PORT NECHES, Texas — The United States Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into the 2019 Port Neches TPC explosion.
The blast caused $153 million in damages to hundreds of homes and businesses.
Now the Department of Justice is asking victims to come forward and talk to them.
This is separate from the civil case and it comes on the heels of a report from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board.
Attorneys are wanting victims to speak up. Lawyers say they received letters informing them of the criminal investigation several weeks ago.
"The Chemical Safety Board report coming out and the agencies communicate with each other and say 'hey you may want to take a look at this'," said Ferguson Law Firm Partner Mark Sparks.
Sparks is one of the lawyers spearheading the civil lawsuits against TPC.
The TPC Group has been under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for over a year.
"We received a subpoena from the federal government last year through the EPA. The federal EPA and complied with the subpoena. So at that point I knew there was a formal investigation," said Sparks.
He believes the criminal investigation will build on the Chemical Safety Board investigation. It blamed the 2019 explosion on "popcorn polymers" in one of the plant's pipes.
"I'm not aware of any particular charge. From what I've seen, this could be focused on primarily on what caused the blast to occur and was there some sort of criminal negligence or gross negligence involved," said Sparks.
He also believes that everyone involved should be help accountable.
"It's hyper focused to just blame TPC. TPC before these explosions recognized it had a problem and hired someone claiming to be an expert like Nalco to fix their problem," said Sparks.
While victims won't financially benefit from the criminal case it's not a bad idea to speak up.
"We encourage them to speak freely and honestly with the federal government," said Sparks.
A victim spoke to 12News, and they agree with Sparks.
"Yes I would absolutely be willing to speak with someone from the Department of Justice to hold the refineries accountable," said Wade Kimball.
Sparks is unsure how long the investigation will take but he says it could mean fines or even prison time for TPC CEO's.
The plant is no long producing chemicals, only operating as a terminal.