Cleanup underway following petrochemical facility fire in U.S. Texas

Houston, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Cleanup was underway after chemicals from a petrochemical facility fire spilled into nearby waterways in the Greater Houston region, Texas, the United States, according to a press conference Saturday.

During the press conference, officials said that three tanks caught fire again Friday which caused contaminated liquid in a dike to spill into the waterways.

The incident led to the closing of a stretch of the Houston Ship Channel, and officials said there's no timetable on when it will reopen. There's also no estimate on how many days the problems at the facility will last.

The U.S. Coast Guard Gulf Strike Team was called in to help with the cleanup efforts and officials from local Office of Emergency Management (OEM) promised to work 24 hours a day until they feel there is no potential for anything to happen.

The fire first erupted on Sunday at the Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) Deer Park, about 40 km southeast of downtown Houston.

The fire was extinguished on Wednesday morning, but a flare occurred on Wednesday and Friday, which caused further concerns over environmental safety.

After the fire was extinguished Wednesday, environmental teams Thursday morning detected increased levels of benzene around the affected area.

The City of Deer Park issued a shelter-in-place Thursday morning, but it later lifted the order because of a "sustained period of improved readings."

According to ITC, the first tank that caught fire contains naphtha, which may cause irritation to eyes and the respiratory system. The fire then spread to a second tank containing xylene, which may cause skin irritation. Both naphtha and xylene are gasoline components.

Another tank that caught fire early Monday morning contains Toluene, which is used in nail polish remover, glue and paint thinner.

The ITC Deer Park terminal has 13.1 million barrels of capacity, which it uses to store all kinds of petrochemical liquids and gases, as well as fuel oil, bunker oil and distillates. Enditem