Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2010 07:39:35 -0400
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Subject: Chemical Safety headlines from Google

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EMERGENCY RESPONSE FOR ACID SPILL WENT AS PLANNED | LAHONTANVALLEYNEWS.COM, http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/artic le/20100907/NEWS/100909927/1055&amp;ParentProfile=1045

After the city of Fallon declared a state of emergency on Aug. 23 when 10,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid spilled during a delivery at the water treatment facility, Northern Nevada emergency responders in addition to the community came together in an impressive response effort. 

"Th ere are very few agencies in the United States that can assess, contain and clean up a hazardous material spill of this magnitude,=" said city Emergency Manager Steve Endacott. "Given this challenging scenario, this is the way it was designed to go down.="

Due to previous emergency planning, city officials were confident from the beginning the 10,000 gallons of corrosive chemical would not seep into the environment. The city installed a specialized trough beneath the hydrochloric acid tank capable of holding 100 percent of the chemical housed in the building.

"It was fully contained the first day it occurred,=" said Mayor Ken Tedford Jr. "The way the building was designed worked perfectly.="

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EXPLOSION AT CHEMICAL FACTORY IN LIAONING LEAVES 2 INJURED - GLOBALTIMES, http://ch ina.globaltimes.cn/society/2010-09/571087.html

An explosion at a chemical factory belonging to China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), located in Fushun, Liaoning Province around noon on Tuesday has left two people injured. But no deaths have been reported.

Black smoke was seen billowing from the factory near the east gate of the compound.

CNPC is China's largest oil and gas producer and supplier, and the No.3 petrochemical factory was condoned off soon after the explosion, according to Liaoshen Evening News, a local daily.

Witnesses said that windows as far as 150 meters away from the blast were shattered.

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RESIDENTS REACT TO SENIOR LIVING FACILITY BOMB EXPLOSION, http://www.waff .com/Global/story.asp?S=13114574

DECATUR, AL (WAFF) - Residents at Summer Manor Apartments in Decatur say, around 9:30 Monday night, they heard what sounded like a bomb going off.

"I mean, it was a loud boom," said resident Larry Johnson.

Within minutes, rescue workers cleared out the building, evacuating about 75 people, but many say they didn't even know what happened.

"When I walked outside and smelled the fumes, I knew something wasn't right. I just didn't know what," added Johnson.

Police say one of their neighbors, 81-year-old Larry Gene Thurman had set off one of several homemade bombs in his third floor room.

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UPDATE: CHEMICAL FIRE AT POLLUTION CONTROL COMPANY NEAR MILLINGTON|MY , http://www. myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story/Chemical-Fire-Pollution-Control-Comp any-Millington/_SPR-0O2PUG20c_D11Kl1Q.cspx

MEMPHIS, TN =E2=80=93 Shelby County firefighters battled a chemical fire inside Pollution Control Industries in North Shelby County.

The fire started sometime between 12:00 p.m. and 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, September 7, 2010, at Victory Lane, near Fite Road.

According to Shelby County Fire official Bret Perkins, 40 to 45 employees were evacuated from the building. Perkins says no injuries were reported.

The fire was brought under control around 2:30 p.m. Perkins says the company identified the burning chemical as an oxidizer, which releases oxygen, making it harder to put out the flames. 

Shelby County Sheriff=E2=80=99s deputies blocked traffic on Fite Road, between Old Millington and Raleigh Millington.  Fite has been reopened, however Victoria Lane remains closed.

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CHALMETTE REFINING SETS UP CLAIMS NUMBER FOR POWDERY CHEMICAL RELEASE, http://www.wwl.com/Chalmette-Refining-sets-up-claims-number-f or-powde/8087670

Chalmette Refining, LLC, has set up a toll free number for people to call in regards to powdery substance that coated many homes, cars and other property in St. Bernard Parish Monday.

An electrical outage cause the refinery to release about 2,000 pounds of a spent catalyst. Officials say it isn't harmful, but it did create a nuisance for many residents who had to spend their Labor Day cleaning it up.

