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Links to details available at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas COURTHOUSE EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL RELEASE - WJZ.COM, http://wjz.com/wireapnewsmd/Howard.County.District.2.1845165.html Courthouse Evacuated After Chemical Release ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (AP) =E2=80=95 The Howard County District Court building in Ellicott City has been evacuated after the release of a hazardous chemical that caused four people to suffer respiratory symptoms. Howard County fire officials say contract workers were performing maintenance on the heating and air conditioning system when they spilled some chlorine powder Thursday afternoon. Fire officials say they believe the release was accidental. Five police officers who were in court for cases grabbed gas masks and started evacuating the building. Firefighters and other emergency workers responded, and about 200 people were moved to safety. Three people were taken to a hospital with respiratory distress, and a fourth patient was treated at the scene. ----------------------- ANALYSTS: CHINA'S INDUSTRIAL DISASTERS DRIVEN BY WEAK ENFORCEMENT | ASIA | ENGLISH, http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Chinas-Industrial-Disasters-Driv en-by-Weak-Enforcement China in recent weeks has suffered a series of industrial disasters, including one of the largest oil spills in its history. Authorities have taken measures, some of them harsh, to prevent accidents. But analysts say safety standards and punishments for those who flout them are too weak. In the port city of Dalian, China is still cleaning up an oil spill after an explosion last month. Workers, after off-loading oil from a tanker ship, used a cleaning agent inappropriately, igniting fuel and sending thousands of barrels of oil gushing into the bay. Chinese authorities quickly mobilized volunteers to clean up what they say was about 1,500 tons of oil. Last week they declared the clean-up a victory that kept the slick from spreading to international waters. Inaccurate estimates But an American expert visited the area last week and says the official estimate is ridiculously low and that oil has likely spread hundreds of kilometers, perhaps as far as North Korea. Rick Steiner, an independent marine conservation consultant, estimates at least 60,000 tons of oil spilled into the sea. ----------------------- FRESNO FIRE CREWS ON SCENE OF HAZMAT SITUATION, http://www.kmph.com/Global/story.asp?S=12933169 Fresno City Fire crews are on the scene of a hazmat situation in Southeast Fresno. According to Fresno Fire Spokesperson Gary Eberhard, a 2,000 gallon Hydrogen Peroxide tank stared venting gas around 11:15 a.m. Thursday at the Univar USA plant on Florence Ave, near Cedar. Crews believe the venting is due to a change in temperatures. The plant has been shut down for the day, as firefighters continue to spray the tank in hopes of cooling it down. A 2,000 ft evacuation zone around the plant has been put into place. 30 people at the Univar plant, and another nearby building, have been evacuated. ----------------------- JOB CANDIDATE SPRINKLED 'LUCKY POWDER', CAUSED HAZMAT INVESTIGATION IN JACKSONVILLE WACHOVIA OFFICE | FIRSTCOASTNEWS.COM | MOST POPULAR, http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/mostpopular/news-article.aspx?storyid= 162137&provider=top JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A HAZMAT team reported to the Wachovia building at the Metro Square office complex after a suspicious powder was found this morning. However, the call turned out to be a false alarm. According to Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Lt. Mike Johnson, the powder came from a job candidate interviewing on the property. Johnson said the candidate sprinkled the powder on the property because of religious beliefs that the lucky powder when put on the doors helps secure a job. No one was evacuated; the HAZMAT team was on site for two and a half hours. ----------------------- UPDATE: CAR FIRE PROVES TOUGH TO FIGHT | THE COLUMBIAN, http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/aug/05/car-fire-proves-impossible-to-fi ght/ After several hours of work at the scene where a 1973 Porsche with flammable magnesium parts was burning at a busy intersection, crews about 3:45 p.m. Thursday towed the cooled-down car carcass away. And officials said they had dealt with any environmental problems and no one was reported injured. The fire was reported about 11:20 a.m. Thursday at Southeast 192nd Avenue