Dow Chemical, who experienced a chemical leak at their facility in Hahnville last summer, has reportedly had another incident at one of their Southeast Louisiana facilities. Breaking news from WWL reports
Officials in St. Charles Parish report a chemical leak at a facility in Norco.
It has crews evacuating some homes, closing 2 schools and shutting down roads.
Scott Whelchel is the emergency operation director for St. Charles Parish.
“We got a call this morning from Dow Chemical who actually has a unit within the Shell facility on the eastbank of our parish, and they had a unit that had a malfunction,” he told WWL First News. “What we are dealing with is a pool of the product within that unit. What will happen is that as it comes into contact with humidity, it will release a cloud of hydrogen chloride.”
Whelchel says the chemical that leaked is titanium tetrachloride.
As of now the incident appears to be under control. However, such chemical leaks are extremely dangerous and have been drawing the ire of environmental groups across the state and Gulf Coast for their frequency and possible harm to the public and surrounding plants, waterways and animals.
More information will be posted on this blog as it becomes available. For more information on our firm’s work with the Hahnville leak, check our section on the matter here or look at our articles relating to the incident on our blog here.