Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2010 06:39:34 -0500
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From: Ralph Stuart <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: Chemical Safety headlines from Google

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THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL=92S =93SAFETY SUMMIT=94 | THE SAFETY ZONE, http://cenblog.org/the-safety-zone/2010/11/the-nat ional-research-councils-safety-summit/

Last week, the National Research Council convened a =93Safety Summit=94 on academic laboratory safety. Roughly 40 people attended, including representatives from academia, industry, and government labs and agencies. The goal of the summit, says Dorothy Zolandz, director of NRC=92s Board on Chemical Sciences &amp; Technology, was to help the board determine what projects it should initiate in the area of laboratory safety.

The board is currently wrapping up an update to =93Prudent Practices in the Laboratory,=94 as well as the production of educational materials for the State Department=92s Chemical Security Engagement Program (C&amp;EN, Dec. 7, 2009, page 44).

A few themes emerged from the summit, which included talks by several attendees as well as open discussion, Zolandz says. One was that several people felt very strongly that safety should be an explicit part of the hiring and evaluation criteria for faculty. But others felt that the problem was really a lack of resources for which faculty shouldn=92t be held responsible. Matthew Clark, director of university programs at the Department of Homeland Security, commented that in his experience, issues of safety compliance came down to =93cost, inertia, and arrogance on the part of the principal investigators,=94 Zolandz says.

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KDAC OWNER, TWO OFFICIALS STILL AT LARGE - THE TIMES OF INDIA, http://timesofindia.indiat imes.com/city/vadodara/KDAC-owner-two-officials-still-at-large/articleshow /6990871.cms

VADODARA: Four days after fire broke at KDAC Chem Private Ltd in Nandesari-GIDC, the cops are yet to arrest its owner and other two officials. One person had died and seven suffered injuries when the factory caught fire on Monday morning. The cops have already arrested C M Jhalani, security manager of KDAC who was in charge of the safety and security of the factory. 

Company owner Dhansukh Gaur and two other officials, Kamal Chandani and K K Patel, are still at large. "We are looking for those absconding and they will be arrested soon. The offence registered against them is of serious nature and investigations are on to find reasons behind the fire," said a police official.

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FRENCH CHEMISTRY PROF FINED FOR DEADLY LAB BLAST | REUTERS, http://in. reuters.com/article/idINIndia-53150820101125

(Reuters) - A professor at a chemistry college in eastern France was fined 8,000 euros and given a suspended jail sentence on Thursday for causing a lab explosion that killed a colleague and gravely injured a student.

The accident occurred in 2006 when professor Alain Louati went out for lunch and an open bottle of highly inflammable ethylene triggered an explosion that tore through his laboratory in the city of Mulhouse, near the German border.

The blast, which blew out windows and ceilings and blackened walls, killed a professor in a room above the lab and injured a high-school student in an adjacent room. The young woman suffered severe fractures to the head and body, was temporarily in a coma and was left handicapped.

A court in Mulhouse found Louati, 62, guilty of involuntary homicide and causing injury by negligence and gave him a suspended 18-month prison sentence.

At his trial in September, Louati was accused of using substandard rubber tubes and of leaving the flask of ethylene open. Louati denied responsibility for the blast, saying he had closed the bottle and someone must have entered the lab and reopened it.

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TRAIN CARS DERAIL BEHIND DALLAS JAIL, http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local-beat/Train-Cars- Derail-Behind-Dallas-Jail-110535959.html

At least three train cars jumped the tracks near the Dallas County jail Wednesday night.
A Union Pacific train car derailed behind the Lew Sterrett Justice Center at about 7:30 p.m., sparking a chain reaction. Fire officials said three cars flipped upside down behind the jail.
One of the cars was leaking fluid, but investigators said they do not believe the chemical is a nonhazardous fertilizer. Hazmat teams have set up a dam at the site of the derailment to keep as much of the chemical as possible from leaking in to the Trinity River.

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DAILY NONPAREIL ONLINE &GT; NEWS &GT; OFFICIALS CONCERNED ABOUT ANHYDROUS 'NURSE' TANKS, http://www.southwestiowanews.com/art icles/2010/11/24/council_bluffs/news/doc4ced44c903e82473350221.txt

State officials are concerned about the number of damaged =93nurse=94 tanks on the roads and on private property in Iowa.

Pottawattamie County Emergency Management coordinator Jeff Theulen said the topic came up at the Iowa HAZMAT Conference in Ames in October.

Nurse tanks are used to transport anhydrous ammonia as a liquid under pressure from the dealer to the field.

Theulen said there are 26,000 nurse tanks in Iowa.

=93While a lot of them are inspected or in good shape, some are damaged and still holding (chemicals),=94 Theulen said, and a damaged tank is accident waiting to happen.

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KENTUCKY METH LABS HIT ALL TIME HIGH, http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/Kentucky_meth_lab s_hit_all_time_high_110522249.html

The number of meth labs found in Kentucky has reached an all time high.

Kentucky State Police report there were 111 meth labs found during the month of October. That's more than ever before. It brings the yearly total to 919, which breaks another record.

Hazmat crews have had their work cut out for them in 2010. With more than a month left in the year, the number of meth labs discovered in Kentucky has already passed last year's record of 741, and the state is on track to exceed 1000 labs by year's end. "We really think that it's going to take a community approach to this and working with our legislators and developing new techniques and new ways for law enforcement to deal with this particular problem," Kentucky State Police Lt. David Jude said.

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HAZMAT TEAMS SENT TO BUTLER CO. CHLORINE LEAK - CINCINNATI NEWS STORY - WLWT CINCINNATI, http://www.wlwt.com /news/25911617/detail.html

ST. CLAIR TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Hazardous materials units have been called to a chlorine leak at a Butler County water treatment facility.
Workers at a Southwest Water District facility were changing one chlorine cylinder to another Wednesday afternoon when some of the chemical spilled, said operations manager Norma Pennock.
The cylinders are shaped like soup cans and are 6 feet long and 3 feet in diameter, Pennock said.
No injuries were reported, Pennock said, and no workers were exposed to gas during the incident.

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