Emergency officials issued evacuation or shelter-in-place orders in the morning July 21 for some people in a Houston-area city because of a “chemical incident” at a plant in the area. The shelter-in-place order was lifted later in the day.
The order had been issued for parts of La Porte, a city about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Houston. La Porte Emergency Management said earlier that residents in the affected area should stay indoors, turn their air conditioning off and close windows.
Dow Chemical, which operates a plant in the area, said in a public alert message that a “release event” from a tank truck had occurred but did not specify what chemicals were involved.
Harris County Pollution Control said in a statement that a tank wagon over-pressurized, which caused a release of the chemical hydroxyethyl acrylate. The chemical can cause irritation of the nose and throat, the statement said.
An evacuation order remained in place for people within a half-mile (0.8 kilometer) of the plant, which is located in an industrial area.
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