and 34th Street in far-east Vancouver. The driver escaped from the burning car. He'd been headed north on 192nd, planning to make a left turn to go westbound on 34th. The car sputtered and died. He restarted it. It died again. Then he noticed the fire. He told firefighters he'd just filled the gas tank and the vintage auto had a magnesium engine block, transmission and other parts. When hit with water, magnesium fires burn even hotter and more intensely, and can create an environmental hazard. In fact, magnesium is useful as a fire-starter. The burning magnesium flared up in a shower of sparks when firefighters tried to use a little water, confirming what it was, said Jim Flaherty, firefighter-spokesman with the Vancouver Fire Department. ----------------------- BARREL FILLED WITH DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE WASHES ASHORE KAILUA BEACH | KHON2 HAWAII'S NEWS CHANNEL, http://www.khon2.com/news/local/story/Barrel-filled-with-dangerous-substan ce-washes/Lpux4B3RXU-V35GZuPpwpQ.cspx The tide brought in something dangerous at Kailua Beach Wednesday morning. A blue, 55-gallon plastic barrel washed ashore around 9:30 a.m . A hazmat team did some field testing and found the substance inside the drum was dangerous to humans. Fire officials say it does not appear that the liquid leaked into the water. "It doesn't appear to be a flammable or anything like that, just if it were to get on your skin it would cause anything from an irritation to an actual burn on your skin. It has a fairly high PH, you certainly wouldn't want to get an exposure to this liquid,=" said Fire Capt. Carter Davis, Hazmat 1. Fire officials say it had been in the ocean for some time because it was covered with barnacles. The coast guard took the drum to conduct some samples and identify the liquid found inside. ----------------------- HAZMAT CREW TREATING SCENE AT BERGER HOSPITAL | NBC 4I, http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2010/aug/04/hazmat-crew-treating-scene-berger-h ospital-ar-178505/ CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio -- The Pickaway County haz-mat team is called to the Berger Hospital for a hazmat spill Wednesday afternoon. There was a minor spill of Phenoyl Airborn, a chemical used for cauterizing during surgery. The spill happened in a contained 3-by-3 feet area. The hazmat team is treating the scene with extreme caution. ----------------------- HOMES EVACUATED AFTER WEST MANHEIM EXPLOSION - THE YORK DAILY RECORD, http://www.ydr.com/ci_15677753 A day after a chemical explosion caused evacuations and a road closure in West Manheim Township, the faint smell of chlorine still hung in the air next to a white utility van charred black. Fire and hazmat crews were called to the scene of an explosion in the 300 block of Shorbs Hill Road in West Manheim Township about 9 p.m. Tuesday, after homeowner Danny McCulley reported hearing an explosion and seeing smoke billowing from his work van in the driveway, according to Pleasant Hill Fire Co. Chief Ted Clousher. Clousher said when crews arrived on the scene the Chevrolet van had smoke coming out of its cargo area, and it soon erupted into flames. There was a "very strong odor of chlorine in the air," he said, and around the time his company arrived he was notified by York County Hazmat that the van contained potentially hazardous chemicals. Because of the runoff of those chemicals, the hazmat team was dispatched to the scene, Clousher said. ----------------------- VIETNAM POWER PLANT BLAST KILLS TWO | EARTH TIMES NEWS, http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/337878,plant-blast-kills-two.html Hanoi - A chemical explosion at a power plant in Vietnam has killed two workers and seriously injured four others, officials and state media said Wednesday. The explosion occurred at the Hai Phong power station in the north-east of the country. The plant is currently under construction by a Chinese contractor to the Vietnamese authorities. "This is the second deadly explosion within a month in this plant," the plant's general director Tran Huu Nam said. Nam said the explosion occurred on Tuesday when six workers, including one Chinese expert were moving tanks containing chemicals from an old store to a new one. Two Vietnamese workers died on the spot. The other four were in hospital being treated for their injuries. The explosion blew up the store, damaging the surrounding area and dismembered the two workers who died, according to state-run newspaper Thanh Nien. ----------------------- TEXAS ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATORS INVESTIGATE CHEMICAL INCIDENT AT REFINERY | KVUE.COM | KVUE NEWS | AUSTIN, TX | BREAKING NEWS, http://www.kvue.com/news/Texas-environmental-regulators-investigate-chemic al-incident-at-refinery Texas environmental regulators are accusing BP of showing a pattern of "poor operation and maintenance practices" at its Texas City refinery. That is the same plant where a 2005 explosion killed 15 workers. