Markham

Pipeline Emergency:  In the event of an emergency involving an Equistar Chemicals pipeline, call 800-525-7516.

The Markham Storage Facility is one of two storage locations operated by LyondellBasell’s pipeline group in the Texas Gulf Coast region.  

The 84-acre facility uses caverns in underground salt domes to store ethylene and propylene and distributes these products via pipeline to other company facilities and several customers in the region. 

Three wells together provide approximately 502 million pounds of storage capacity. The pipeline system and the Markham storage site are operated 24 hours a day from the pipeline operations control center in LyondellBasell's Clear Lake Facility in Houston, Texas. The control center can start and stop pumps and compressors along the pipeline; remotely open and close valves; and isolate sections of pipeline or divert flows to other lines. 

The control center also has advanced communications equipment to facilitate constant communication with the public and emergency responders in the event of an emergency. 

Transporting products has always been important in Markham, Texas. Originally named Cortes, in the early 1900s, the townspeople changed the name to Markham after an engineer for the Southern Pacific railroad lines.