A chemical release at the Pemex refinery in Deer Park killed at least two people, injured several dozen, and prompted the issue of shelter-in-place orders for the Cities of Deer Park and Pasadena on Thursday night.
“We believe at this point that there are two persons deceased on scene,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said. “We don’t know if there could be more.”
Gonzalez also explained that emergency personnel have not been able “to actually make entry into the unit itself because it’s dynamic, and we want to render the area safe. That could take another 7 or 8 hours.”
Another 35 workers were triaged for care at the facility, said Gonzalez, during a press conference Thursday night.
The incident occurred at 4:40 p.m. Thursday afternoon when Pemex employees were working on a flange at the facility, Gonzalez said.
The chemical released is hydrogen sulfide, a colorless, flammable, toxic gas that is hazardous even in small amounts. It strongly smells of rotten eggs and can cause various health issues, from irritation to headaches to seizures.
“There are still some levels of this material that is a little bit elevated, but it’s contained within the complex itself,” Gonzalez said. “We want to make sure those levels are a little bit lower. We’d rather be cautious here rather than rushing in there and somebody else gets exposed.”
There are no concerning levels of hydrogen sulfide in the community surrounding the facility, according to air monitoring conducted by Harris County Pollution Control and the City of Deer Park.
“There may be smells in the community still, but we have double-checked and verified that there’s been no danger that we have been able to document that anything has gotten outside the complex,” said Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton.
Early on Thursday evening, the emergency offices of Pasadena and Deer Park urged residents to close all windows and doors, turn off air conditioners, and wait until the all-clear had been issued out of precaution. Both municipalities lifted the shelter-in-place orders by 10 p.m.
“We are aware of the odor but there is no hazard to the community,” the City of Deer Park said via X.
Deer Park also noted via X that their emergency text service is malfunctioning, and some residents may not receive alerts about the chemical release.
The sheriff’s office Office first tweeted about the explosion at 6:35 pm, confirming one death and indicating that another person had to be airlifted to receive medical attention.
Texas State Highway 225 was reopened after being closed in both directions near Beltway 8, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.
On the industry emergency response website, CAER, Shell Deer Park said it is “aware of and responding to an incident that occurred at another company within the boundaries of the complex. This is not a Shell Deer Park incident.”
The company added that they are “doing a controlled slow down as a precaution and there will be flaring from our facility as part of our response measure.”
However, because the incident occurred on the Pemex property, Pemex is ultimately the company held accountable for the leak, Gonzalez said.
Eileen Grench contributed to this report.
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