Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 10:41:01 -0700
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Subject: Chemical Safety headlines from Google

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http://tinyurl.com/chasnews


us: EPA Increases Transparency on Chemical Risk Information
WASHINGTON =97 As part of Administrator Lisa P. Jackson=92s commitment to strengthen and reform chemical management, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a new policy to increase the public=92s access to information on chemicals. Starting today, EPA has announced its intention to reject a certain type of confidentiality claim, known as Confidential Business Information (CBI), on the identity of chemicals. The chemicals that will be affected by this action are those that are submitted to EPA with studies that show a substantial risk to people's health and the environment and have been previously disclosed on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Inventory. This action represents another step to use the agency=92s authority under the existing TSCA to the fullest extent possible, recognizing EPA=92s strong belief that the 1976 law is both outdated and in need of reform.
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us policy tsca
21 MAR 10
us_ma: Fire breaks out at chemical manufacturing facility in Freetown
The Fire Department responded to a fire in a chemical manufacturing facility at International Specialty Products Inc., 238 S. Main St., Saturday. 

Four employees working in the building at the time were safely evacuated. 

=93Upon arrival, fire crews found a smoldering fire in the insulating jacket of a large chemical mixer,=94 Fire Chief Gary Silvia said. =93The fire was intense enough to activate the facility=92s sprinkler system, which darkened down most of the fire.=94

He said the fire was caused by heat from the high temperature mixing process that ignited the insulation jacket of the mixer. 

The three-story-high vessel normally operates at 350 degrees and was being used to produce a skin care product. 

There was no stoppage in production and damage was estimated at $6,000.

us_fl: Chemical Fire
Daytona Beach - A small chemical fire sends two to the hospital. 
The Daytona Beach Fire Department responded to the Ocean Walk Resort and Shoppes for a Hazardous Material Incident Sunday morning 
Reports on scene state pool chemicals were being mixed in a five gallon bucket on the pool deck when it caught fire . 
Daytona Beach Hazardous material team members were called in to neutralize the chemical and keep it from spreading. 
Two patients from the pool company were treated by DBFR for respiratory difficulty related to inhaling the chemicals. 
They were then taken to Halifax Hospital for further medical evaluation.

20 MAR 10
us_tx: Dozens Of Fire Units Respond To Chemical Spill
EL PASO, Texas -- Thirty fire units were called to El Paso's Lower Valley Friday afternoon.
About 3,000 gallons of the chemical carbolite resin was spilled.
A drum holding the chemical, most commonly used on auto parts and products, was tipped over at the Bosch Industries Warehouse in the 9600 block of Pan American Drive.
Deputy Chief Keith Burch of the El Paso Fire Department said, "The spill is not enlarging, so we're going to seal up the building and deny entry and now it will be up to the building owner to hire a contractor to come and clean it up."

uk: Village cut off in chemical spill alert - Press & Journal
A Highland village was cut off for several hours yesterday because of fears of a risk to health following reports of a major chemical spill.

Five fire appliances attended the incident with the brigade=92s specialist environmental protection unit, which made an 80-mile dash from Inverness. The incident happened at around 12.30pm on the B863 road linking Kinlochleven with North Ballachulish following a report, believed to have been made by the driver, of a leak from drums aboard his large lorry.

The chemical leaking from the 5.5-gallon drums was quickly identified as a formaldehyde methanol solution, which is a hazardous material that can produce a burning sensation in the eyes, nose and throat.

A fire appliance from Kinlochleven was joined by two tenders from Fort William and a fire engine and the protection unit, with the specialist hazard materials officer from Inverness.

uk: Four staff injured in blast at propeller factory in Newton Abbot
SMOKE poured from a Devon factory after an explosion that injured four workers.

Police and firefighters established a 300m safety cordon around the Teignbridge Propeller building in Newton Abbot following the incident, fearing chemical cylinders could be affected by the blaze caused by the blast.

It is believed the explosion was caused by an aluminium bronze rudder that was being smelted in one of the firm=92s seven furnaces shortly after 8.30am.

us_pa:  Boy, 16, detained in Souderton bottle bomb incident
A 16-year-old male student is being detained in connection with a bottle bomb incident that injured a custodian at Souderton Area High School on Thursday, Franconia police said.

By this afternoon, however, officers were still putting together an exact list of the charges to be filed against the juvenile, Sgt. Jeff Gower said.

On Thursday at 12:30 p.m., a high school custodian was emptying a trash can in the school cafeteria when a plastic bottle exploded. There was no fire from the explosion, but there was a =93loud, percussive noise,=94 according to police.

us_tn: Meth house was central site for many cooks, police say
Cleanup crews waded through garbage and collected chemicals for 21 straight hours at the site of an enormous meth lab on 19th Street, the head of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office narcotics division said.

Lt. Van Hinton said Thursday that the bust the day before is among the "top three cleanups" on record in the county. He said crews pulled out "bags after bags after bags" filled with chemical waste from more than 100 cooks who used the house, about 1,100 square feet, as a collective dumping site.

"Every room was like walking into snow," Lt. Hinton said. "The suspect would go in, cook and just dump the waste on the floor or discard it to the side. And he continued that repeatedly until the whole house was consumed with this stuff."

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