A Texas state representative mocked his county's face mask directive after a local chemical leak as 'sweet libt--d hell'

• A Texas legislator mocked local officials who issued a shelter-in-place and mask directive after a chemical leak.
• Briscoe Cain represents Texas' 128 District. A foul-odored chemical wafted from a chemical plant in his district.
• Cain is staunchly opposed to state mask rules and called the chemical plant mask order "sweet libt--d hell."

A Texas legislator called a face mask and shelter-in-place directive "sweet libt--d hell" after a chemical leak occurred in his legislative district.

Briscoe Cain represents District 128 in the Texas House of Representatives. A chemical plant in La Porte, a city in his district, reported an "odor incident" around 8:30 p.m. on Monday.

Officials originally believed the strong sulfur-like and rotting smell was the result of hydrogen sulfide, a highly toxic and flammable gas used in mining and gas refining, and quickly instituted a shelter-in-place order and mask order. Local authorities also asked residents to turn off air conditioning systems to prevent the chemical from entering homes and businesses.

Despite the toxicity of hydrogen sulfide and complaints from his constituents, Cain mocked the safety directives on Twitter. He's previously posted on Twitter to express his staunch opposition to COVID-19 mask mandates in Texas.

- (@BriscoeCain) August 16, 2021

State officials later determined that the foul odor emanating from the chemical plant was not actually hydrogen sulfide and lifted the shelter-in-place order.

A message posted to the Community Awareness Emergency Response system on Monday morning said that there's no health ongoing health risk from the leak.

"There may still be potential for nuisance odors, however there remains no impact or risk to the surrounding community," the notice said. "We continue to mitigate this issue while working with local authorities."

While it may not be dangerous, reports of a strong rotting smell have begun springing up downwind of La Porte into neighboring cities and towns.

"im going to die from smelling all these chemicals from the plants it smells like rotten egg and gas," one person appeared to tweet from a nearby city.

Cain's office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.