Suzy Wallace, who lives in Cypress Bayou I subdivision, woke up Saturday morning to find the black powder was back. It covered the plants, the patio furniture and even the trash can. After touching the trash can, her fingers were black.
She and her neighbors, who also had the powdery film, say it came from the nearby Orion Engineered Carbons plant on Echo Road.
Monday, Orion spokesman Steven Burgin said the substance could be black mold or naturally-occurring soot. He said the company received six complaints and sent people to collect samples. The samples will be sent to a third-party independent testing company to determine what the substance is.
He said the plant’s analytical equipment and white boards set nearby did not show any signs of carbon black being released.
Wallace, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1993, said she recognizes carbon black when she sees it. “There’s no way everybody in the neighborhood got mold at the same time,” she said.
Carbon black is a byproduct of petroleum and is used in the rubber and tire industries as a pigment. It is also used in coatings, plastics, inks and toners.
Orion Engineered Carbons acquired the local plant five years ago. Before the plant was Degussa Carbon Black. The facility has had several owners during the past decades.
Burgin said the company notified the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Wallace said she also filed a complaint with TCEQ.
Online records from the September 21 meeting of the TCEQ board show Orion agreed to pay $13,320 for a settlement of violations found at the plant from October 22 through December 21, 2015. The records show TCEQ staff obtained tape-lifted samples from three different sites and “and observed significant amounts of this substance at 18 off-site properties.” The substances in the samples matched materials from the plant.
The fine was $16,650 and was reduced by $3,330. The fine is “contingent upon the respondent’s timely and satisfactory compliance with all the terms of this order.”
Burgin said the plant has been operating at a steady rate and instruments show no problems. If the samples the company collected from the six places shows to come from the plant, the company will pay to have the sites cleaned, he said.
Social Media