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Families remain displaced by Dow leak
Published November 2, 2009
FREEPORT — Dow Chemical Co. officials told some Freeport residents in a pair of meetings Sunday afternoon they could have to stay in area hotels until Friday because of rain and workers being “ultra-cautious,” Dow Vice President and Texas Operations site director Gary Hockstra said.
The 65 families were displaced last week after Dow found a leak in a pipeline carrying toluene diisocyanate, a urethane used in production of cushions like mattresses and pillows.
“We’ve tried to do everything we can to make their stay comfortable. We want to make sure they’re informed and we’re answering their questions as best we can so that they’re not feeling left out in the dark,” Hockstra said.
Dow officials said they’ve also been keeping residents informed about developments throughout the evacuation.
Since the leak was found, monitors tracking it say they have found no emissions in the neighborhood or on Dow property.
Kaye Kelly, 57, is a member of one of the 65 Freeport families.
“If I’ve got to be away from my home I’m just going to try and relax, enjoy it and kick back for a while,” Kelly said. “Everybody likes their home and everybody would rather be in their own home, though.”
Displaced residents can briefly return to their homes on a special-needs basis in the next couple of days to take care of any issues caused by the delay in returning, Hockstra said.
“They gave us a security card so we could go back and get more clothes and things for the kids,” Eudelia Munoz, 28, said Sunday after learning she wasn’t going to be able to return home that day.
Munoz, her husband and four kids, ages 6, 5, 2 and 17 months, are more than ready to go back home to stay, though.
“My kids are just running around crazy,” she said. “I need to get more clothes for them because I don’t want them going to school next week in clothes they wore last week.”
Crews continue to work on the pipeline around the clock and will be making necessary repairs in the next few days, Hockstra said.
A machine, called a “smart pig,” has been making its way through the damaged pipeline to find the leak, Hockstra said.
“It looks like a bullet, and it has all kinds of sensors on it, and you push it through with air and it goes through the pipe,” he said. “As it goes through, it looks at all the walls in the pipe and measures the thickness of it. We’re in the process of analyzing the data from the “smart pig” to be able to isolate exactly where the faults in the pipeline would be.”
In the meantime, crews have been working 24 hours a day to expose the pipeline so the leak can be repaired, Hockstra said.
Police are stationed at the four entrances into the neighborhood and Dow security has been on patrol to make sure no damage is done to any of the homes during the residents’ absence, Hockstra said.
That idea alone makes Munoz and her husband feel a little better about being away, she said.
“I’ve just been worried because all our stuff is in there,” Munoz said.
Erin McKeon is a reporter for The Facts. Contact her at 979-237-0152.
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