Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2010 09:15:01 -0400
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Subject: Chemical Safety headlines from Google

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us_nc: Piedmont truck stop, fast-food restaurant shut down by chemical leak 
PIEDMONT =97 A truck stop off Interstate 85 in Piedmont was closed for several hours Wednesday while a hazardous materials team tried to plug a chemical leaking from a tanker truck, firefighters said. 
Anderson County Fire Chief Billy Gibson identified the chemical that closed Pilot Travel Centers at Exit 35 as acrylonitrile, a polymer used in the making of plastics and resins. 
No injuries were reported. 
The truck center at that exit includes a McDonald=92s Restaurant, which was also temporarily closed. 
A truck driver discovered the leak and reported it after parking his rig overnight at the truck stop, Gibson said. The leak could be linked to a valve and could have been caused by too much pressure, he said.

us: Safety Rules Can=92t Keep Up With Biotech Industry 
They are the highly trained, generally well-paid employees in the vanguard of American innovation: people who work in biotechnology labs. But the cutting edge can be a risky place to work. 
The casualties include an Agriculture Department scientist who spent a month in a coma after being infected by the E. coli bacteria her colleagues were experimenting with. 
Another scientist, working in a New Zealand lab while on leave from an American biotechnology company, lost both legs and an arm after being infected by meningococcal bacteria, the subject of her vaccine research. 
Last September, a University of Chicago scientist died after apparently being infected by the focus of his research: the bacterium that causes plague. 
Whether handling deadly pathogens for biowarfare research, harnessing viruses to do humankind=92s bidding or genetically transforming cells to give them powers not found in nature, the estimated 232,000 employees in the nation=92s most sophisticated biotechnology labs work amid imponderable hazards. And some critics say the modern biolab often has fewer federal safety regulations than a typical blue-collar factory.

us_md: Students, School Staff Isolated After Thermometers Break 
BALTIMORE -- A group of elementary schools playing with thermometers caused a hazmat situation Friday in Baltimore. 
Fire department spokesman Kevin Cartwright said more than a dozen people were isolated after broken thermometers prompted concerns about the mercury inside. 
The incident occurred at Rodman Elementary School on West Mulberry Street. 
The students and staffers affected were to be showered in a decontamination trailer. 
There were no injuries reported. 
Cartwright said the students were playing with thermometers that broke and released mercury.

us_nc: Newport chemical plant fire, Hazmat called to scene 
Newport, N.C. - Scary moments this afternoon after a fire sparked at a plant in Newport. 
Fire crews tell us the fire happened around 1 p.m. at the SPX Dehydration and Process Plant off Highway 24. 
Some sort of chemical powder sparked a flash fire. More than a dozen people were treated for contamination. A Cherry Point Hazmat crew was called in to help. The investigation continues into what caused the fire.

us_pa: Crews Feared Worst In Leetsdale Chemical Explosion 
LEETSDALE, Pa. -- Cleanup has begun at an at the Leetsdale Industrial Park, where a vapor cloud was released while a worker was mixing a powdered chemical on Thursday. 
Weatherford Artificial Lift Systems Inc. was evacuated when an explosion occurred while a worker was blending 1,500 pounds of ammonium persulfate in a machine. 
Ammonium sulfate is a white to brownish, gray-colored crystalline salt. t=92s most commonly used in fertilizers but also in water purification. It=92s also a food additive. 
Allegheny County emergency officials said a vapor cloud was reported inside and outside the building along Leetsdale Industrial Drive at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday. 
=93They were faced with a significant vapor cloud situation,=94 said Chief of Emergency Services Bob Full. =93The toxicity of that cloud, though, was of such that we don=92t believe it to have been harmful. One person had some minor injuries and has since been released from Sewickley Valley Hospital.=94 
No other injuries were immediately reported. Full said any residents with health concerns should contact the Allegheny County Health Department. 
More than 500 employees at the industrial park were evacuated. Also, nearby Quaker Valley High School was put on lockdown briefly. 
Weatherford is a Swiss-based corporation that makes products used by gas and oil drillers. 
The cause of the chemical release is being investigated.

