The following is from a Facebook post by one of my University of Texas Chemical Engineering classmates, Roger Sowell, who is now a practicing lawyer in California. Love all of his FB posts but this one, in particular, really made me proud. It was in response to Harvey’s impact on Houston. Roger gave me permission to share it with you, my fellow engineers. Feel free to share it with your non-engineer friends. And check out Roger’s website at http://sowellslawblog.blogspot.com.
By Roger Sowell
August 27, 2017
Meanwhile, in Texas there are mostly unknown, and very much unsung heroes in the refineries and chemical plants. Those places make and store up thousands of toxic or explosive chemicals.
Those guys shut them down safely and properly before the high winds and high waters arrived. And, made sure they stayed safe during the high water period.
Once it is safe to do so, they will start them back up, carefully and safely, to keep the economy humming.
Chemical engineers. Mechanical engineers. Electrical engineers.
The US Gulf Coast has the greatest concentration of such plants on the planet.
“Chemicals play an important role in our everyday lives. The Texas chemical industry supplies products that are used to make automobiles, pharmaceuticals, computers, grow food and build homes. Most chemical manufacturing companies in Texas convert natural petroleum and mineral resources into thousands of other materials used in other industries to make or grow products. Texas chemical manufacturers produce and process more than 50 percent of the total U.S. chemical production, and approximately 50 percent of the nation’s petrochemical production, a subsector of the chemical industry.” — Texas industry association
We don’t do this for the credit, or the recognition. It’s in our blood. We wouldn’t dare let one of our thousands of chemical plants hurt the public.
We got this.