DEER PARK, Texas — The City of Deer Park Office of Emergency Management on Friday acknowledged that an issue with its emergency alert system caused some residents to not receive notices after a chemical leak at a PEMEX facility killed two workers, injured dozens others and prompted shelter-in-place orders in the area.
The OEM said this was due to technical issues within the CodeRED alert system and that has since been resolved.
"Staff worked diligently to find a work around to get notifications out through the system and eventually had to operate through their support phone number to issue notices," Deer Park OEM said in a release, in part.
Officials also acknowledged that some residents received notices with incorrect spelling and grammar or received duplicate alerts.
Deer Park OEM later posted an updated statement to X, saying the CodeRED system did not allow its staff to log in to send alerts directly during this incident.
"Due to the unusual method of communication -- a phone call rather than a written notice -- the notifications may have had spelling or grammar errors from CodeRED manually issuing our notifications," the OEM said. "CodeRED has since resolved the technical issue and the system functions normally."
What happened at the Deer Park PEMEX facility?
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said two workers were killed and as many as 35 others injured after a hydrogen sulfide release at the PEMEX facility in Deer Park Thursday afternoon.
OEM officials officials said the incident was contained to the PEMEX facility off Highway 225 and there was no threat to the community. PEMEX officials said it happened at 4:40 p.m.
Gonzalez said some workers were working on a flange when something happened and the gas started leaking.
In the wake of the gas release, PEMEX said it was performing activities that may cause flaring.
Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton Jr. said the shelter-in-place order was lifted around 9:30 p.m. after air monitoring officials deemed it to be OK. He said remnants of the odor would remain in the air.
Highway 225 was closed in both directions near Beltway 8 due to the incident but was reopened around 9:30 p.m.
As for the two workers who were killed, according to Gonzalez, their bodies were taken to the medical examiner's office at around 3:30 a.m.
Here's the update provided by officials around 9:30 p.m.:
What is hydrogen sulfide?
Hydrogen sulfide is a flammable, colorless gas that smells like rotten eggs, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. It occurs naturally in crude petroleum, natural gas, volcanic gasses and hot springs. It can also result from bacterial breakdown of organic matter.
It's also created in your mouth and digestive tract during the digestion of food containing vegetable or animal proteins.
It's primarily used during the production of sulfur and sulfuric acid.
How can hydrogen sulfide affect your health?
The respiratory tract and nervous system are the most sensitive targets of hydrogen sulfide toxicity.
Exposure to low concentrations can irritate the eyes, nose or throat. It can also cause breathing issues for people with asthma. It can cause headaches, poor memory, tiredness and balance problems.
Exposure to high concentrations can cause loss of consciousness, and in some cases, respiratory distress or arrest.