GALENA PARK, Texas – A reported chemical incident at the docks of Targa Resources in Galena Park caused a bit of a scare near the Houston Ship Channel.
The company, whose facility is located at 12510 American Petroleum Road, first reported the incident at 4 p.m. Thursday, according to a CAER Alert.
In a post on the City of Galena Park’s Facebook page, the city confirmed the incident happened at the docks of the company on Buffalo Bayou.
Targa Resources said activity around the facility may be noticeable to the community, but there are no off-site impacts at this time.
In an update, the company Kirby Inland Marine confirmed the incident as a vapor release from a barge parked at the Targa Resources’ docking terminal.
Kirby confirmed the barge is owned by them, and a valve failure resulted in the release of a vapor. They also explained the product on the barge is butadiene, a colorless gas commonly used for industrial purposes.
Emergency response contractors were responding to the incident, and the Coast Guard temporarily closed off a section of the ship channel as a precaution.
As of Wednesday morning, Kirby Inland Marine confirmed with KPRC 2’s Cathy Hernandez that the leak was contained late Tuesday night and the barge was towed to one of its facilities. The Houston Ship Channel is also back to normal operations.
No air quality threats have been detected at this time, according to the City of Galena Park, and Port Houston has not reported any injuries. It’s also unclear if there would be an investigation conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).