Lanxess evacuates Texas rubber facility as Hurricane Rita nears

By Liz White, ERJ staff

Orange, Texas-Employees at Lanxess Corp.'s Orange facility, which makes polybutadiene rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, and Therban hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber-evacuated the site at the end of the last shift on 21 Sept.

Lanxess said it based this decision on the latest area weather reports, following Orange County's announcement of a voluntary evacuation beginning 22 Sept. The rubber producer added that a "core group of trained employees will remain at the site to oversee operations unless the evacuation becomes mandatory."

Lanxess has a facility making maleic anhydride at Bayer MaterialScience's facility in Baytown, Texas, which was shut down 21 Sept. to meet Bayer's hurricane preparedness procedure.