In a news release, parish government officials said "St. Bernard Parish President Craig P. Taffaro, Jr. said he is in contact with Wil Hinson of Chalmette Refining. The refinery has issued a toll-free claims number: 1-877-657-2833. Residents can clean substance as it is not harmful but citizens should photograph the presence on their property before cleaning."

St. Bernard Parish Fire Chief Thomas Stone said despite the assurances from the plant that the chemical isn't dangerous, he said the sand-like nature of it could be enough to cause problems for people with severe respiratory illness.

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OFFICIALS ON SCENE OF SMALL FIRE ON UK'S CAMPUS, http://www.lex18.com/news/officials-on-scene-of-small-fire-on-uk- s-campus

Emergency officials were on the scene Tuesday afternoon at a building on UK's campus after a small fire in was reported.

The lincident happened at UK's Chemisty and Physics building on Rose Street. The building was evacuated.The report initially came in that there was a fire in the building, then that there was no fire but a chemical leak. The latest is that there was no leak, but there was a fire.

So far, there are no reports of any injuries.

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OTTAWA BUILDING CLEARED AFTER GAS LEAK, http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2010/09/07/ottawa-flo urine-gas-spill.html

Two people were taken to hospital Tuesday in Ottawa, and a Natural Resources Canada building was evacuated, after small leak of hydrogen fluoride gas in a lab.

A malfunctioning lab device caused the leak around 11 a.m. ET in a seventh-floor laboratory at an office of the Geological Survey of Canada at 601 Booth St.

Thirty-five firefighters, including two hazardous-materials teams, were dispatched to the scene. The building's 300 employees were already leaving the building when crews arrived, fire department spokesperson Marc Messier said.

Two people working in the lab at the time of the spill, a 31-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman, were taken to hospital as a precautionary measure, paramedics said. The woman had been treated at the scene for airway irritation.

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HAZMAT TEAM CALLED TO WASTE TRANSFER STATION, http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/ Hazmat+team+called+waste+transfer+station/3488912/story.html

Nine employees were evacuated from a Surrey waste transfer facility after experiencing headaches, difficulty breathing and burning in the throat Monday.

Lorne West, Surrey fire battalion chief, said the fire department and their hazardous materials specialists had an entry team do an assessment of the facility with chemical and gas detectors but were unable to locate the source of the irritant.

"We didn't work our way through all the trash so the concern is that once the trash starts to move through again it will recur."

West said Wastech's Surrey site will be closed while a more specialized hazardous materials team evaluates the facility.

The employees were evaluated and treated on site. Their symptoms cleared after a short time and no workers were hospitalized.

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TRACTOR-TRAILER JACKKNIFES ON I-4, http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2010/sept ember/147794/Tractor-trailer-jackknifes-on-I-4

A jackknifed Walmart tractor-trailer shut down the westbound lanes of Interstate 4 for several hours.

It happened around 6:30 p.m. Monday near the Fairbanks Avenue exit.

The lanes were closed for nearly 2.5 hours while crews cleaned up.

A hazmat team was called to the scene to clean up 100 gallons of diesel fuel that was spilled.

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EMERGENCY PERSONNEL RESPOND TO CHEMICAL LEAK AT BRICK STORAGE CENTER | APP.COM | ASBURY PARK PRESS, http://www.app.com/ article/20100906/NEWS/100906055/Emergency-personnel-respond-to-chemical-le ak-at-Brick-storage-center

BRICK =E2=80=94 An unknown chemical leaking from a commercial storage container has forced authorities to close off a portion of Burnt Tavern Road as they try to identify the substance, police said.

No injuries or exposure has been reported due the leakage from a five-gallon bucket at Public Storage, a storage rental facility at 935 Burnt Tavern Road, according to police. Hazmat, police and fire officials were called in at about 4 p.m. after a bystander spotted the leak. They are still there attempting to identify all the chemicals before doing a cleanup. One lane on Burnt Tavern remains closed, while the other stays open, police said.

