"HOUSTON - A Texas grand jury on Friday indicted chemicals manufacturer Arkema North America and two of its executives for releasing emissions that allegedly endangered the public after a 2017 hurricane.
The U.S. arm of the French chemicals firm, its Chief Executive Richard Rowe and the manager of its Crosby, Texas, manufacturing plant, Leslie Comardelle, are charged with the “reckless” release of a toxic cloud last September, prosecutors said.
The two executives are expected to appear in a Houston court on Monday.
The plant became waterlogged and lost power needed to keep volatile chemicals cooled after Hurricane Harvey dumped more than 50 inches of rain on the area. Company workers left the plant and officials evacuated residents within a 1-1/2-mile (2.4-km) radius of the facility after some containers heated and caught fire."
Advertisement 
