Chemical plants and refineries in Texas spewed exceptionally high amounts of pollutants while shutting down their vast operations for last month’s Hurricane Harvey, and again when they restarted, government filings show. Many plants typically shut down when under the threat of a storm or other natural disaster, looking to prevent a wider catastrophe such as explosion. When shutting down or starting up, a process that can take hours or even days, these plants generally “flare out,” or burn off, toxic chemicals in their...

Source: Wall Street Journal September 26, 2017 14:43 UTC