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Port Arthur residents want German Pellets gone

A second German Pellet silo is now causing concern at the Port of Port Arthur. Firefighters say they are monitoring a hot spot inside the silo and that there's a possibility it could collapse.

A second German Pellet silo is now causing concern at the Port of Port Arthur. Firefighters say they are monitoring a hot spot inside the silo and that there's a possibility it could collapse.

"I just say tear things down, said Leroy Kiel, a Port Arthur resident.

Leroy Kiel lives across the ship channel from the German Pellet company silos. With one silo already collapsed and a hot spot detected in another, Kiel is worried about his family's health.

"The time we are dealing with it," said Kiel. "It’s the summer and the wind is coming off the gulf and its coming from the south and that what we are dealing with.”

The Port Arthur Fire Department says they are monitoring the hot spot that was discovered in the second silo. The fire department is considering options that include controlled demolition or injecting nitrogen into the silo to suppress a possibility of a fire.

"I'm impressed that they are all on the scene all day monitoring it," said Kiel.

The fire department are unable to get to the hot spots because of the burned pellets remaining from the original silo that collapsed.

"I would be in favor of taking all of them down," said Kiel. "I have a mother that I'm living with right here."

The Port Arthur resident says that despite efforts, the silos have been nothing but a nuisance to its neighbors.

"If this keeps going on for the next 50 days, you’re talking about another three months," said Kiel.

The Port Arthur Fire Department says that they will continue to monitor around the clock for the second silo and make sure every action is taken to end the incident as quickly and safely as possible.

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