May 21 (Reuters) - TPC Group pleaded guilty to a Clean Air Act violation and was fined more than $30 million over blasts at its Port Neches petrochemical plant in Texas that prompted thousands of people to be evacuated in 2019, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.

The company has also agreed to spend around $80 million to improve its risk management program and improve safety issues at that Port Neches site and another in Houston, the statement added.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas and Eric Beech)