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is investigating an incident at the refinery that led to a nearly 40-day release of cancer-causing chemicals. That release started on April 6, just days before the Deep Water horizon disaster started in the Gulf. ----------------------- UPDATE: EVACUATIONS AFTER CHEMICAL REACTION - CBS 21 NEWS - BREAKING NEWS, SPORTS AND WEATHER FOR THE HARRISBURG PENNSYLVANIA AREA, http://www.whptv.com/mostpopular/story/UPDATE-Evacuations-after-chemical-r eaction/Xoq52959G02iWkCAJeTpRA.cspx === UPDATE: Evacuations after chemical reaction The van carrying water treatment chemicals caught fire in West Manheim Township. It forced hazmat crews to evacuate residents. Now, we are learning more about that dangerous chemicals fire from the Maryland company that owns the van. CBS 21 News spoke to the vice president of Arc Water Treatment Company of Maryland. He said the van involved in the fire is one of 12 vehicles used to transport a combination of water treatment chemicals along the east coast. He says for the past 46 years, they've transported chemicals without this type of problem, and now they are investigating to see what caused the chemical fire in this quiet neighborhood. Tuesday night, emergency management officials on the scene told CBS 21 News they believed the chemicals were from swimming pool products stored inside the company van. The Arc Water Treatment Company says it's in the business of delivering chemicals for heating and air conditioning cooling towers in commercial buildings along the east coast from Virginia to Delaware. ----------------------- TRUCK CARRYING CHEMICAL OVERTURNS IN CEDAR RAPIDS - CHICAGOTRIBUNE.COM, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-cedarrapidstruckc,0,1965207.s tory CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa =E2=80=94 A Cedar Rapids overpass is re-opened almost 12 hours after a tanker-truck carrying chemicals overturned and forced its closure. The tanker overturned on the Interstate 380 northbound on-ramp just before 6 a.m. Wednesday, which prompted firefighters to establish a 150 feet "safe zone" around the truck. The Wright Brothers Boulevard overpass between the freeway exits was included in the closure area. The chemical, sodium hydroxide, is an irritant to the eyes, skin and mucous membranes. The driver of the truck, 39-year-old Joe Short of Colona, Ill., was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. He was driving the chemical from Muscatine to Red Star Yeast in Cedar Rapids. ----------------------- FIRE KILLS FIVE AT IRAN CHEMICAL PLANT - FOCUS INFORMATION AGENCY, http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n227319 Tehran. An explosion at a state-run petrochemical plant in Asalouyeh in southern Iran killed five people on Wednesday, state television reported, AFP reports. "The incident happened at around 14:30 pm (1000 GMT). Five people were killed and two were injured," the deputy head of Pars Special Economic Energy Zone, identified only as Mousavi, said. He said firefighters had put out the fire in the Pardis petrochemical plant and that the cause of the accident was under investigation ----------------------- TEST SHOWS IRRITANT CHEMICAL IN ATHENS CREEK - WTVM.COM AND WTVM NEWS LEADER 9, COLUMBUS, GA |, http://www.wtvm.com/Global/story.asp?S=12927444 ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - A water sample from an Athens creek shows a toxic chemical used in toilet bowl cleaner seeped into the waterway when a local factory burned. Laboratory tests on Wednesday showed para-dichlorobenzene in a water sample taken from the confluence of the Trail Creek and the North Oconee River. That spot is downstream from the J&J Chemical Co., which burned July 28. Firefighters sprayed the plant with water to extinguish the flames. Some of that water mixed with chemicals at the site and ran into the watershed. Federal regulators say the chemical detected in the test can cause irritation to the eyes, skin and throat. Tests show it is moderately toxic to lab animals. State officials have told residents to avoid contact with the creek. -----------------------
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