Roughly 1M gallons of spent sulfuric acid leak at Channelview facility: officials

CHANNELVIEW, Texas - Roughly 1 million gallons of spent sulfuric acid leaked from a storage tank at a Channelview facility on Saturday morning, some of the chemical spilling into the ship channel, officials say.

Two people were taken to the hospital, and dozens more were evaluated at the scene.

Chemical spill in Channelview

What we know:

The Harris County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to BWC Terminals in the 16300 block of Jacintoport Boulevard around 2 a.m. Saturday after a catwalk fell and created a sulfuric acid leak at the bulk liquid storage facility.

Judge Hidalgo said the incident involved a tank that held approximately 1 million gallons of the chemical. BWC Terminals says the majority of the spent sulfuric acid was released into the facility's designated containment area, but an unknown amount did enter water.

Deputies said two people who work at a company downwind from the facility were taken to the hospital with respiratory issues as a result of the leak. They were released later Saturday morning.

Another 38 people from two ships docked at the San Jacinto Port were evaluated at the scene.

The Channelview Fire Department, Harris County Fire Marshal's Office, the EPA and the U.S. Coast Guard have responded to the scene to assist with monitoring and mitigation.

What we don't know:

Once the spill is cleaned up, investigators will be able to determine what caused the gangway to collapse.

What they're saying:

A representative of BWC says the spill has been localized, remediation is underway, and all employees are accounted for and safe. She says the company is working with local and federal authorities to remediate and mitigate impacts to the community and the environment.

In a statement, BWC Terminals said, "At approximately 1:40 a.m., an incident occurred involving a spent sulfuric acid storage tank at BWC Terminals’ Jacintoport facility.

The incident involved a 25,000-barrel storage tank containing approximately 1 million gallons of spent sulfuric acid. The majority of this material was released into the facility’s designated containment area. However, an unknown amount of product did enter the water at the Jacintoport slip off the Houston Ship Channel, but there have been no reported impacts on marine life, and the Houston Ship Channel remains open.

Emergency response teams and regulatory authorities remain on site and are actively engaged. Continuous air monitoring is underway to ensure the safety of employees and the surrounding community. BWC Terminals is working closely with appropriate agencies to manage the situation and mitigate any potential environmental impact.

All employees at BWC Terminals are safe and accounted for. A total of 44 individuals were evaluated on-site, and two were transported to a local hospital for further evaluation and treatment; both have since been released.

The safety of our employees, local communities, and the environment remains our top priority.

The cause of the incident is still under investigation. We will continue to provide updates as additional information becomes available."

Community impacts

No shelter-in-place:

Officials say air monitoring is being conducted, and levels are currently normal. The leak did not cause a shelter-in-place to be ordered. Maj. Joseph Blendermann said only the ships located at the docks were contained.

Ship channel:

The ship channel remains open, but the portion near the spill is seeing impacts.

"The ship channel is open, there's no threat to the public," Blendermann said. "The only area right now that's contained is the docks right here at Jacintoport."

Environmental impacts:

Judge Hidalgo says there are no nearby recreational water areas. On Saturday morning, she said there were no reports of dead fish, but it's not yet safe to go in and evaluate the impacts further.

Traffic impacts:

The only traffic being impacted at this time is coming into the area of the impacted facility.