Formosa Plastics blast affected Texas plant to resume operations

14-Oct-05

The last remaining minor fire resulting from an explosion on October 6 at Formosa Plastics Corp.'s Point Comfort, Texas plant has been extinguished and operations at the facility have resumed. The damage from the explosion and resulting fire was limited to the "Purification Area" of the Olefins 2 production unit. Ongoing testing and monitoring by the company and government agencies have found no indication of environmental impact resulting from the incident. The Olefins 2 unit produces ethylene and propylene, used in the production of polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride plastic (PVC) resins and ethylene dichloride (EDC). Production has resumed at the plant's vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and PVC units at less than full capacity. The Olefins 1 unit is expected to be back online later this week with additional downstream production units expected to follow sometime next week.