New Brunswick, Canada
Chemical
Spill at High School
The Haz-mat Unit of the Saint John Fire Department is
on scene at Fundy High School. A chemical spill in the building earlier
this morning forced the evacuation of the building. Deputy Chief Mark
Gillan tells CHSJ News, it appears several chemcials got mixed together
when a shelf they were on in a chem-lab collapsed.
A janitor
was the first to smell a strange odour and quickly called the fire
department about the incident. No one was hurt and St. George Fire were
the first on the scene to secure the building.
===
Connecticut
Blaze
hits chemical warehouse in Fairfield
Staff
reports
Updated: 11/26/2009 11:29:00
PM EST
FAIRFIELD -- Fire struck a chemical warehouse off the
Post Road in the Southport section of town early Thursday, requiring an
hours-long hazardous materials cleanup at the business.
No one
was hurt, despite heavy flames that erupted shortly before 2 a.m. in a
storage warehouse at Superior Plating Co., 1480 Post Road, corner of
Lacey Place, and officials said initial tests show there was no
significant environmental impact from the fire.
Firefighters poured large amounts of water on the fire for
about two hours to neutralize the chemicals.
Assistant
Fire Chief George Gomola said the heavy dousing is the way to attack a
fire involving several different types of chemicals.
"What
made this fire difficult is that some of the chemicals are water
reactive," he added.
Two drums in particular contained chemicals used to
treat ground water. Once hit with water, the chemicals began decomposing
and generating heat, which then began melting the metal
drums.
"The cleanup could possibly take several days," Gomola
said.
The cause of the fire has not yet been
determined.
Members of the Fire Department's Haz-Mat team, working
with employees of Connecticut Tank, an environmental remediation
company, continued the cleanup Thursday in the aftermath of the
fire.
Superior Plating produces chrome and nickle products
used to treat and coat metals. The warehouse was built from concrete
block, which remained intact.
The flames, reported to the fire department about 1:45
a.m. by a passing motorist, were blue and green, indicating the presence
of the chemicals including magnesium oxide, according to
firefighters.
Fairfield Engines 1, 2, 4 and 5; Ladder 2, Rescue 1
and Car 3 were dispatched to the scene, assisted by the Fairfield County
Hazardous Materials Team, crews from the state Department of
Environmental Protection and the Fairfield Fire Haz-Mat
trailer.
The Post Road between River Street and Sasco Hill Road
was closed until 6 a.m., but no evacuation of nearby residents was
required.
Mutual-aid from fire companies in Bridgeport and
Westport was ready to provide standby coverage. United Illuminating and
Southern Connecticut Gas Co. crews also reported to the
scene.
===
North Carolina
http://www2.statesville.com/content/200
9/nov/25/chemical-accident-mooresville-heightens-disposal-c/
Chemical
accident in Mooresville heightens disposal concerns
By
Melinda Skutnick | Mooresville Tribune
Published: November 25, 2009
Town and
county sanitation officials said a chemical spill Monday that injured
two sanitation workers underscored the dangers of residents disposing of
hazardous waste in their garbage cans.
The
Monday incident temporarily shut down the Mooresville Transfer
Station.
About 10:30 a.m., two Town of Mooresville employees
received minor burns when acid-based materials in a residential trash
can on Boger Street created a small explosion as they were collected and
compressed in a garbage truck.
Mooresville Fire Battalion
Chief J.L. Barrier said town firefighters and the Mooresville Hazardous
Materials (Haz-mat) squad were called to the scene.
Additional contamination occurred at the transfer station on
N.C. 150 when the town garbage truck was unloaded. To neutralize the
chemical waste there and in the truck, a special cleanup company was
brought in. The transfer station reopened to the public by 4:30 p.m.
Monday.
Barrier said the two injured workers were treated for
minor burns and released.
David Lambert, director of solid waste for Iredell
County, said that "whoever disposed this material made a mistake." He
said chemical waste spills are not common in the county, and that he
only recalled one other incident, in Statesville, in the past 16
years.
However, he and Mooresville Public Works Manager John
Finan said events such as this reiterate the need for the proper
disposal of chemical materials.
"It's a dangerous profession
and we always seek to protect employees," said Finan.
Lambert noted that residents should contact the
Iredell County Solid Waste Department whenever they are unsure about the
safe handling and disposal of any chemicals.
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