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Texas Petrochemical Plant Fire Sends 9 Workers to Hospital

By The Associated Press

May 6, 2023US

A fire burns at a Shell chemical facility in Deer Park, east of Houston, on May 5, 2023. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP)

HOUSTON—Fire erupted at a petrochemical plant in the Houston area Friday, sending nine workers to a hospital and causing a huge plume of smoke visible for miles.

Emergency responders were called to help around 3 p.m. at the Shell facility in Deer Park, a suburb east of Houston. The city of Deer Park said in an advisory that there was no shelter-in-place order for residents.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said earlier in the day that five contracted employees were hospitalized for precautionary reasons, adding that they were not burned. He said they were taken to a hospital due to heat exhaustion and proximity to the fire.

Shell Deer Park officials said on Twitter Friday night that they were continuing to respond to the fire, all workers were accounted for and nine workers had been released after undergoing precautionary medical evaluations.

Nothing exploded, Gonzalez said, although the sheriff’s office initially responded to emergency calls saying there was an explosion.

As of Friday evening, the fire was still burning but had died down and was contained, Gonzalez said.

The cause of the blaze was still being investigated. The fire started while the olefins unit was undergoing routine maintenance. Air monitoring for any impact from the fire was ongoing, and had not detected any harmful levels of chemicals, Shell Deer Park said.

“There is no danger to the nearby community,” the post said.

A fire burns at a Shell chemical facility in Deer Park, east of Houston, on May 5, 2023. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP)

The fire started at about 2:56 p.m. in the facility’s olefins unit. The product that ignited includes cracked heavy gas oil, cracked light gas oil and gasoline, Shell Deer Park said.

“The cause of the fire will be the subject of a future investigation, and our immediate priorities remain the safety of people and the environment,” facility officials said.

Shell was conducting its own air quality monitoring, but the city has yet to receive an update, said Kaitlyn Bluejacket, a spokesperson for Deer Park.

The city was advised by Shell that there was no need at the time to shelter in place, but that the city would update residents if that changed, Bluejacket said.

Fire crews from the Deer Park facility and nearby plants responded.

Wind conditions were favorable for fighting the blaze, although temperatures soared to near 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the Houston area, but high humidity made it feeler hotter than 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Harris County Fire Marshal Captain James Singleton said his office would be in Deer Park through the weekend investigating.

“You’re looking at a large number of people that need to be interviewed,” Singleton said. “Everyone who was at the unit at the time of the fire, the controllers, management, anybody that called 911.”

Houston meteorologists said the smoke plumes were visible from space via satellite.

Facility fires are not uncommon in the area, with the strong presence of the petrochemical industry. In March, an explosion and a fire erupted at a facility owned by INEOS Phenol in nearby Pasadena, Texas, leaving one injured.

A fire in 2019 at a facility owned by Intercontinental Terminals Company burned for days and though it caused no injuries, it triggered air quality warnings.

By Juan Lozano and Acacia Coronado

Petrochemical plant fire in US sends 5 workers to hospital

An olefins unit burns in fire at Shell Deer Park, Texas chemical plant in this screengrab obtained from social media on May 5, 2023, in Deer Park, Texas, U.S. (Reuters)

The Associated Press
Published: 06 May ,2023

Fire erupted at a petrochemical plant in the Houston area Friday, leaving five workers hospitalized and sending up a huge plume of smoke visible for miles.

Emergency responders were called to help around 3 p.m. at the Shell facility in Deer Park, a suburb east of Houston. The city of Deer Park said in an advisory that there was no shelter-in-place order for residents.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said five contracted employees were hospitalized for precautionary reasons, adding that they were not burned. He said they were taken to a hospital due to heat exhaustion and proximity to the fire.

Nothing exploded, Gonzalez said, although the sheriff’s office initially responded to emergency calls saying there was an explosion.

As of Friday evening, the fire was still burning but had died down and was contained, Gonzalez said.

The cause of the blaze was still being investigated. Officials said they were monitoring the air for any impact from the fire but so far there was nothing that was concerning.

The fire at Shell’s Deer Park Chemicals facility started at about 2:56 p.m. in the olefins unit, the company said on Twitter. The product that ignited includes cracked heavy gas oil, cracked light gas oil and gasoline, according to Shell Deer Park.

“The cause of the fire will be the subject of a future investigation, and our immediate priorities remain the safety of people and the environment,” Shell Deer Park said.

