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August 31, 2017

Explosions at Arkema Chemical Plant Near Houston Follow Flooding
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Elsewhere in Texas, a pair of explosions rocked the Arkema chemical
plant northeast of Houston early Thursday, lighting the night sky and
sending thick black smoke into the air. The Harris County Sheriff's
Office says 10 deputies were hospitalized after inhaling fumes.
Officials had already evacuated residents within a one-and-a-half-mile
radius of the plant in the town of Crosby, after it lost primary and
backup power to its coolant system. The plant is believed to produce
highly volatile chemicals known as organic peroxides, but the company's
CEO has refused to state precisely which chemicals were produced or how
much of them were onsite at the time of the explosions.


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