 Many of the petrochemical facilities along the Houston Ship Channel are extremely close to each other. Credit: Ted Auch, FracTracker Alliance, 2023 Brent Taylor, chief communications officer for the Houston Office of Emergency Management, said that responses to chemical emergencies vary. “Usually, first responders like the police and fire department are first to discover incidents and if it is beyond their reach, we get involved,” Taylor told EHN. When an incident happens, facilities are expected to self-report, but there are oftentime delays, whether intentional or not. Local fire and police get involved, but there may also be internal industry fire departments arriving first. Added to this complexity, each chemical can require a different response. The first step also involves understanding the chemical involved, if the incident was an explosion, leak, spill or something else; how widespread the impacts are, which office can manage it and what parts of the community need to be notified, Taylor said. New questions may arise and incidents can result in evacuations or shelter in place orders. ”We do pay a price every time there’s an incident, whether it’s reported or not, because our industries are self- reporting.” - Ana Parras, TEJASThat’s why, Taylor says, it is key that individuals are aware of what to do in these instances, especially when living near a dense cluster of facilities. Opt-in alert systems are often used to alert residents, or if the affected area is large enough, an Amber-Alert type notification will be pushed to applicable cell-phones. However, Taylor noted the limitations. “We ask everyone to opt-in, but can only do so much if individuals don’t. Often they are left to find out about incidents from first responders on the ground,” he said. If your city has an alert system, and you are able to, opt in. You can check your local government’s emergency planning webpages. Houston residents can opt in here. But for some, opting in might not be enough to protect themselves. Not everyone has compatible devices or technological literacy and language can be an added barrier. While Taylor said that alerts are available in languages that are prominent in the area, some websites only provide automatic translations – which can be incorrect or confusing. These translations can result in gaps of information, especially for Spanish speakers. Often the only option is to select Spanish from Spain, noted with the Spanish flag, which is a different dialect than what many Latinos speak in Texas. With this information gap, local groups have stepped in to further inform communities of chemical incidents.
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