HOUSTON – Hours after a second evacuation order in eight days was lifted in Port Neches following explosions at the TPC chemical plant and a subsequent blaze and chemical leakage, the mayor of the town joined various officials in a press conference to discuss the events of the past week.
As the nearly hour-long press conference came to an end, Port Neches Mayor Glenn Johnson stepped up and said he wanted to say something.
“I told the judge I don’t need to talk, but I do," he said as he approached the podium.
Then, Johnson addressed the citizens of his town directly.
“I got a city manager, a fire chief, a police chief, a public works director, that have been working their butts off for the last eight days, trying to keep the citizens of Port Neches safe,” he said. “We’re not making decisions on what’s going to get us re-elected. We’re making decisions on what keeps the citizens safe.”
Officials created the Port Neches Response website to provide people with updates on the situation that’s been developing since before Thanksgiving. The website has links to official pages like the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Angered that people were turning to social media and other places on the internet, Johnson railed against it.
“I am absolutely amazed at how many geniuses are on, what is it? YouTube or whatever that social media thing is,” he said. “People that have no idea of what’s going on but they’re experts. They have more knowledge than the EPA, more knowledge than the TCEQ, more knowledge than these doctors over here, about what’s going on out there and people are reading this stuff and believing it."
Johnson said he’s not on social media, “but my wife reads it to me until I get angry like I am now, and then she stops reading it to me.”
Just to make it clear, Johnson repeated his message at the end of his tirade.
“Stop going to social media to get your information,” he said. “Quit using Facebook. Because listen, people, they don’t know what they’re talking about. These people (officials) are putting out their information where it needs to be put out. Not on Facebook, and I’m tired.”
You can find more updates on the Port Neches developing situation on the official website or on their Facebook page.