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PROPANE LEAK AFTER TRAILER COMES LOOSE, http://www.cha drad.com/newsstory.cfm?story=19536

Chadron)-The Chadron Fire Department has had a busy Labor Day Holiday. A call was received shortly before noon of a Hazmat call after a trailer came loose from a vehicle north of Chadron and ran through a fence on private property. The trailer had a propane tank on it, and propane was leaking.

A second call came in around 12:15 of a vehicle fire on the 100 block of Morehead Street. It was reported that a pickup with books in it was on fire and there were other vehicles around it. Chadron Police Officers blocked traffic so fire personnel could extinguish the blaze. The pickup appeared to be immobile and was in a fenced off lot with other older vehicles. Crews were able to put out the fire very quickly

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STATE TRIES TO TRACK DOWN ODORLESS PROPANE - THE BOSTON GLOBE, http://www.boston.com/news/l ocal/massachusetts/articles/2010/09/04/state_tries_to_track_down_odorless_ propane/

A fatal house explosion in July in Norfolk caused by a propane leak prompted a state investigation that has focused on a Westfield plant that allegedly shipped potentially dangerous propane throughout New England.

Millions of gallons of propane sold and distributed across New England could be lacking the necessary smell that warns people about leaky gas grills and home heating systems.

That danger was discovered during an investigation by the state fire marshal and Attorney General Martha Coakley that found the major distributor of the liquid fuel in Westfield was allegedly shipping propane without the federally required chemical odorant.

The propane that leaked into the house at the elderly residential complex in July did not have the telltale "rotten egg=E2=80=99=E2=80=99 smell that tells people propane or natural gas is leaking, said state fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan.

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: DEAL TO CLEAN UP LA-AREA NUCLEAR ACCIDENT SITE, http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g Zzfvoltn1uEZoEeezdwLPMrrXHgD9I0P6AG2

LOS ANGELES =E2=80=94 More than five decades after a partial nuclear meltdown just outside Los Angeles, state and federal officials Friday announced agreements to remove all contamination and return the atomic energy and rocket engine test site to its natural state.
Residents who have fought for years for cleanup of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory heralded the agreements signed by the Department of Energy, NASA and state officials. The agreements, which commit to a 2017 cleanup date, must still go through a public review process before they are finalized.
"It's more than we'd hoped for a long time," said Marie Mason, head of a homeowner's association whose four members have all been sick with leukemia, breast cancer or serious thyroid conditions. "We are thrilled."
During the Cold War, workers at the site, then-operated by Rocketdyne, tested more than 30,000 rockets and experimented with nuclear reactors on the hilltop where now-hollow gray buildings sit like tombstones.
By the time the lab was shuttered, testing and several nuclear accidents since 1959 left a toxic stew of radioactive and chemical contamination that many believed trickled into the communities below, causing breast cancer, thyroid conditions and a rare eye cancer among infants.

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TEMPLE HAZMAT SITUATION RESOLVED, http://www.kwtx .com/home/headlines/102205454.html

TEMPLE (September 4, 2010) - Temple Firefighters got a call at about 9:10 p.m., Friday about a strange odor at the Nextel Building off Eberhardt Road. Several employees inside also had a hard time breathing.

Six people were taken to teh hospital as a precaution.

In all, 3 Fire Crews, a Hazmat team, Temple police and Scott &amp; White EMS responded.

About 125 people were evacuated.

After further investigation, no hazardous materials or chemicals were found in the building.

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HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SCARE AT EDWARD :: NAPERVILLE SUN :: LOCAL NEWS, http://www.suburbanchicago news.com/napervillesun/news/2672596,Naperville-Edward-Hospital-hazmat_NA09 0410.article

Edward Hospital in Naperville was placed on a hazardous material alert early Friday afternoon, after a plastic bottle containing an ammonia-based solution apparently exploded in the hands of a schoolgirl in unincorporated Will County near Plainfield.

The mother of the unidentified fifth-grader from Creekside Elementary School brought her daughter to the emergency room of the hospital, at 801 S. Washington St.

