2 People Hurt in Plant Explosion

PASADENA, Texas - A chemical-filled tank explosion at a Seabrook plant exploded injured two people and placed thousands more on alert Wednesday morning.

Those two workers were not seriously injured, but were taken from here to a hospital as precautionary measure. And just about everyone east of Interstate 45 was asked to shelter-in-place.

From the air, the American Acryl Chemical Plant was a charred, mangled mess.

A spokesperson for the states top environmental agency says a tank full of toluene, water and acrylic acid caught fire, then exploded.

"The plant was operating normally, and I have no information as to the cause right now." American Acyrl Plant General Manager Joe Goins said.

Chuck Pinto, the Seabrook City Manager, said the explosion took place north of the city in the plant at the 12100 Port Road in Pasadena.

"It rattled the windows and there was a cloud," Seabrook Police Department Lt. Sean Wright said.

Between 10 and 15 employees were working near the tank when it exploded.

“All employees have been accounted for," Goins said.

Two were hospitalized as a precaution. Police shut down roads just in case.

"We set up a perimeter, diverted traffic and the city issued a shelter in place," Sean Wright said.

But not everyone knew about it. Former Mayor Tem Dee Wright says she's registered to receive the city's emergency alerts, but never got the call.

"For some reason why, my cell phone didn’t work,” Dee Wright said. “They said my cell isn’t on their system."

The plant manager says the chemicals never made it into the air, but a TCEQ spokesperson says the agency is waiting on the results of air quality testing conducted by a Harris County hazardous materials team.

The plant already has two monitoring violations on file with the agency. Former council member Ted Mccollom remembers an effort to keep them out of Seabrook in the 90's.

“This obviously makes you reconsider what happened in those days, but American Acyrl in general has been a good corporate sponsor," McCollom said.

The plant manager says an investigation into what exactly happened will take place, but he would not elaborate on what that investigation will include.

-- See the plant's compliance history report: http://media2.myfoxhouston.com/news/2009-12-09/ameracry.pdf