WEST ORANGE, Texas — Orange County Emergency Management says Eagle Railcar Services was operating a "standard flaring operation" the day before the chemical odor issue that continued into Thursday.
The county's emergency management coordinator, Joel Ardion, says the company is not required to let the county know when they are flaring.
"We were not notified about this one and they were not a member of STAN, so we had no clue what this chemical was or where it was coming from," said Ardion.
County leaders say it took a couple of hours for them to pinpoint that the odor was coming from Eagle Railcar Services.
The routine flaring operation in West Orange started on Wednesday and ended with the chemical odor filling the area.
"They repair these tank cars and they were flaring that off, which was putting off the odor and they stopped that operation that evening after the fire department was there," said Ardion. "The next morning, that tank had built up pressure."
On Thursday, Ardion says crews at Eagle Railcar Services started flaring again because they were afraid of an explosion.
Once first responders discovered where the smell was coming from, they were able to use the Southeast Texas Alerting Network to alert more than 20,000 residents.
"Certainty, I encourage everyone to sign up for STAN to get any of those notifications," said Ardion.
Some residents in Orange took to the city's Facebook page to voice concerns over information that was put out.
12News spoke to City Manager Mike Kunst for more information.
"With the incident being in the City of West Orange, we didn't have access to all the information that may have been out there," said Kunst.
Kunst says he understands the frustration that many residents felt.
"We want to let everyone know we were monitoring the situation, trying to get that additional information," said Kunst. "But I know it was frustrating for us and I know to other folks too."
Ardion believes that the EPA and the TCEQ will step in and make some additional safety requirements for Eagle Railcar Service.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency released its report following the chemical odor issue at the railcar repair facility.
EPA followed up with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality after receiving two National Response Center reports indicating an ongoing air release of ethyl acrylate in West Orange.
According to the release, "two EPA On-Scene Coordinators and technical assistance contractors (START) were activated to respond to the incident."
EPA says that crews didn't find detections "above the action level" on-site during the response.
The agency will follow up with Eagle Railcar Services with a demand letter to address state regulatory issues observed and related to the release.
The EPA stated in their press release;
"The EPA conducted on-site air monitoring with an X-PID air monitoring meter with a detection limit of 3 parts per million (ppm) and an action level of 8.3 ppm (Acute Exposure Guideline Limit (AEGL) 1 for 10 minutes). The EPA did not detect ethyl acrylate on-site during the response. The railcar was flared while the contents polymerized. The PRP utilized a water blanket to cool the railcar. Once the reaction in the railcar was complete, the pressure in the railcar was at zero pounds per square inch, and only polymerized solids remained."
On Thursday, officials announced that the source of the chemical odor in West Orange, Bridge City and Orangefield was 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. was "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, continued for several hours.
A total of 24 people, some suffering from respiratory issues and some from anxiety issues were taken to Christus hospitals in Southeast Texas, according to a spokesperson. Nine were taken to Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont.
The shelter-in-place for West Orange, Bridge City and Orangefield was lifted at 8 p.m. Thursday night, according to a release from Orange County Office of Emergency Management.
On Friday afternoon, Brent Coon & Associates law firm announced the first lawsuit following the railcar chemical odor release.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.