us_ia: Chemical Explosion In Maquoketa 
There were some tense moments following an explosion at a business in Maquoketa Thursday morning. Around 8:30, a chemical reaction caused the lid to a 55 gallon drum to blow off. It happened at a building owned by Dyna-Gear, located in the city industrial park at E. Maple and Jacobson Drive. The explosion caused chemicals to spill out of the drum and the building was evacuated. 
"The Maquoketa Fire Department secured the scene. They tried to identify the product and they sheltered everyone in place," said Lyn Medinger of Jackson County Emergency Management. 
Then, Jackson County officials called Davenport's Hazmat unit for help. Captain Ed Grothus of the Davenport Fire Department says the chemical was identified as a catalyst that was being stored in the building by another company, Plastics Unlimited out of Preston, Iowa. Since the chemical is flammable and extremely corrosive everyone in the building was moved out. The chemical can burn the skin or irritate the lungs. 
It took davenport hazmat crews two hours to get the spill stabilized. Plastics Unlimited is responsible for the rest of the cleanup. 
Workers at Dyna-Gear were allowed to return to work. No one was injured.

us_la: Seven Oil Spill Cleanup Workers Hospitalized 
HOPEDALE, La. (CN) - The Coast Guard pulled all 125 commercial fishing boats from oil cleanup efforts in Breton Sound off the Louisiana coast Wednesday after several cleanup workers complained of nausea, dizziness, headaches and chest pain. Seven workers remained in the hospital Thursday.  
A hospital spokeswoman told The Associated Press that doctors believe the cause of illness may be chemical irritation and dehydration from long hours working in the heat. 
The Coast Guard saw to it that all crew members from the 125 fishing boats were evaluated by medical workers as a precaution. 
West Jefferson Medical Center spokeswoman Taslin Alphonso said the workers told doctors that they believe chemicals used to break up the oil made them sick.
us_la  injuries  industrial  unknown_chemical  
14 minutes ago   edit   delete

us_al: Flomaton Wreck Leads To Meth Lab Discovery, Hazmat Situation 
A Saturday night wreck in Flomaton led to the discovery of a possible mobile meth lab, landed a Niceville man in the Escambia County (Ala.) Detention Center and created a hazardous materials incident. 
Ronnie Eugene Ordis, Jr., 29, was charged with second degree unlawful manufacturing of a controlled substance after authorities found numerous items commonly used to manufacture methamphetamine, according to Interim Flomaton Police Chief Kataris Jenkins. 
Ordis was southbound on Upper Creek Road about 7 p.m. when he lost control and ran off the road. When Flomaton Police Officer Jimmy Davis arrived at the scene, he reportedly began to question Ordis and look in his vehicle. When Davis opened a small container in the vehicle, an unknown substance irritated his eyes and nose. Davis was later evaluated by Escambia County (Fla.) EMS and decontaminated by a hazmat team from the Poarch Creek Fire Department.

us_de: No injuries in early Sunday explosion/fire at Invista 
A scare Sunday morning at the Invista plant in Wilmington as a chemical fire lit up the sky. The ball of fire could be seen in the sky from far and wide, and dispatch reported calls from New Hanover, Pender, and Brunswick Counties. No one was injured. 
The fire happened around 4:40am Sunday morning at the plant which is located at 4600 Highway 421 North in Wilmington. Fire crews responded, but Invista had the fire largely under control.

us_dc: Union Station Evacuated 
WASHINGTON - Union Station in the District was evacuated Sunday afternoon at 1:45 p.m., due to chemical odors. At 3:00 p.m. people were let back inside, but Amtrak advises riders to expect delays on trains of an hour or two into the evening. 
Shortly before 1:30 p.m., DC Fire personnel responded to a report that a battery power supply in a utility room was emitting chemical odors. The utility room is in a building adjacent to Union Station. They determined that some back up batteries had malfunctioned and produced the smell. 
An undetermined number of people reported feeling ill from the odor. 
Amtrak Spokesperson Marc Magliari said they evacuated Union Station on the advice of DC Fire personnel. Passengers and employees were moved out of the station and Amtrak trains were not servicing the station during the evacuation. 
Metro trains continued to run normally, but customers could only use the street entrance/exit, Magliari said. 
DC Fire says one adult male was transported to an area hospital. Fire crews brought the situation under control and ventilated the building. 
Amtrak encouraged passengers to call 800-USA-RAIL or visit Amtrak.com for schedule information and train status updates.

uk: Dead fish found after fire at chemical factory 
Anglers in West Yorkshire have said hundreds of fish have died after chemicals leaked into the River Colne following a fire at a factory. 
More than 150 firefighters tackled the blaze at Grosvenor Chemicals in Linthwaite on 24 May. 
The factory manufactured herbicides, pesticides and glue-based products. 
Despite concerns about the foam used to fight the fire, initial Environment Agency tests showed herbicides to be the main pollutant in the river. 
Ray Collier, from the Slaithwaite Angling Club, said: "It's sickening when you see the quality of the fish as well as the numbers. 
"Even the small fish, you know that they've probably been born in this river, it's taken a long time to get to this stage where they're reproducing in the river, and now they've just, in 24 hours, been wiped out." 
Fish stocks in the Colne were only just recovering from an earlier chemical leak at Slaithwaite in March 2008.

