2019 shutdown of Houston Ship Channel leads to lawsuits

group of energy companies have sued the Intercontinental Terminals Co. over what they called major financial damage resulting from last year’s closure of the Houston Ship Channel.

Rio Energy International, Gunvor USA, and Texas Aromatics are seeking $3 million combined in their lawsuits against ITC from losses following the Deer Park chemical fire, which shut down the waterway for a month.

The fire, which burned for three days last year, left more than 21 million gallons of water contaminated with hazardous chemicals and firefighting foam.

The three companies, which all transport crude oil and refined products through Houston’s ship channel, allege in separate lawsuits that when ITC’s chemical storage tanks caught fire and spilled thousands of barrels of gasoline, oil and other chemical products into Tucker Bayou, subsequent closures of the Houston Ship Channel cost their businesses hundreds of thousands dollars, primarily in lost profits from being unable to ship their products.

Source: Houston Chronicle