Shell was conducting its own air quality monitoring, but the city has yet to receive an update, said Kaitlyn Bluejacket, a spokesperson for Deer Park. She said they have been advised by Shell that there is no need at the time to shelter in place, but that the city would update residents if that changed.

Fire crews from the plant, as well as nearby plants responded.

Wind conditions were favorable for fighting the blaze, although temperatures soared to near 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 degrees Celsius) in the Houston area, but high humidity made it feeler hotter than 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius.)

Harris County Fire Marshal Captain James Singleton said his office would be in Deer Park through the weekend and was working to figure out what happened.

“You’re looking at a large number of people that need to be interviewed,” Singleton said. “Everyone who was at the unit at the time of the fire, the controllers, management, anybody that called 911.”

Houston meteorologists said the smoke plumes were visible from space, via satellite.

Facility fires are not uncommon in the area, with the strong presence of the petrochemical industry. In March, an explosion and a fire erupted at a facility owned by INEOS Phenol in nearby Pasadena, Texas, leaving one injured.

A fire in 2019 at a facility owned by Intercontinental Terminals Company burned for days and though it caused no injuries, it triggered air quality warnings.

 

Explosion causes massive fire at Texas refinery plant

TEHRAN, May 06 (MNA) – An explosion and fire wracked a refinery in a Deer Park industrial complex jointly owned by Mexican oil company Pemex and Shell Chemicals on Friday.

The fire is on the Shell portion of the plant, the Houston Chronicle reports. Shell advised that the fire would be contained within the facility and there was no threat to the public, according to Fire Fighter Nation.

The fire broke out at about 3 p.m. at the facility near Texas 225. Plant fire crews responded and the plant began burning off oil through nearby flares.

Firefighters from nearby industrial departments were responding to help.

There was no shelter in place order for the public. Initial reports said two people suffered minor injuries in the fire, but everyone was thought to be accounted for

Fire rages at Shell chemical plant in Texas

Firefighters have been combating a huge blaze at a Shell chemical plant in Deer Park, Texas, apparently caused by an explosion.

No deaths have been reported, but a few employees are "undergoing medical evaluation as a precaution" after being "exposed to a product", according to Deer Park's Office of Emergency.

Shell said the cause of the blaze was being investigated.

U.S. 'geo-economics' strategy for global hegemony has historical roots: economist

CGTN

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 6, 2023. /CFP

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's recent layout of the U.S. "geo-economics" strategy has historical roots, which advocates that the United States should achieve its geo-political dominance through military as well as economic means, a Pakistani economist said in a recent interview.

When the United States had become a global hegemon decades ago, "it is argued that America should pursue its geo-political ends not just militarily but by primarily employing international economic relations, not in cooperative pursuit of mutual advantage but as an adversarial, winner-take-all war," said Arshad Zaman, a former chief economist at the Ministry of Planning in Pakistan.

In a recent speech, Yellen, despite calling for "constructive" engagement between the world's two largest economies, said national security is "of paramount importance" in the U.S. relationship with China. "China's economic growth need not be incompatible with U.S. economic leadership," she said.

Noting that the U.S. treasury secretary's remarks laid out in public the "geo-economics" strategy of the current administration, Zaman told Xinhua News Agency that U.S. trade restrictions have already exerted a significant impact on U.S.-China trade relations, on the two economies and on global economic recovery.

Zaman, who is also a former senior economist with the World Bank, said that this U.S.-imposed trade war did not only raise import costs for American businesses and lowered sales for Chinese exporters, but had also disrupted global supply chains, which led to higher costs for businesses and consumers around the world.

Other measures including restrictions on Chinese investment in the United States and the blacklisting of Chinese companies have made it harder for Chinese companies to do business in the United States, and have eventually created uncertainty for American businesses that have relationships with them, he added.

Regarding the concerns that Washington's bullying nature would push it toward decoupling with Beijing, he noted that the United States has sought to restrict China's access to advanced technologies like semiconductors and artificial intelligence, pushing for decoupling in some sectors.

In the short term, this would likely lead to higher costs for businesses and consumers, reduced efficiency and slower growth, Zaman said.

In the long term, Zaman added, decoupling could lead to the fragmentation of supply chains and standards in the global economy, potentially reducing the benefits of globalization and cooperation.

"It is important, therefore, for the U.S. to find ways to cooperate and manage its differences with China, to avoid a further escalation of tensions and potential economic disruption," said the economist.

