Human caused ecological disaster
Details
This is an expired event!
Event title
United States - Explosion at Oil Refinery; Port Arthur, Texas
Source
Severity
Unspecified
Event date (UTC)
2026-03-23 00:00:00
Last update (UTC)
2026-03-23 00:00:00
Area range
-
Address/Affected area(s)
-
On March 23, 2026, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Marine Safety Unit (MSU) Port Arthur contacted the NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator (SSC) for Texas regarding an explosion that occurred that evening at the Valero Oil Refinery in Port Arthur, Texas. The USCG requested a plume model, which the SSC coordinated through the Interagency Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center (IMAAC). On the morning of March 24, the local emergency operations center and facilities representatives reported that the fire had been extinguished and the source secured and compartmentalized. MSU Port Arthur deployed responders in the vicinity of the facility to check the waterway and reported no observed petroleum products, chemicals, or fire foam. There have been no requests for updated modeling at this time.