PORT NECHES — TPC Group announced layoffs Tuesday morning, the impact of a reduced workforce demand as the company looks to rebuild from a series of November explosions that shuttered operations and led to local evacuation orders.

TPC Group said it is evaluating and planning for a Port Neches rebuild of those parts of the plant that were impacted. It is expected to take a number of years to rebuild.

“For the foreseeable future, we have an opportunity to operate the site as a terminal to serve current and potential future customer and supplier needs,” the company said. “As operations transition to only a terminal and services organization, a reduced number of employees will be required. The Company communicated to its employees (Tuesday) it is has made the very difficult yet necessary decision to reduce the workforce at its Port Neches Operations.”

Employees beyond those necessary to operate as a terminal are not expected to be needed for more than three to five years.

The downsizing impacts salaried employees and hourly employees.

“This reduction in force is due to the Port Neches incident and will have minimum impact across the organization,” the company said. “These changes will not impact the continuing progress of our response and recovery efforts.”

Response teams remain focused on de-risking the facility and bringing response efforts at TPC Group Port Neches Operations safely to an end.

96 percent of the high purity butadiene has been transferred offsite and more than 50 percent of 1,3 butadiene-containing material has been transferred offsite.

This will be followed by the transfer of crude C4, raffinate, polyblend and other process materials to further secure the site.

Claims Update

The Claims Helpline (1-866-601-5880) continues to operate Monday-Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. All property claims settlements are by appointment only at the Armory Claims Center, 511 Grigsby Ave. in Port Neches.

Information Resources

TPC Group will continue to manage inquiries via the official response website at portnechesresponse.com, as well as through established social media channels on Facebook at facebook.com/PortNechesUC and Twitter (@PortNechesUC).

Residents are also encouraged to register for updates from the Southeast Texas Alerting Network (STAN).

Call 1-877-843-7826 (toll-free) anytime to hear important alerts and notifications, or visit thestan.com to register for notifications.