Texas’s SHEPHERD (KTRK) ABC13 has discovered more about the factory at the heart of the issue in Shepherd, Texas, where a massive fire blazed for hours on end on Wednesday morning, injuring one employee.
The chemical facility Sound Resource Solutions, at 731 FM 1127, produces glue and paint remover solvents. A four-inch natural gas pipe is located underground, and a 1,000-gallon propane tank is at the center of the fire, according to a source who spoke with Eyewitness News.
FULL COVERAGE: A sizable plant fire in Shepherd, Texas, has left over 400 households without electricity and one employee hurt.
During the initial report on the event given by officials, the company’s CEO, Geoff Harfield, stated that the business has been a part of the community since 2014.
Kevin Ozebek, an investigative reporter for ABC13, started researching the company’s history and discovered that the last time the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) evaluated them for “compliance monitoring” was on February 4, 2022. At the time, there had been no infractions.
As per the EPA website, Sound Resource Solutions hasn’t had any notable infractions in the past.
Additionally, ABC13 has not discovered any past OSHA problems or violations reported to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
There are 37 workers at Sound Resource Solutions. According to Harfield, 19 of them were working at the time.
The company handles a lot of combustible products and hazardous garbage. According to EPA data, the identical building that caught fire on Wednesday had more than 4,700 kilos of hazardous garbage removed from it the previous year.
Turpentine and fuel are two of the volatile substances, according to officials.
An employee informed Eyewitness News that a guy was using a forklift when the equipment caught fire during the incident on Wednesday. The worker called the event a “freak accident.”
Despite receiving treatment for burns to his face and arms, the injured worker is anticipated to recover.
