ITC tank farm dike wall partially collapses: Update

A dike wall at Intercontinental Terminals' (ITC) facility partially collapsed this afternoon releasing foam used to extinguish a fire there this week into the Houston Ship Channel.

The dike along Tucker's Bayou collapsed at approximately 1:15pm ET according to the City of Deer Park, Texas, office of emergency management. The US Coast Guard closed a section of the ship channel from Tucker's Bayou to light 116 shortly thereafter.

ITC sent out a shelter-in-place notification to industrial neighbors and the San Jacinto Texas State Historic Site, but has not yet extended it to the city of Deer Park.

A fire broke out at ITC on 17 March when a naphtha tank manifold leaked and ignited, according to a filing to state environmental monitors. The fire later spread to tanks holding toluene and xylene.

The fire was extinguished on 20 March after many days of fire crews covering the site in foam. High levels of benzene have been reported since then, leading to numerous shelter-in-place warnings, as the foam dissipates or washes away.