Attorney General Ken Paxton has reached a settlement with Magellan Terminals Holdings, L.P. over violations of the Texas Clean Air Act that resulted from a large fire at its bulk petroleum terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas. Magellan paid the State $588,000 in civil penalties and $12,000 in attorney’s fees to resolve these violations.  

On the morning of December 5, 2020, a Magellan contractor was cleaning out light crude oil material from the bottom of a storage tank when a large fire broke out. The fire was quickly extinguished the same morning. Tragically, as a result of the explosion and fire, six contract workers were injured and one later died.  

As part of its response and for the purpose of preventing this type of event from occurring in the future, Magellan timely submitted and implemented a corrective action plan approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. 

Magellan’s corrective action plan included prohibiting the use of certain equipment during tank cleaning, implementing new tank cleaning procedures, and requiring contractors to use certain personal air monitors during tank cleaning.