A power outage at TPC Group's Houston Operations facility in Pasadena set off unusual flaring and thick black smoke, sending a plume of dark exhaust over a neighborhood. The plant, located at 8600 Park Place Blvd., lost electrical power before the flaring began, and officials said crews were working to safely restore it.
According to Click2Houston, TPC Group said it did not believe the incident had an impact on the surrounding community. As part of a 4:45 p.m. update, TPC Group said it had conducted air monitoring and planned to continue monitoring the situation as the company worked to resolve the issue.
The Baytown incident described by Hoodline's reporting on a similar incident involved a process upset with visible flames, flaring and smoke. The report also said a May 1, 2025 electrical power failure caused a process upset, dark smoke and emergency flaring.
A Familiar Pattern at the Pasadena Site
Sunday's outage affected the 8600 Park Place Blvd. facility. The Houston Chronicle has also reported on the facility.
The facility is in Pasadena.
Federal Scrutiny Following Deadly History
The company's Port Neches facility has faced federal scrutiny in recent years, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
That federal action followed the company's 2019 Port Neches plant explosion, which a 2022 final report by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board concluded was caused by uncontrolled popcorn polymer growth inside butadiene piping. The CSB made recommendations, and TPC developed an auditing process. That explosion caused over $150 million in off-site property damages, according to Baker Botts, which represented TPC Group as the company emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2022 after discharging more than 11,000 mass tort litigation claims and eliminating over $950 million in secured debt.
Recent Fatality Adds to Safety Concerns
In February, 28-year-old contractor Garrick Newell was killed in an equipment accident at a southeast Houston TPC facility, and his family later filed a wrongful death lawsuit against TPC Group.
Community concerns have also been raised about TPC Group.
For now, officials say the priority remains restoring power and confirming there is no risk to residents near the plant. As of the 4:45 p.m. update, the exact cause of the outage remained unclear.
