Intercontinental Terminals Company is facing criminal charges over the explosion and chemical spill that shuttered the Houston Ship Channel in mid-March.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced her office had filed five environmental criminal charges against the Mitsui & Co subsidiary Monday, with each of the charges carrying a $100,000 fine.
"People living in Deer Park and the other neighboring residential areas near [Intercontinental Terminal's] plant deserve protection too," Ogg said in a statement. "When public health is at risk, it’s a public safety concern."
The 17 March fire and subsequent spill has been called Texas' worst chemical disaster in at least a decade. Ogg's office said that after the four day fire was put out, Intercontinental Terminals' makeshift dike broke, sending xylene and benzene into Tucker Bayou, which flows into Galveston Bay.
The spill closed the channel to ship traffic. It was reopened on a limited basis days later. In early April, the channel was closed again after a storm complicated clean-up efforts.
The district attorney said it was still unknown how much of the chemicals got into the water.
"Although we have not seen the charges, there is no question that there was a large fire and an enormous effort to extinguish it which resulted in a discharge into Tucker Bayou," Intercontinental Terminals attorney Michael Goldberg said in a statement released to media late Monday.
