Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2010 07:12:49 -0400
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From: Ralph Stuart <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: Chemical Safety headlines from Google

Links to details available at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas< /div>

CANADA: LIQUID OXYGEN LEAK LEADS TO EVACUATION OF MINT, http://www.metronews.ca/ottawa/local/ar ticle/564743--liquid-oxygen-leak-leads-to-evacuation-of-mint

A tanker truck spewing liquid oxygen from a jammed valve forced firefighters to evacuate the Royal Canadian Mint and close down Sussex Drive for several hours yesterday.

Firefighters were called to deal with the leak around 11:40 a.m.

The truck was unloading liquid oxygen in a driveway south of the mint when the valve got stuck open.

While there was no threat of poison from the fumes from the liquid oxygen, which the mint uses in the silver refining process, Ottawa district fire chief Michael MacCormac said they were concerned about the risk of explosion.

=93We don=92t want to do anything to the vehicle to create any hazards,=94 he said.

MacCormac said there was concern that the leak could freeze the tires, causing them to explode and throw metal shards off the rims.

The fire department evacuated the mint and the former war museum next door.

People in sections of the National Gallery of Canada were advised to turn off their air conditioning units and stay away from their windows.

The truck was carrying up to 25,000 litres of liquid oxygen, said McCormac. The delivery to the mint was the first of the day.

The company did a slow bleed of the tanker until it was emptied of liquid oxygen.

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US_NH: NH DRIVER AT WHEEL IN TANKER CRASH, http://www.wmur.com /news/24063784/detail.html

FOXBOROUGH, MASS -- A New Hampshire man was at the wheel of a tanker truck that rolled over in Massachusetts Sunday.
The crash occurred in Foxborough, on route 95 southbound at the route 495 off ramp. The truck spilled 11,000 gallons of jet fuel. The crash closed the highway for hours while hazmat teams cleaned up. Crews used foam and dry ice to contain the spill.
Richard Williams, 36, of Manchester was taken to a Rhode Island Hospital where he was treated and released for injuries.
The truck is owned by C. White and Son Incorporated. Williams was on his way to T.F. Green International Airport in Warwick, RI.

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US_OK: CHEMICAL FIRE AT OKLAHOMA CITY AIRPLANE PARTS MANUFACTURING PLANT, http://fdnntv.com/news.as p_Q_articleID_E_17369_A_title_E_BRIEF:_Fire_at_an_Oklahoma_City_airplane_p arts_manufacturing_plan_forces_evacuation_of_workers:_No_one_injured_in_mo rning_incident

A chemical fire inside an airplane parts manufacturing plant in west Oklahoma City caused the business to be evacuated Friday.

A 6-foot by 12-foot room where titanium is kept caught fire about 10:15 a.m. inside Pro-Fab, 900 N Morgan Road, said fire Battalion Chief Tommy Iago.

No one was injured, but employees were evacuated until firefighters could get chemicals from Will Rogers World Airport to use on the fire.

Titanium was still smoldering about noon, Iago said, but the fire was under control.

Iago did not know the cause and did not have a damage estimate.

Titanium is scraped off airplane parts at the plant, and somehow dust or particles ignited, Iago said.

Oklahoma City and airport firefighting crews wore protective gear to clean up the chemical fire.

The fire was contained to the room where the titanium is stored.

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US_ID: LARGE METHAMPHETAMINE LAB FOUND IN ADA COUNTY, http://ww w.fox12idaho.com/Global/story.asp?S=12707665

Kuna, Idaho -- Authorities spent much of Thursday night cleaning up a large and active meth lab in South Ada County.

Hazmat, fire and police crews from Boise, Ada County and Kuna found the operation at 13131 South Five Mile near Kuna and called it the largest meth lab they'd ever seen.

They say the lab was likely turning out one ounce of meth at a time, considered a fairly large quantity. Richard Eubanks, 38, of Boise is facing drug charges. When detectives went to his home to arrest him, they found an active cooking meth lab in progress.

Teams have since found a second site in an outbuilding -- a former lab -- on the same property.

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US_IL: CHEMICAL SPLASH SPURS HAZ MAT ALERT, http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/2 433882,5_1_WA26_HAZMAT_S1-100626.article

"A lot of old chemicals" were found in a garage following a hazardous material alert Friday.

A sanitation worker was splashed in the face and eyes while dumping garbage into a Groot Industries truck.

Pat Sullivan of Mundelein was loading garbage into the truck's front dumpster around 10 a.m. when an unknown chemical splashed him in the face in the 1400 block of Fulton Street. An ambulance was called, and he was taken to Vista Medical Center East, Waukegan, where he was treated and released.

The liquid came from an open bottle in a homeowner's garbage can. Upon further checking, fire officials found more chemicals stored in the elderly homeowner's garage, said Assistant Chief Bill Beetschem.

The hazardous material alert was called to get an expert opinion from other departments. They also contacted the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and Chemtrec, which identifies chemicals and gives officials on the scene advice about what they are facing.

"We identified what they had, and it was a lot of old chemicals," he said.

Because the garage had limited access, officials handed the investigation over to the EPA.

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UK: CHEMICAL LEAK AT TAMWORTH FOOD DEPOT INJURES 28, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/england/stoke_and_staffordshire/10418321 .stm

Twenty-eight people have been injured in a chemical leak at a frozen food distribution centre in Staffordshire.

One man suffered severe ammonia burns to his arms in the incident in a compressor room at Brakes in Bonehill Road, Tamworth, at about 1150 BST.

The leak left another 27 people needing treatment, seven of whom were taken to hospital but none were detained.

Police closed off nearby roads, resulting in severe congestion around Tamworth town centre.

A spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said initial reports suggested there were a large number of casualties.

Breathing difficulties
"The most seriously injured was a man in his 30s with 15% burns having been contaminated by the chemical involved," he said.

"He was decontaminated with water by firefighters and was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham."

The spokesman added another four people complaining of breathing difficulties were taken to Good Hope Hospital at Sutton Coldfield.



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