2019 Deer Park terminal fire settlement reached, ITC to pay $6.6 million in damages
Lucio Vasquez / Houston Public MediaA drone photo of the International Terminals Company fire in Deer Park, on March 18, 2019.International Terminals Company agreed to pay more than $6.6 million for natural resource damages caused by a 2019 fire that erupted inside the company’s Deer Park terminal, state officials announced. It’s been more than five years since a fire stemming from a failing storage tank pump tore through the International Terminals Company terminal in Deer Park, just east of Houston. The flames intensified and spread to 14 other tanks, resulting in more than $150 million in property damage. A black plume of smoke filled the air on May 5 that year as the tank fire burned for three days, releasing toxic chemicals into the air and more than 470,000 barrels of petrochemical products that leached into nearby waterways. “This fire burned for three days, spewing hazardous chemicals into our air, water and land,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement Tuesday. “Texas’s environmental enforcement suit against ITC is still pending. All companies operating in our state must take the utmost precaution to prevent any such disaster from harming our citizens and our environment.” Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, the company agreed to pay state and federal Natural Resource Trustees to resolve claims for damages caused by the fire, Paxton said in a press release Tuesday. The settlement comes after The State of Texas and the United States filed a civil complaint seeking the damages. Natural Resource trustees determined substances released from the facility caused injury to ecological resources and natural habitats including marsh and riparian areas. “The releases to air and water also resulted in lost recreational opportunities in the Deer Park area, including temporary closures of multiple shoreline parks and the Lynchburg Ferry, as well as the cancelation of an annual historical reenactment at San Jacinto State Park,” according to the attorney general’s office. Money received from the settlement will be used to compensate the public and implement natural resource restoration projects to address ecological injuries. ITC already paid about $1 million to reimburse federal and state trustees for initial assessment costs, according to the office. “Following the fire, ITC worked collaboratively with state and federal authorities to resolve claims related to natural resource damages,” the company said in a statement. “We are pleased to reach resolution of these claims, and we are committed to continually implementing enhancements to the safety, environmental integrity and emergency response capabilities at the terminal.” According to a 100-page U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board report published last year, the company could have taken several steps to prevent the initial fire, like establishing a formal mechanical integrity procedure to identify pump problems. The tanks that caught fire also did not have remote-operated emergency isolation valves, according to the report. RELATED: 2019 fire at ITC's Deer Park facility could have been prevented by company, federal agency finds “In 2014, a hazard review team recommended the addition of flammable gas detection systems near Tank 80-8; however, ITC did not implement this recommendation, and did not document why it was not implemented,” according to the 2023 report.
A black plume of smoke filled the air on May 5 that year as the tank fire burned for three days, releasing toxic chemicals into the air and more than 470,000 barrels of petrochemical products that leached into nearby waterways.
![A drone photo of the International Terminals Company fire in Deer Park, on March 18, 2019.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/606103d4066949639878560d/660dab889c40eee528e1736e_20190318-DJI_0078-1000x750.jpeg)
Lucio Vasquez / Houston Public Media
International Terminals Company agreed to pay more than $6.6 million for natural resource damages caused by a 2019 fire that erupted inside the company’s Deer Park terminal, state officials announced.
It’s been more than five years since a fire stemming from a failing storage tank pump tore through the International Terminals Company terminal in Deer Park, just east of Houston. The flames intensified and spread to 14 other tanks, resulting in more than $150 million in property damage.
A black plume of smoke filled the air on May 5 that year as the tank fire burned for three days, releasing toxic chemicals into the air and more than 470,000 barrels of petrochemical products that leached into nearby waterways.
“This fire burned for three days, spewing hazardous chemicals into our air, water and land,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement Tuesday. “Texas’s environmental enforcement suit against ITC is still pending. All companies operating in our state must take the utmost precaution to prevent any such disaster from harming our citizens and our environment.”
Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, the company agreed to pay state and federal Natural Resource Trustees to resolve claims for damages caused by the fire, Paxton said in a press release Tuesday. The settlement comes after The State of Texas and the United States filed a civil complaint seeking the damages.
Natural Resource trustees determined substances released from the facility caused injury to ecological resources and natural habitats including marsh and riparian areas.
“The releases to air and water also resulted in lost recreational opportunities in the Deer Park area, including temporary closures of multiple shoreline parks and the Lynchburg Ferry, as well as the cancelation of an annual historical reenactment at San Jacinto State Park,” according to the attorney general’s office.
Money received from the settlement will be used to compensate the public and implement natural resource restoration projects to address ecological injuries.
ITC already paid about $1 million to reimburse federal and state trustees for initial assessment costs, according to the office.
“Following the fire, ITC worked collaboratively with state and federal authorities to resolve claims related to natural resource damages,” the company said in a statement. “We are pleased to reach resolution of these claims, and we are committed to continually implementing enhancements to the safety, environmental integrity and emergency response capabilities at the terminal.”
According to a 100-page U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board report published last year, the company could have taken several steps to prevent the initial fire, like establishing a formal mechanical integrity procedure to identify pump problems. The tanks that caught fire also did not have remote-operated emergency isolation valves, according to the report.
RELATED: 2019 fire at ITC's Deer Park facility could have been prevented by company, federal agency finds
“In 2014, a hazard review team recommended the addition of flammable gas detection systems near Tank 80-8; however, ITC did not implement this recommendation, and did not document why it was not implemented,” according to the 2023 report.