us_ny: Chemical spill cleared up 
NIAGARA FALLS =97 An employee of a Hyde Park Avenue environmental services company is in serious but stable condition after suffering severe burns during a chemical spill Friday morning.
The man, whose name has not been released, was cleaning a tanker truck when the chemical iodine pentafluoride leaked from the truck=92s tank.
=93He suffered first-, second-, and third-degree burns on his arm,=94 Falls Fire Chief William MacKay said. =93He=92s condition had been critical, but it has now been upgraded to serious.=94
Falls firefighters were first alerted to the spill at Tier Environmental Services, 33 S. Hyde Park Blvd., just before 10 a.m. when a call came in reporting a =93medical emergency.=94
Firefighters from the Royal Avenue fire hall arrived and were greeted by what was described as =93a visible cloud of vapor.=94 Other employees at the business were evacuated and the first firefighters on the scene withdrew from the building because of the chemical exposure inside.
Four firefighters and four Tier employees were taken to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center after they were exposed to chemical vapors. 
=93They are being evaluated, but it appears they did not suffer any serious injuries,=94 MacKay said. =93We=92re confident they=92ll be released (sometime Friday evening).=94

Nigeria: Explosion - No Life Lost 
Kaduna =97 The National Emergency Agency (NEMA) yesterday denied reports that two persons died and over 300 hospitalised in the gas cylinder explosion which occurred in Kakuri Industrial Area of Kaduna State. The agency said no life was lost and that it successfully brought the situation under control after much effort. It said the explosion led to the hospitalisation of over 300, people mostly women and children. 
However, the Kaduna State government has ordered a thorough investigation of the immediate and remote causes of the explosion. This was directed by Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa. 
The North-West Zone Co-ordinator of NEMA, Alhaji Mustapha Suleiman, told LEADERSHIP the circumstances surrounding the explosion. 
He said, "No single life was lost in the explosion, and I am glad to inform you that we have overcome the situation. We realised that it was concentrated chlorine that became poisonous to the people of the area and we used about five tankers of water to dilute it and make it weak and remove the substance that became hazardous.

canada: Woman suffers burns from splashed bleach 
A woman was taken to hospital Monday afternoon with first-degree chemical burns to her face, neck and head after her upper body was splashed with a five-per-cent bleach cleaning solution, paramedics said. 
The incident occurred in a basement hallway of the Good Companions seniors' centre on 670 Albert St. and Empress Avenue in Centretown just after 3:30 p.m. It is not known if the four-gallon container of cleaning solution ruptured or was spilled. 
The woman, in her mid-40s, is a member of the cleaning staff at the centre. She apparently did not suffer any respiratory problems, said paramedic spokesman J.P. Trottier. She was taken to hospital in serious but stable condition. 
First-degree chemical burns -- the lower grade of chemical burns -- are comparable to second-degree burns from heat sources, Trottier said. 
Meanwhile, the seniors' activity centre was evacuated of about 12 people while a HAZMAT team of 11 personnel worked to clean up the spill and ventilate the building, firefighters said.

us_pa: Leetsdale Chemical Spill Brings Hazmat Response, School Precautions 
LEETSDALE, Pa. -- 
Allegheny County emergency and hazardous materials crews were called to Weatherford's engineered chemistry center on Thursday morning because of a chemical spill. 
Channel 4 Action News' Bob Mayo reported that it happened at the Leetsdale Industrial Park near Route 65 around 9 a.m. 
Bob Full, the county's chief of emergency services coordinator, identified the chemical as ammonium persulfate and said one worker was treated at a hospital and released. 
A chemical reaction released a cloud over the area, but Full said the situation is "stabilized" and cleanup work is continuing inside the building. The industrial park was evacuated of about 500 people as a precaution. 
Full said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the county health department will investigate the chemical spill. 
Quaker Valley School District spokeswoman Martha Smith said that the schools were not evacuated, but they took some precautions like closing windows and canceling outdoor activities and a field trip. It was not considered a "lockdown" situation, she said. 
According to details posted on a government health website, ammonium persulfate is a colorless or white sand-like powder. It has a mild unpleasant odor and is used as a bleaching agent, food preservative and polymerization inhibitor. 

