No Injuries at Texas Chemical Plant

A loud noise and flaring at a Southeast Texas chemical plant drew emergency responders but a company official says there was no explosion or fire in the unit.

DuPont Co. spokesman Aaron Woods on Wednesday said no workers were hurt at the DuPont Sabine River Works in Orange. Woods says the emergency shutdown Tuesday night has closed one polyethylene unit amid the company investigation into the incident.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department received 911 calls about a possible explosion.

Woods says the sound was decompression and the unit shutting down as the safety system worked. He had no information on possible damage to the plant in Orange, 100 miles northeast of Houston.

Orange firefighters responded but had no damage reports and never entered the plant operated by Delaware-based DuPont.