Arkema CEO: There's no way to prevent explosion, fire at facility near Houston

A truck near the Arkema plant in Crosby, Texas.
(Image credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

The president and CEO of the chemical company Arkema said Wednesday that because of the extreme flooding at its Crosby, Texas, facility, there is no way to prevent an explosion at the plant.

"We have an unprecedented six feet of water," chief executive Rich Rowe said. "We have lost primary power and two sources of emergency backup power. As a result, we have lost critical refrigeration of the materials on site that could explode and cause a subsequent intense fire. The high water and lack of power leave us with no way to prevent it."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.