us_oh: Delphos plant accident sends four to hospital 
DELPHOS - Delphos Safety Services Director Gregory Berquist reported on Wednesday afternoon that a chemical accident occurred that morning at the city's waste water plant that resulted in four individuals being taken to the hospital for treatment. 
At approximately 10:15 a.m., chlorine and oxalic acid were accidentally combined which resulted in the creation of a toxic gas. The incident occurred during the loading of liquid chlorine into a storage tank where it made contact with the oxalic acid. Berquist said a determination of how the two chemicals mixed would not be made until HazMat crews had cleared the contaminated area. He went on to report the event was most likely the result of the chlorine being pumped into the wrong storage tank or that a valve had been left open between two tanks which allowed the chemicals to blend. 
Three of the individuals who were transported to St. Rita's Hospital were waste water plant employees and the fourth was an employee of the chemical supplier. Individuals who are exposed to the toxic gas can experience damage to the respiratory epithelium, the lining of the respiratory tract that helps to moisten and protect the airways. 
Oxalic acid is about 3,000 times stronger than the same amount of acetic acid. It is normally used as a cleaner or bleacher and can be found in many cleaning products, especially those designed for the removal of rust or rustproofing. Liquid chlorine is a key ingredient in water purification. 
The agencies that responded to the accident were the Delphos Fire Department, Van Wert Fire Department, Allen County EMA, the Allen County Sheriff's Office HazMat Team and the American Township Fire Department. 
Berquist reported the incident was completely contained within the Delphos Waste Water Plant and that the community and the city water system were never exposed to the gas.

us_tn: Two Arrested After Mobile Meth Lab Seized 
Responding to a call of trespassing on Old Charleston Road, Bradley County Sheriff=92s patrol deputies on Tuesday say they discovered components of a mobile meth lab in an automobile.
During a consent search deputies reprot locating a bottle that appeared to contain several known substances used in methamphetamine and a coffee filter with several grams of suspected meth. These items and other evidence will be sent to a state lab for proper identification.
Both occupants of the vehicle, Keith Lee Johns, 31, of Phoenix, and Jennifer Cathleen Terry, 24, of Maynardville Tennessee, were arrested on charges related to the promotion, manufacture and possession of methamphetamine.
Also responding were the Bradley County Sheriff=92s Office Drug Enforcement Unit, the Meth Task Force, and the DEA Hazmat Response Truck to assist in the proper handling and disposal of the known hazardous chemicals and contaminated items.

us_nj: Lacey police, fire units respond to marina fuel spill 
LACEY =97 Police and fire units responded to a boat that was leaking diesel fuel at the Townsend Marina on Lacey Road early Tuesday afternoon. 
Fire Chief Kevin Flynn said fire and police responded to the scene Tuesday at noon, following a report of a boat, which was parked on land, was leaking an undetermined amount of fuel. 
Flynn said the fuel was leaking from a large boat and "was going into their parking lot and into the river." 
The fire chief added that around 12:30 p.m. the Berkeley Township HazMat team was called in to examine the situation. 
The boat's fuel tank, which Flynn said he believed had a capacity of greater than 30 
gallons of fuel, "was empty by the time police and the fire department arrived." 
The state Department of Environmental Protection, the Coast Guard and Marine Police were notified.

us_sc: Minor Injuries Reported After Chemical Spill In Anderson Co. 
PIEDMONT, S.C. --
EMS and Anderson Fire Officials treated a firefighter for heat exhaustion while hospital officials treated a gas station employee for chemical exposure after a truck driver found an acrylonitrile leak Wednesday morning.
The leak, reported at a 110 Frontage Road Pilot truck stop off exit 36 from I-85, shut down the truck stop for hours as officials patched it and cleaned up.
The driver discovered the leak after sleeping in his tanker truck carrying the chemical when he woke up Wednesday morning.
He put a bucket under the leak, which Anderson Fire Chief Billy Gibson said a valve caused, and called first responders.
Anderson County=92s Hazmat Team responded, along with Anderson Fire, EMS and the Anderson County Sheriff=92s Office.
A gas station maintenance worker came in contact with the chemical. Gibson said the chemical causes a burning sensation and irritation.

us_ny: Philips Lighting Factory Fire - WETM 18 Online 
Bath, N.Y. - Employees were evacuated at a Bath factory when a chemical blaze ignited this Wednesday morning. A water reactive chemical ignited a smoke fire at the Phillips Lighting Factory in Bath. Emergency Management officials say the smoke was coming out of a 55-gallon waste drum, which was later taken outside and contained.         
Investigators are not sure what caused the chemical to ignite, but they think it may have been caused by some left over damp materials or humid weather conditions. There were no injuries reported, but employees are expected back at work tomorrow.
us_ny  fire  response  industrial  waste  





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