(With input from Xinhua)

International Conference on the Genocide of the Kurdish People Calls for Compensation and Recognition

2023-05-04 

Shafaq News/ The supervisory committee of the International Scientific Conference on the Genocide of the Kurdish People (the genocide of the Fayli Kurds) has called for the Iraqi Parliament to issue a special law to compensate the victims of the genocide, specifically the Fayli Kurds, return their properties, and define a global day for the genocide against the Kurds.

The supervisory committee of the conference stated in the final recommendations of the conference that "this conference was organized under the supervision of President Barzani from May 2 to May 4, 2023, in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region."

The committee added, "A supreme committee consisting of the presidents of Saladin, Soran, and Dohuk universities was formed to hold this conference. More than 160 short papers and 88 research papers from 25 countries were submitted to the conference's scientific committee during the three-day event."

The committee explained that "after discussions and receiving suggestions from conference participants, and in light of President Barzani's recommendations within the framework of the ninth conference, we call for a national institution to reorganize the administration, monitoring, and service of the various aspects of the Kurdish family's genocide. A center for the Fayli Kurds should be established in Erbil. At this stage, all conference recommendations should become a detailed roadmap for action."

The recommendations included; "a proposal for the Iraqi state to join the Rome Statute, and we suggest that the Iraqi Parliament issue a law regarding Iraq's signing of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The Iraqi state signed this convention in 1959, but it is not implemented at the domestic level in Iraq, and Iraq's membership in this convention has not yet been established by law."

The conference also recommended, "The Iraqi Parliament should issue a law specific to a permanent Supreme Court for crimes, particularly those related to genocide and crimes against humanity. The Iraqi Parliament should also issue a law regarding the allocation of an annual special budget for compensating the victims and those affected by the genocide of the Kurdish people in general and the Faili Kurds specifically."

In addition, the conference called for "the Iraqi government to apologize to the Fayli Kurds and all the Kurdish people who were subjected to genocide, Anfal crimes, chemical bombings, and displacement by successive governments in Iraq, and recognize that the current Iraqi government is the successor to the previous governments."

"The Iraqi legislator should legislate a national law specifically for genocide crimes. The Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government should include the topic of genocide in university curricula, especially in the Faculty of Humanities. The Iraqi government should also resolve identity and nationality issues and return confiscated movable and immovable properties to the Faili Kurds."

The communique called on the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to "work and intensify efforts to find the remains of the Fayli Kurds and return them to a deserving place, such as a national cemetery, and increase the quota seats for the Faili Kurds in the Iraqi Parliament."

"after discussions and receiving suggestions from conference participants, and in light of President Barzani's recommendations within the framework of the ninth conference, we call for a national institution to reorganize the administration, monitoring, and service of the various aspects of the Kurdish family's genocide. A center for the Fayli Kurds should be established in Erbil. At this stage, all conference recommendations should become a detailed roadmap for action."

The recommendations included; "A proposal for the Iraqi state to join the Rome Statute, and we suggest that the Iraqi Parliament issue a law regarding Iraq's signing of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The Iraqi state signed this convention in 1959, but it is not implemented at the domestic level in Iraq, and Iraq's membership in this convention has not yet been established by law."

The conference also recommended, "The Iraqi Parliament should issue a law specific to a permanent Supreme Court for crimes, particularly those related to genocide and crimes against humanity. The Iraqi Parliament should also issue a law regarding the allocation of an annual special budget for compensating the victims and those affected by the genocide of the Kurdish people in general and the Fayli Kurds specifically."

In addition, the conference called for "the Iraqi government to apologize to the Faili Kurds and all the Kurdish people who were subjected to genocide, Anfal crimes, chemical bombings, and displacement by successive governments in Iraq, and recognize that the current Iraqi government is the successor to the previous governments."

The invasion of Iraq defined US’ foreign relations – but in popular Iraqi literature, the war is just a piece of the country’s complex history

2023-04-28 

Shafaq News/ It’s been just over 20 years since the United States invaded Iraq. Some Americans have largely forgotten about the invasion, despite the fact the Sept. 11 attacks that precipitated it still loom large in U.S. national memory. Even during the heart of the war in 2006, most young Americans could not find Iraq on a map.

Many Iraqis, though, have a more nuanced, deeper understanding of the country’s recent history: An understanding which can be seen in their literature – and particularly in the contemporary, post-invasion literature that scholars like me study.

For the past two decades, Iraqi literature in particular has undertaken a deep excavation of its recent past, going far beyond the confines of the U.S. invasion.

