A West Texas lawmaker is proposing a ban on the outdoor storage of hazardous chemicals near homes after a fire at an Odessa-area chemical facility last summer.
Last week, state Rep. Brooks Landgraf (R-Odessa) introduced a bill that would ban the outdoor storage of hazardous chemicals within 2,000 feet of homes.
Landgraf said in an interview the goal of the proposal is to protect Texans who live in unincorporated communities from “dangerous substances that also pose a fire risk” and is designed to apply in places “where there aren’t any other applicable laws.”
“Any regulated substances that are stored outdoors near a private residence is what we’re trying to prohibit,” he said.
The proposal comes in direct response to a massive fire that erupted last summer at an industrial facility on the outskirts of Odessa called Permian Basin Containers that is surrounded by a neighborhood.
Early in the morning on July 23, people who live near the facility were jolted awake by explosions and flames. Ruth Douthit remembered fleeing with her husband from their home that was located right behind the facility.
“All of a sudden everything blows up,” she said. “The fire’s 200-300 foot high…we felt the heat, it was horrible ”
The fire tore through the facility and the towers of large plastic totes filled with mysterious liquids that were packed into the property. Firefighters quickly responded to the blaze, but the water used to extinguish the fire flooded the surrounding area with noxious sludge.
The wreckage of the facility loomed over the neighborhood for months and people complained of an acrid smell that filled the area around Permian Basin Containers. Concerns around residents’ health and environmental contamination grew, leading to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality launching an investigation and nearby residents suing the owners of Permian Basin Containers.
In the days after the fire, Landgraf met with affected residents and pledged to look into the situation. He said there were no laws that would have prevented Permian Basin Containers from operating near a neighborhood, which is why the newly proposed restrictions are needed.
“This is about common sense and public safety,” Landgraf said in a statement announcing the legislation. “I’ve worked closely with the people impacted by the PBC fire in its aftermath. I want to make sure no West Texas family — or any Texas family — has to experience what our community went through last summer.”
His proposal would also require businesses that store hazardous chemicals outdoors to register with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and submit to annual inspections.
Landgraf said this bill is meant to address smaller-scale facilities like Permian Basin Containers and shouldn’t affect the “ whole host of other lawfully operating chemical storage facilities in other parts of the state.”
Since the chemical fire, Douthit said she has experienced health problems because of the fire. If Landgraf is successful in establishing new safeguards, she said that would be the “best thing that could’ve happened” as a result of this situation.
“It would mean a lot to me because I don’t want anybody else to have to go through what we have,” Douthit said.
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