Petrochemical Leak Keeps Stretch Of Houston Port Closed A Third Day

Ship traffic was halted for a third day on Sunday along a key stretch of the United State’s busiest oil port as emergency workers siphoned fuels from the Houston Ship Channel that leaked from a massive fire at a nearby petrochemical storage facility. Fuels spilled after a 10-foot (3-meter) wide section of a containment barrier breached on Friday at Mitsui & Co Inc’s [MTSUIF.UL] Intercontinental Terminals Co (ITC) in Deer Park, Texas. Before the wall was repaired on Saturday, the breach sent fuels, water and fire suppressant foam to a waterway that connects Houston to the Gulf of Mexico. The spill and cleanup has halted ship traffic since Friday on a 5-mile stretch of the channel serving petrochemical import and export terminals. That area likely will remain closed through Sunday, said U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Derby Flory.