Wind from Ike damages Solutia’s Alvin, Texas, plant; company still assessing total damages

Winds from Hurricane Ike left some damage to Solutia Inc.’s nylon chemical plant in Alvin, Texas, but there wasn’t any flood damage, according to the Town and Country-based chemical maker’s initial assessments.

Solutia said this week that it is still evaluating the financial and physical impact of Ike, which hit Galveston, Texas, last weekend. The company’s plant is about 32 miles northwest of Galveston. No other Solutia plants were affected by Ike, the company said.

“Prior to the hurricane, we implemented a contingency plan to move finished goods and intermediates off site, which is helping us meet customer demands,” said Jim Voss, acting president of Solutia’s Integrated Nylon division and president of Technical Specialties segment.

Employees and contractors are restoring the site to normal operations. Preliminary evaluations of the plant’s infrastructure have been “fairly positive,” but the region’s infrastructure for barge and rail traffic “remains uncertain and could slow the return to normal operations,” Solutia said.