CORPUS CHRISTI – A barge this morning struck and ruptured a gas pipeline at the Epic Products facility in the Corpus Christi ship channel and spread to a nearby grain elevator. The barge was completely engulfed in gas flames coming from under the water.
Employees are missing. Others have been transferred to Corpus Christi hospitals, two with severe burns have been airlifted to San Antonio.
Meanwhile Coastal Bend residents and first responders have been and still are being exposed to smoke and the potential for additional explosions.
The Port Authority is reported by local network news stations to claim that there is “no imminent harm” to the public safety while a local doctor warned of serious health impacts including the inability to breathe, heart attacks, and serious, life-threatening risks.
“The human damage from this terrible explosion and fire is a tragic and frightening example of why we must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and its highly volatile pipeline infrastructure,” said Brittany Garcia, Coastal Bend organizer with Texas Campaign for the Environment.
“Serious accidents like this are a reminder that we are under constant assault by an irresponsible industry that subjects us to dangerous accidents like this one and the ongoing load of air toxins. We must transition to a cleaner economy to protect the public, workers, and our environment. We feel great sympathy for the working people who have been injured, to the residents in 250 homes who live near this fire in the neighborhoods around Lantana St. and Up River Road in the Dona Park and Manchester Heights neighborhoods, and to the first responders, the facility fire fighters, the Corpus Christi Fire Department and the Coast Guard flight and sea crews,” continued García.
“Our people deserve better than this,” said Isabel Araiza with the For the Greater Good coalition.
“Heavy industry brings with it so much damage and harm. The threat to our safety is real; this, and the fire at the plastics plant in North Texas, are horrible reminders of the consequences of petro-chemical industries. The impact of this event will be long lasting. We cannot allow industry to continue to treat the beautiful Coastal Bend and our people as a sacrifice zone,” she said.
“The industry is self regulated,” said Love Sanchez with Indigenous People of the Coastal Bend. “This means that we here in Corpus Christi do not hear of their mishaps on things like injuries, fires, and air and pollution data, unless it makes the news like today’s event. They do internal investigations because they are a private industry. It’s sad and frustrating that our City and County officials keep allowing an industry that isn’t even a top employer in our city to continue business like this. Our top employers are educators and healthcare workers here in Corpus Christi. The industry gets tax breaks like they are something special to our area. They are not. They continue to damage Mother Earth, and it’s time we end their reign of pollution and destruction. Prayers go up to the families involved today. These workers are not pawns. This industry has blinded many into thinking that’s all the work we got out there.”
Background Perspective
Toxic pollution and climate change are both driven by the shortsighted and wasteful practices of oil and gas companies. In the last several years, the oil and gas industry has targeted Texas for a massive expansion of fossil fuel export and plastics production infrastructure. Our allied organizations work to empower Texans to fight these dirty projects at every stage of the chain of pollution — from wellheads in the fracking fields and pipeline routes criss-crossing the state, to petrochemical plants, new proposed plastics facilities and export terminals up and down the Gulf Coast. The organization works to promote projects that create new jobs in sectors like solar, wind, and energy efficient construction.
Industry giants are targeting the Texas Gulf Coast to build numerous export terminals and massive new petrochemical facilities. Adding this fuel to the fire would be nothing short of catastrophic. It’s time to end our reliance on dangerous fossil fuels.
(For further information, contact Brittany Garcia, (361) 660-9401, Brittany@texasenvironment.org or Isabel Araiza, (361) 779-3927, Isabel.Araiza.ortiz@gmail.com)
