‘This Is Terrifying’: Explosion at Texas Gas Plant Spotlights Threat of LNG Industry

An explosion at a major liquefied natural gas plant in Texas on Wednesday heightened fears of pollution and other impacts in nearby communities—and served as the latest example of the threat the booming LNG industry poses to the climate.

The blast at Freeport LNG’s export terminal on Texas’ Quintana Island was reported around noon local time, and no injuries have been disclosed. Authorities said the fire and “release” from the explosion were swiftly contained and that an investigation into the cause is underway, but local residents voiced concern that they’re going to be kept in the dark.

“This is terrifying,” said Melanie Oldham, founder of Citizens for Clean Air and Clean Water in Brazoria County, where the Freeport LNG facility is located. “We’ve been afraid of a disaster happening ever since Freeport LNG started exporting gas. We shouldn’t have to live in fear just so gas executives like [company CEO] Michael Smith can get rich.”

“This is dangerous business,” Oldham added. “What kind of air monitoring are they doing out there? Will they even be able to tell what the explosion released? And will they tell us? Thankfully it looks like none of the workers or anyone else was injured or killed. We may not be so lucky the next time there’s an explosion at this plant, or any of the polluting facilities surrounding us, for that matter.”

Surveillance video footage posted to Facebook by Quintana Beach County Park appears to show the first moments of the explosion, which reportedly shook nearby buildings.

“I saw it blow up from my job site—biggest fireball I’ve ever seen,” said one Freeport resident.

The facility, one of the largest LNG export plants in the United States, is expected to shut down for at least three weeks in the wake of the explosion and fire, injecting further chaos into global energy markets already roiled by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

One industry analyst told Reuters that the temporary shutdown will likely take 1 million tonnes of LNG off the market.

The explosion came as U.S. LNG exports to Europe are surging as part of the Biden administration’s plan to help E.U. nations wean themselves off Russian fossil fuels. According to federal data released this week, U.S. LNG exports averaged 11.5 billion cubic feet per day during the first four months of this year, an 18% jump compared to the 2021 annual average.

While the fossil fuel industry often characterizes LNG as a more climate-friendly alternative to coal and other dirty energy sources that are driving global warming, environmentalists stress that LNG is a major emitter of methane—a greenhouse gas roughly 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

In a statement Wednesday, Citizens for Clean Air and Clean Water in Brazoria County and the Texas Campaign for the Environment said that “the oil and gas industry has been benefiting from an ‘export boom’ that is sending gas and crude oil overseas in record amounts, but has resulted in leaks, explosions, and wrecked communities back home—from flaring and pollution in the Permian Basin to explosions like the one today on Quintana Island.”

Originally published at Commondreams.org, written by Jake Johnson.