowars articles that get posted constantly by the likes of Cosmored et al. The fun is seeing what the evidence actually shows.

I think you would be a more effective advocate, if you toned it down a bit, but I think we have talked about that before. FWIW. I think if you put half the energy into finding and posting solutions that you put into complaining about problems, the forum would be a lot more fun.

Well meant and freely given.

[RandomGuy]

the unauthorized leaks of toxic chemicals are common in Texas. Thousands — and even millions — of pounds of toxic chemicals beyond what permits allow have spewed from the state's facilities, as The Texas Tribune has reported.

I would challenge any Republican to give me a solution to this problem.

What SHOULD we do when companies release toxic chemicals into our land/air/water?

Nothing?