Chemical leak, explosion at Texas Gulf Coast plant injures four workers
10/2/2015 12:00:00 AM
A medical helicopter was called in to respond to a chemical plant explosion at the SunEdison facility in Pasadena, Texas, news reports said on Friday.
An explosion was reported at approximately 7:50 a.m. on Friday morning at the plant in suburban Houston. Four workers were injured, with authorities saying that all are in stable condition.
A neighboring plant owned by specialty chemicals producer Albemarle was initially identified as the site of the blast, but company officials said there was no incident at that facility.
Instead, the blast came from the neighboring SunEdison renewable energy plant.
There was no shelter-in-place issued. However, Houston's CBS affiliate KHOU reported that air views from a helicopter still showed smoke coming from the facility as of late Friday morning.
The fire and explosion happened after silane, a flammable gas, was released from a pipeline being worked on, according to a community safety alert. There were emissions of silicon dioxide, but the fire was extinguished and there was no danger posed to the public.
A spokesman for the Pasadena Police Department confirmed that four people were hurt. One was flown by a medical helicopter to Memorial Hermann-The Texas Medical Center in Houston, while the others were taken to Bayshore Medical Center. Details of their specific injuries were not immediately released.
Investigators are trying to determine what caused the blast.
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