A Louisiana State University engineering researcher compared Texas industrial petrochemical storage tanks to "soda cans" as a Public Health Watch investigation questioned hurricane preparedness at facilities along the upper Texas Gulf Coast.
"These tanks are like soda cans, literally, they are like soda cans blown up," researcher Sabarethinam Kameshwar said. "They can be crushed, float away, and leak."
The warning comes as PHW questions whether petrochemical facilities along the upper Texas Gulf Coast are properly protected against hurricanes and flooding.
Galveston County is home to 22 refineries and chemical plants, with another five proposed or under construction, according to the report.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting a below-normal Atlantic hurricane season, which includes the Texas Gulf Coast.
The agency projects 8-14 named storms, 3-6 hurricanes and 1-3 major hurricanes. Forecasters caution, however, that one hurricane making landfall can still cause widespread damage.
Public Health Watch said Hurricane Ike in 2008 produced nearly 450 reported releases of oil, gasoline, and other hazardous substances after flooding struck the upper Texas Gulf Coast, including thousands of gallons of crude oil released when piping failed at a coastal storage facility.
The investigation found facility owners largely determine what constitutes an extreme weather risk, develop their own hazard-response plans, and decide how much information to provide local emergency responders.
Texas has more than 1,550 facilities regulated under the Environmental Protection Agency's Risk Management Program, the highest number in the nation.
The report said three in four residents in the greater Houston area live within three miles of one of those facilities.
Eight of Galveston County's 22 covered facilities did not identify hurricanes and/or flooding as serious risks for some or all of their operations, according to PHW.
"Simply noting that a risk exists is not enough compared to actually planning for it and preventing it from happening," Darya Minovi of the Union of Concerned Scientists told the publication.
A Government Accountability Office review found EPA inspectors reached only about 2% of covered facilities nationwide during 2019.
Some companies described additional preparations. Marathon Petroleum said its Galveston Bay refinery has a centralized control room designed to withstand hurricane force winds and storm surge, along with an integrated tropical weather plan.
Houston meteorologist Matt Lanza also warned Gulf storms are "going crazy, ballistically intensifying, and then not long after they peak, they make landfall."