The evacuation zone was lifted Monday around the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas after flooding resulted in explosions and fires throughout the weekend.
The Houston Chronicle reported a controlled burn destroyed six final trailers of decomposing chemicals, prompting authorities to life the 1.5-mile evacuation zone.
“Arkema will continue to work with its neighbors and the community to recover from the substantial impact of Hurricane Harvey,” the statement said from Crosby firefighters and a unified command post.
The plant originally had nine containers of chemicals that needed to be cooled but when electricity was lost in the flooding, company officials warned the chemicals would likely explode and burn. And that’s what happened, beginning with three explosions and fires on Friday. On Sunday, the company announced it had destroyed the last six containers of chemicals.
The Harris County Fire Marshal’s office did not reveal how it ignited the vehicles but earlier, company officials said the safest way to manage the volatile organic peroxides was to let the chemicals burn on their own.
The all-clear came after some controversy developed over how many chemicals were stored at the plant and what kinds. Last week, the company finally provided a list of the chemicals but did not indicate how much was stored.