Sulfuric Acid Spills Into Houston Ship Channel
Over the weekend, a ruptured pipe spilled an industrial quantity of sulfuric acid into the water at a chemical terminal on the Houston Ship Channel, according to local officials in Channelview, Texas.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, the BWC Terminals facility in Channelview sustained a leak, releasing one million gallons of sulfuric acid. Part of that spill went into the water, but most went into a containment area on shore, the terminal said in a statement to local media.
At a press conference Saturday, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo told reporters that it appears that a catwalk at the site had collapsed and ruptured a pipe connected to an acid tank. Sheriffs' deputies added that it was a six-inch supply pipe, and that the leak started at about 0200 and continued until about 0600 hours, according to KTRK.
Two people were briefly hospitalized with breathing problems, but have since been released. The crews of two nearby berthed merchant ships were also evaluated. There were no effects on traffic in the ship channel, Judge Hidalgo said.
Air quality was unaffected, she said, and environmental monitoring is planned to determine effects on aquatic life. So far, no impacts have been reported.
BWC is a leading tank terminal operator in North America, with about two dozen sites and a wide variety of services. The largest share of its infrastructure is along the Gulf Coast, including five sites on the Houston Ship Channel and Galveston Bay. The Saturday incident occurred at its Jacintoport terminal, located in a small harbor just off the main ship channel.
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