Agency: Texas chemical plant lacked plan for Harvey floods

DALLAS – The federal agency that investigates industrial accidents is offering muted criticism of the Houston-area chemical plant that flooded last year during Hurricane Harvey and partially exploded.

Officials with the U.S. Chemical Safety Board said Thursday that said crews for Arkema Inc. worked “to the best of their ability” to keep the equipment that cooled and stabilized its organic peroxides from losing power.

But Arkema’s emergency plans hadn’t accounted for high flood waters despite years of increasingly severe weather in the Houston region and a 2016 warning from its insurance company that the plant in Crosby was at risk.

Mark Wingard, the lead investigator with the safety board, says relying on personal information from employees about the potential flood levels “might not prepare you for the worst-case scenario.”