Naperville police and fire officials stand outside the Edward Hospital emergency while the Naperville hospital was on "Orange Alert" on Friday during a hazardous materials response. 
(Terence Guider-Shaw/For Sun-Times Media)

Preliminary reports indicated the girl and at least some emergency room personnel had been overcome by fumes or sickened by the contents of the bottle, which the girl's mother had brought into the building with her.

A "Code Orange," or hazardous situation, alert was sounded over the hospital's intercom system. Naperville Fire Department officials then sent that agency's hazardous material truck to the hospital's emergency room parking area.

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I-74 REMAINS CLOSED IN DEARBORN COUNTY DUE TO HAZMAT SPILL - FOX59.COM, http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-i-74-hazmat-spill-090310,0,7203025.s tory

A semi truck carrying 4,000 gallons of a hazardous substance overturned in Dearborn County, shutting down Interstate 74 not far from the Indiana/Ohio border.

Drivers traveling towards Cincinnati will need to find a detour. No word yet on how long it will take to clean up the spill.

The driver told Indiana State Police troopers the uneven pavement in the construction zone combined with his load caused the liquid to "slosh" around and caused the semi to drop off the edge of the interstate. The semi struck a concrete barrier and it overturned, spilling the load.

The substance is known as Phthalic Anhydride Molton. It's believed approximately 5-10 gallons were spilled before it was contained. Troopers said the material is over 300 degrees Fahrenheit and they won't be able to recover it until it cools before 270 degrees. Once cool, it will solidify and become more stable.

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MAYFIELD HEIGHTS: I-271 HAS REOPENED AFTER TRUCK ACCIDENT, http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=146697& ;amp;catid=3

MAYFIELD HEIGHTS -- ...Police and fire crews had been on the scene all day working to clear an accident involving a truck that lost its trailer over a guardrail just after 8:30 a.m. Friday.

The trailer and barrels of a flammable resin chemical landed on Marsol Road, near the Marsol Towers apartments and behind Golden Gate shopping center.

No evacuations have been issued. HAZMAT crews were cleaning up the resin, a flammable compound used to make fiberglas.

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METH LAB DISCOVERED AT HOME IN ERIE - CBS4DENVER.COM, http://c bs4denver.com/crime/erie.meth.lab.2.1895597.html

ERIE, Colo. (CBS4) =E2=80=95 Colorado Mug Shots Several police agencies were on the scene of a meth lab in Erie on Friday working to decontaminate the scene.

The lab was found at a home at 270 Bonanza Drive just north of Highway 7, near the airport.

Hazmat teams with the Boulder Couty Drug Task Force and Mountain View Fire started their operation at the crime scene Thursday night.

At least 3 people were taken into custody.

Neighbors told CBS4 there's been strange activity at the house for years. One woman said people were coming and going at the house throughout the day and night, and often various vehicles were being pulled into the garage and having the tires taken on and off.

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UPDATE: 'TENS OF THOUSANDS OF GALLONS' OF FOAM FOULS WEST HAVEN RIVER AS YALE FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONS, http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/09/01/news/doc4c7d cbacdb2c6425853077.txt

WEST HAVEN =E2=80=94  "Tens of thousands of gallons" of a flame-suppressing chemical foam is believed to have spread from a broken pipe fitting at Yale University's West Campus into the Oyster River, authorities said this morning.

The foam is not harmful to people, officials said, but fish die off has been reported.

The Department of Environmental Protection is overseeing the cleanup, which is the responsibility of Yale University, DEP spokesman Dwayne Gardner said. The environmental services firm McVac Environmental has been contracted by Yale to work on the river and is on scene today, Gardner and West Shore FIre Chief David Collins said.

The fire protection system is comprised of aqueous film-forming foam, a material that is 94 percent water and 6 percent butyl carbitol, West Shore Deputy Chief Patrick Pickering said. DEP officials were weighing today whether to allow this weekend's expected rain to clean up the foam, Gardner said.

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