Date: Thu, 3 Dec 2009 10:25:50 -0500
Reply-To: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
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From: List Moderator <ecgrants**At_Symbol_Here**UVM.EDU>
Subject: 5 Chemical Safety news stories from Google

California

http://www.ocregister.com/news/montoya-222119-lanes-freeway.html

December 02, 2009 3:11 PM
Chemical spill on freeway slows traffic

By ANDREW GALVIN
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

BREA A chemical spill blocked two lanes on the northbound 57 freeway 
just south of Lambert Road, backing up traffic into Anaheim.

Drivers called the California Highway Patrol to report a slippery 
substance in lanes at 2:35 p.m.

Brea Fire Department and Caltrans went to the scene in addition to CHP, 
said CHP officer Gabe Montoya.

The substance was determined to be oven cleaner, Montoya said.

"It looks like it fell off the back of a truck because the items were in 
boxes," Montoya said.

A SigAlert was issued at 2:52 p.m. The car-pool and No. 1 lanes were 
closed. All lanes were reopened at 4:13 p.m.

===
Louisana

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/78352592.html

Intracoastal Canal Bridge now open

Published: Dec 2, 2009 - UPDATED: 5:35 p.m.

PORT ALLEN =97 The southbound lanes of La. 1 on the Intracoastal Canal 
Bridge have now been reopened to traffic.

The lanes were closed earlier today after a dump truck carrying a load 
of =93lime slurry=94 accidentally dumped its cargo on the bridge around 
2:30 p.m. this afternoon, Fire Chief Rick Boudreaux said.

The lime slurry, or lime mixed with water, does not pose a chemical 
hazard risk, the fire chief said; however, the substance is too slick 
for vehicles to drive over safely, he said.
 
 PORT ALLEN =97 The southbound lanes of La. 1 on the Intracoastal Canal 
Bridge have been closed to traffic after a dump truck carrying a load of 
=93lime slurry=94 accidentally dumped its cargo on the bridge around 
2:30 p.m. this afternoon, Fire Chief Rick Boudreaux said.

The lime slurry, or lime mixed with water, does not pose a chemical 
hazard risk, the fire chief said; however, the substance is too slick 
for vehicles to drive over safely, he said.

Police Chief Fred Smith said one northbound lane of La. 1 has been 
opened to southbound traffic.

Boudreaux estimated that one of the southbound lanes may open after 4:30 
p.m.

===

United Kingdom

Chemical incident at Devizes company
12:15pm Wednesday 2nd December 2009

By Jill Crooks =BB

FIRE crews from Devizes and Melksham were called to a chemical incident 
at Devizes company TYM Seals & Gaskets this morning.

An employee at the company was operating an extrusion machine making a 
silicone rubber unit when it ignited and mixed with an organic peroxide 
chemical called Dichlorobenzoyl.

As a result the premises, on the Hopton Industrial Estate, filled with 
clouds of fumes.

Foreman Dean Ellicock, 40, took hold of the burning material in a 
plastic tub and took it outside and all nine employees got out of the 
building safely.

Two fire engines attended and four fire fighters wearing breathing 
apparatus got rid of the fumes by using fans to ventilate the building. 
The fire crews were called at 10am and were in attendance for about two 
hours.

Fire chief Andy Green, from Trowbridge, said the amount of the chemical 
concerned was less than one kilogram and therefore represented a very 
low hazard.

He said: =93In large quantities the chemical is toxic and if there had 
been lots more of the chemical we would have had to consider evacuating 
neighbouring buildings and telling people to keep doors and windows 
shut.=94

Les Phillips, director of TYM Seals & Gaskets, praised Mr Ellicock for 
his swift actions.

He said: "Dean was quick thinking and his brave actions saved people 
from being overcome by the fumes.

If you come into contact with the chemical it can result in nausea."

TYM has been at Hopton for seven years and it manufactures seals and 
rubber gaskets. Its clients include hospitals and car manufacturers.

===
Minnesota

http://www.chaskaherald.com/news/public-safety/investigation-fatal-waconia
-explosion-completed-112

Investigation of fatal Waconia explosion is completed

Submitted by Mark Olson on December 2, 2009 - 4:05pm.

An investigation into the fatal June 10, 2009 Waconia Farm Supply 
explosion that killed Ryan Samuelson, 18, of Cologne has been completed, 
according to a press release from Carver County Sheriff Bud Olson and 
Waconia Fire Chief Randy Sorensen.

=93The investigation revealed no statutes were violated as a result of 
this tragic event=94 stated Olson, in a press release.

A joint investigation by the Carver County Sheriff=92s Office, Waconia 
Fire Department, and the Minnesota State Fire Marshal concluded that the 
fatal incident was initiated by the accidental explosion of a 100-pound 
propane cylinder, the release stated.

The cylinder explosion caused the death of Samuelson, who was a Waconia 
Farm Supply employee, and resulted in minor injury to a bystander.

Samuelson had just received the cylinder from a customer and had begun a 
propane filling procedure when the explosion occurred.

The initial explosion ruptured other propane cylinders stored nearby and 
also damaged the filling station supply line, resulting in a secondary 
propane-fueled fire. Shrapnel was recovered at distances of more than 
400 feet from the explosion site, the release stated.

====

Editorial from Salt Lake Tribune, Utah 

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_13907591

Refinery explosion
Where were regulators?
Tribune Editorial
Updated: 12/02/2009 01:48:18 PM MST

How could this happen?

It's a question that people often ask after a tragedy. In the aftershock 
of the explosion at the Silver Eagle oil refinery in Woods Cross of Nov. 
4 that damaged 100 homes, it's a particularly galling one.

Investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board say it is a miracle 
that no one was killed or seriously injured in the explosion, which 
dislodged one nearby home from its foundation and severely damaged 
others. Refinery workers and a passing FrontRunner train escaped 
literally by minutes.

The board released its preliminary findings a couple of weeks ago. The 
lead investigator, Don Holmstrom, said that the program that monitors 
the mechanical integrity of the Silver Eagle plant had serious 
deficiencies. His boss, CSB chairman John Bresland, wondered out loud 
"how a refinery could be operating -- 17 years after the federal 
government enacted process safety regulations -- without an established 
and effective mechanical integrity program."

Utahns should be asking the same thing. Surely Silver Eagle has some 
explaining to do. So do regulators.

The CSB, by the way, is not a regulatory agency. It is an independent 
federal agency that investigates major chemical accidents at industrial 
sites.

So we want to know where Utah Occupational Safety and Health and the 
Utah Labor Commission were. They are supposed to be the compliance 
watchdogs for worker safety.

This is not an idle question. The CSB currently is conducting eight 
investigations of oil refineries in the United States. Three of those 
investigations are in the Salt Lake City area.

You may recall that a separate fire at Silver Eagle early this year 
injured four workers. The CSB also is investigating a fireball that 
ignited at the Tesoro refinery in Salt Lake City in October.

In the case of the Silver Eagle explosion, a 10-inch pipe carrying 
hydrogen gas failed, and a nearby ignition source caused the resulting 
cloud of gas to explode. Inspectors under contract to Silver Eagle had 
estimated the thickness of that pipe to be nearly one-half inch, but 
after the explosion it was measured at only one-eight of an inch. At the 
time of the failure, the hydrogen in the pipe was heated to 800 degrees 
Fahrenheit at a pressure of 630 pounds per square inch.

According to CSB, refinery managers have acknowledged that minimum 
thickness values for piping and equipment throughout the plant were 
miscalculated. These thicknesses help to determine when equipment must 
be retired due to potential failure.

How could this happen?

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