The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has released a new safety video on its investigation into the massive March 17, 2019, fire that burned for three days at the Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) facility in Deer Park, TX. The CSB’s new safety video below includes an animation of the incident and commentary from CSB Chairperson Steve Owens and Investigator-In-Charge Crystal Thomas. The CSB’s final investigation report on the incident was released in July 2023.
At the time of the incident, the ITC facility housed 242 aboveground storage tanks, which were used to store petrochemical products for various companies. Each tank could hold up to 80,000 barrels of flammable petrochemical liquids, including naphtha, toluene, xylene, and other gas blends.
On the morning of the incident, a circulation pump on one of the tanks failed, allowing a large quantity of a flammable liquid blend of butane and naphtha to escape from the tank and accumulate on the ground around it. The release went unnoticed and continued for approximately 30 minutes before flammable vapors around the tank ignited and caused the massive fire.
Once the fire erupted, ITC was unable to isolate or stop the release. The fire burned for three days, destroying 15 of the 80,000-barrel tanks and their contents, causing more than $150 million in property damage at the facility, and leading to several shelter-in-place orders that seriously disrupted the local community.
The incident also impacted the environment, as a containment wall around the tanks breached and released an estimated 470,000–523,000 barrels of hydrocarbon and petrochemical products, firefighting foam, and contaminated water that entered an adjacent bayou and eventually reached the Houston Ship Channel. A 7-mile stretch of the channel was closed, along with several waterfront parks in Harris County and the City of LaPorte.
Safety Video on ITC Facility
The safety video covers five key safety issues that contributed to the incident: pump mechanical integrity, flammable gas detection systems, remotely operated emergency isolation valves, tank farm design, and PSM and RMP applicability.