WEST ORANGE, Texas — Officials have announced that the source of a chemical odor in West Orange, Bridge City and Orangefield is due to a release from a railcar at a repair facility about half a mile south of West Orange-Stark High School.
A railcar at Eagle Railcar Services on Foreman Rd. is "conducting a controlled flaring operation," according to a news release from the Orange County Office of Emergency Management. The flaring at the 60 acre facility, with a capacity for 650 railcars, is expected to continue for several more hours.
Air monitoring will continue to determine when to lift a shelter-in-place that was ordered ot long after 1 p.m. for West Orange, Bridge City and Orangefield. That decision will be made after the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) completes toxicology reporting, the news release said.
Residents in those areas are asked to stay inside, turn off air conditioning and to block air from entering whatever room they are in.
A total of 24 people, some suffering from respiratory issues and some from anxiety issues have been taken to Christus hospitals in Southeast Texas, according to a spokesperson. Nine were taken to Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont where only one of those remains as of 4: 30 p.m.
Christus Hospital Orange received 14 patients and one went to the Christus St. Mary Outpatient Center in Port Arthur.
As a precaution, FM1006 from Adams Bayou to Texas Highway 87 has been closed do to the "incident," according to a Facebook post from the City of Orange.
The Orangefield school district has closed their offices until the shelter-in-place is lifted.
The City of Orange's Office of Emergency Management is aware of a "situation in the City of West Orange that may be impacting air quality of surrounding areas," according to a Facebook post by the city.
The post notes that currently residents in Orange are not expected to be impacted.
Commenters on the post are describing smelling the odor in Bridge City, Orangefield, West Orange, and near the Orange County Airport on Texas Highway 87.
All non-essential employees at Dow Sabine River Operations on FM 1006 have been evacuated and the plant is under a shelter-in-place order, according to a Facebook post from the company.
In the post Dow describes the odor as an "external odor" and reports that they are investigating the source but they have found that it is not emmeniating from the Dow plant.
All non-essential personnel from the Chevron Phillips Chemical plant in Orange and at the Golden Triangle Polymers site have be released as a precaution, according to a spokesperson for the company. The company also reported that, after inspection, their facilities are not the source of the odor.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is actively investigating the air quality in the area, according to an update from the City of Orange.
There is no mandatory shelter-in-place order for City of Orange residents, but residents are encouraged to take any precautions they deem necessary for their safety and well-being, according to the city.
The City of Orange Office of Emergency Management is monitoring the situation and will provide further updates as they become available.
12news has received several calls to the newsroom saying that some of the plants along FM 1006 have been evacuated.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.