"A string of explosions involving little-regulated petroleum and chemical storage tanks have lawmakers and regulators talking about new rules as the Legislature prepares to convene this month."

"Deer Park residents sheltered in place. The Houston Ship Channel shut down. Toxic chemicals spilled during Hurricane Harvey. And just last month, seven people were injured in a Corpus Christi fire.

These are the incidents that some Texas lawmakers have in mind as they push to require new standards on above-ground chemical storage tanks during the upcoming legislative session.

The recent fire in Corpus Christi started at an oil storage tank. Another fire at a leaking tank farm at a petrochemical plant in Deer Park shut down the ship channel in March 2019 and created a huge plume of smoke that could be seen miles away. And during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, flooding caused a massive fire at Arkema’s chemical storage facility when power was lost, forcing 200 people to evacuate."

Erin Douglas reports for the Texas Tribune January 5, 2021. [2]