Deer Park emergency alert system faced technical difficulties during PEMEX chemical spill – Houston Public Media

PEMEX

There was a lapse in communication between Deer Park officials and residents during a release of dangerous chemicals at the city’s PEMEX refinery last week, leaving people in the dark after the deaths of two workers at the facility.

Officials say an operating unit at the Pemex Deer Park refinery released hydrogen sulfide at 4:40 p.m. Thursday. The incident left two workers dead and another 35 injured.

However, more than 40 minutes after the chemical was released, PEMEX sent an emergency alert through the Community Awareness Emergency Response system about the flaring at the refinery.

“We are carrying out activities that could cause fires,” the company’s statement said on Thursday. “We are taking steps to minimize any noise, light or smoke associated with this burning activity. At this time, we are not aware of an impact on the community or our industrial neighbors.”

Deer Park police were notified of the release around 5:20 p.m., according to Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton, but the public was informed of the incident around 6:30 p.m. — nearly two hours after the incident. Deer Park officials eventually issued a shelter-in-place order that lasted until around 9:30 p.m.

Additionally, Deer Park’s own emergency alert system – CodeRED – also experienced delays in alerting the community on Thursday.

About a day after the incident, Deer Park officials said the delay in communication was due to “technical difficulties” that prevented the city from issuing emergency notifications through CodeRED “web-based platform or mobile application.”

“However, the team has successfully issued notifications by contacting CodeRED telephone customer support,” the statement said. “CodeRED has since resolved the technical issue and the system operates normally. The City of Deer remains committed to providing our community with timely and accurate emergency information.”

Luke Metzger, executive director of Environment Texas, told Houston Matters on Monday that the lack of communication has led to “a lot of confusion in the community” and added that the upgrade to a “more meaningful alert system” similar to an AMBER alert , could be beneficial.

“We should no longer tolerate this,” Metzger said. “We need the state, the federal government to come in and force these companies to comply with the law. Stop this pollution. Stop these deadly incidents.”

Hear Luke Metzger discuss the incident at the PEMEX refinery on Monday’s Houston Matters

On Friday, Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia criticized PEMEX, claiming the company was not “prepared to communicate effectively during an emergency.”

“These miscommunications left the community wondering if they were safe, and that is absolutely unacceptable,” Garcia said.

However, in a statement, PEMEX said it was in “active communication with all responding agencies” during the incident.

Authorities say the origin of the release is still under investigation.