TPC

[IndianFan]

What’s the latest status?

Will the facility be rebuilt?

Have all the families been compensated for property damage?

Are there any remaining employees?

How many working petrochemical facilities remain in Port Neches?

TPC deconstructing, dropping 2 towers a day within facility - Port Arthur News

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... PORT NECHES — Beginning this Friday (Feb. 2) and the following three Fridays (Feb. 9, 16 and 23); TPC is deconstructing and dropping two towers a day within the facility. The deconstruction is happening at two separate times, the first being at 9 a.m...

www.panews.com

 

[PNG NDN Fan]

According to the TPC website (link) the terminal operations in Port Neches employs 70 people.

My recollection is that there were plans to rebuild after the explosion but it would be a multi-year effort. However, I don‘t know if these plans changed as a result of restructuring that took place under Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2022.

According to Reuters (Link), part of that restructuring included a “$30 million settlement with junior creditors, including people with injury and property damage claims related to a 2019 fire explosion and fire at a Port Neches, Texas, refinery.” The total number of claims related to the 2019 explosion listed in the same article was ”about 7000”.

 

[bandkid]

There was a third party with other midstream assets in other parts of the country that was interested in buying the Port Neches TPC site, overhauling it and restarting production there about two years ago. They were prepared to drop some serious cash on tearing down and rebuilding that plant. My understanding is that federal meddling squashed their interest.

One thing’s for certain. There aren’t many other butadiene producers in SETX. For better or worse, TPC was the primary local supplier by a country mile. What few other producers we have in the Golden Triangle (mainly BASF) have been way oversubscribed ever since the explosion. It’s a problem for Indorama, Motiva, Dow and other downstream players in the area. At some point, there will need to be a new butadiene plant somewhere in the Golden Triangle. I have a hard time believing it would be located anywhere else.

 

[IndianFan]

It was Neches Butane during my formative years in PN.

You always knew you were home when you smelled the air from the Rubber Plant Road / ‘Pure Atlantic’ Highway intersection onward towards PN.

 

[Indian99]

There was a third party with other midstream assets in other parts of the country that was interested in buying the Port Neches TPC site, overhauling it and restarting production there about two years ago. They were prepared to drop some serious cash on tearing down and rebuilding that plant. My understanding is that federal meddling squashed their interest.

One thing’s for certain. There aren’t many other butadiene producers in SETX. For better or worse, TPC was the primary local supplier by a country mile. What few other producers we have in the Golden Triangle (mainly BASF) have been way oversubscribed ever since the explosion. It’s a problem for Indorama, Motiva, Dow and other downstream players in the area. At some point, there will need to be a new butadiene plant somewhere in the Golden Triangle. I have a hard time believing it would be located anywhere else.

Lion Elastomers right next door deals with Refined Butadiene. BASF, GoodYear (Bmt), Invista, and Lion in Orange also have Refined BD. TPC primarily dealt with Crude BD, I don’t think any other company in the area deals with it. You have to go to Houston or LA to find a Crude BD supplier.

 

[Usedtocould]

When I was little my stated goal in life was to
“Take the stink out of Port Neches”

 

[benchwarmer53]

When we moved to Groves in the summer of '43, after a few months you didn't smell the background odor any more. Only newcomers noticed it.

 

[pngfanatic]

I brought my roommate (from Minnesota) home one time for Thanksgiving. As soon as he got out of the car, he said "What's that smell?". And I replied "What smell?". So you do get used to it.

 

[pngfanatic]

I also joke that the smell of petrochemicals reminds me of Little League. Which is true since the Texas League and Little League baseball fields were located in the shadows of Neches Butane. Looking at Google Maps I guess they still are.