Formosa Plastics shut its 681,000 mt/year Olefins No. 1 steam cracker after a fire hit its Point Comfort, Texas, site Thursday, the company told state regulators.
"Loss of containment at the Quench Tower Overhead resulted in a fire," the company said in a filing Friday with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
The plant's emergency response team "responded to control and extinguish the fire, [and the] unit vented process gases to elevated flare for control of emissions," the filing said.
Company spokesman Steve Rice said the fire was "very localized, with no injuries. Still assessing the situation, but we've limited access to the site in an abundance of caution."
The filing said the associated emissions event would run through Sunday morning, while Rice noted the emissions estimates were initial projections only.
A source with knowledge of company operations said it was unclear when the Olefins No. 1 unit would restart.