Iraqi literature sometimes reflects on the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, and the experience of immigration to Western countries – in addition to 9/11 and the United States’ 2003 invasion of Iraq following false claims of Saddam’s possessing weapons of mass destruction.

In other words, while many in the U.S. have focused on Iraq through the lens of the 2003 invasion, these events are not the heart of contemporary Iraqi literature.

Literary timelines of Iraqi history

The short stories of Hassan Blasim and Diaa Jubaili, two modern Iraqi storytellers who have both found critical acclaim in Western media, offer a way to understand some of the literary narratives of recent Iraqi history.

Blasim, a filmmaker and writer born in Baghdad in 1973, currently lives in Finland. Jubaili, born in 1977 in Basra near the borders with Kuwait and Iran, has remained in Basra.

Their stories present the U.S. invasion and its consequences as part of a longer history of foreign occupations and internal political violence in Iraq.

This history of violence, their fiction suggests, has roots in the mid-20th century. During that time, newly independent Iraq’s successive governments, and their foreign backers, attempted to chart a path forward for the country.

Blasim and Jubaili show that it is the intervening decades, as opposed to just the U.S. invasion in 2003, that have come to define modern Iraq.

In fact, several of their short stories are written about Iraq’s previous wars and the dictatorship of Saddam, with no reference to the U.S. invasion. When their stories do reference the invasion, it is often as one of a litany of violent events.

Somewhat improbably, many of their stories creatively retell a broad swath of Iraqi history in just a few short pages – an undertaking that might make a historian or political scientist break out in hives.

How could one possibly reduce such complexity to a few pages?

To quote Jubaili: “There is no need to write a story with a lot of words when the idea behind it can only sustain a few lines.”

Simple ideas

Jubaili’s themes – entailing the disorientation caused by cyclical wars – – seem to be summed up in a single line in one of his stories, “The Frog.”

In this story, an enterprising man realizes he will turn a large profit selling frogs that he catches in Basra’s Shatt al-Arab river to East Asian oil refinery workers. One day, he catches a “giant frogman” who has been living in the river since the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. Disoriented, the frogman panics, asking the frog catcher: “Is the war over?”

Which war, indeed? By virtue of its geographic position, Basra was at the epicenter of the eight-year war between Iraq and Iran in the 1980s.

But Iraq also experienced political revolutions in 1991, during which armed Kurdish and Shiite minorities attempted to depose Saddam. Iraq also invaded Kuwait in 1990 because of territorial ambitions. This led the United Nations to issue crippling economic sanctions for the next 13 years.

Like the frogman, the lives of Jubaili’s characters are marked by many of these events.

A closer read

Where Jubaili’s stories are often absurd and vaguely humorous, Blasim’s prize-winning short stories are hard to read. His prose unflinchingly describes all manners of violence and human suffering.

In the 2014 short story “The Hole,” a man fleeing masked gunmen in Baghdad trips and falls into a deep pit. Quickly, he realizes that he is not the only person trapped there. There is another man: someone who claims to be a jinn – or genie – who fell in while fleeing persecutors during the Abbasid Caliphate, which ruled the area that is now Iraq from 750 to 1500 C.E. Also sharing the hole is the corpse of a Russian soldier from the Soviet-Finnish war, waged from 1939 to 1940.

After a few pages, a woman covered in electronics fleeing a dystopic, futuristic robot falls into the hole, as well. The hole becomes a metaphor for a chain that links “bloody fights, repetitive and disgusting” across time and space, according to the story.

History, it seems, acts as “a photocopier churning out copies” upon which are imprinted “the same face, a face shaped by pain and torment,” as Blasim writes.

In another of Blasim’s short stories, “The Madman of Freedom Square,” a man considered insane by the people of his town narrates three generations of his family history against the backdrop of the ebbs and flows of competing 20th-century political and religious ideologies.

In the story’s final lines, set in the present day, a stranger talks the unwitting narrator, “the madman of Freedom Square,” into wearing an explosives-strapped vest.

Ultimately, these stories encourage readers to elevate the importance of human lives over the events that are said to define them.

This literature resists narratives of the U.S. invasion as a supposedly exceptional event. It also resists the tokenized testimonies of the survivors of the occupation: those faces that are the usual focus of media coverage, academic scholarship and political punditry in the U.S.

And even in the stories’ insistence on the ever-presence of death, whether in Blasim’s macabre and violent tones or in Jubaili’s sometimes-humorous, sometimes-absurd ones, this literature becomes a metaphor for the immense fortitude that it takes to survive and give meaning to one’s world.

Source: The Conversation