The USCG eliminated, on March 7, the traffic located along a specific area of the Houston Ship Channel, after severe weather conditions halted cleanup operations that were being conducted because of the petrochemical fire and the chemical spill of the previous month.
As Reuters reports, the fire at Mitsui & Co’s Intercontinental Terminals Co in Deer Park, Texas, resulted to the destruction of 11 tanks that had millions of gallons of fuels stored, which would have been used to make gasoline and plastics.
The storm caused the operations in the upper portion of the waterway to be significantly decreased. In the meantime, one site that was used to check the vessels that were sailing through the areas where fuel was found, was shut down.
The outbound traffic was mitigated during daylight hours, despite the fact that inbound traffic continued.
Additionally, the 2nd 80’s Fire Response Unified Command, a group overseeing the ITC cleanup stated
Unified Command will assess the impacts of the wind and rain early Monday morning to document any product movement and make a plan for the coming week as its operations continue.
The limitations posed on traffic have resulted to the disruption of operations at two oil refineries along the channel, which is home to nine refineries and connects Houston to the Gulf of Mexico.
