Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2010 07:47:43 -0500
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From: Ralph Stuart <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: Chemical Safety headlines from Google

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CHEMICAL BLAST KILLS 7 AT INTERNET CAFE IN CHINA - FORBES.COM, http://www.forbes.com/feeds /ap/2010/12/05/general-as-china-cafe-blast_8183092.html?boxes=Homepagebu sinessnews

BEIJING -- An explosion caused by illegally stored chemicals has killed seven people and injured 37 at an Internet cafe in southwest China, state media and the government said Sunday.

The blast occurred late Saturday in a shop next to the cafe, located under a bridge, the Kaili city government in Guizhou province said in a statement. The official Xinhua News Agency said nine of those hurt were seriously injured.

Packs of highly concentrated aluminum chloride and sodium nitrite, which are hazardous, were stacked up against a wall in a shop that sold chemicals adjacent to the Internet cafe, the report said. It did not say how the chemicals were ignited.

Police have detained a person named Wu Zhanzhi for illegal possession of the chemicals, while the cafe's boss and manager were also being held by police for questioning, it said.

The explosion was so powerful it shattered the windows of nearby residential buildings, Xinhua said.

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CHEMICAL SCARE AT QANTAS CATERING SITE, http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/chemical-scare -at-qantas-catering-site-20101206-18ls8.html?from=smh_sb

Eight people have been treated by paramedics and hundreds more have been evacuated after a chemical scare in southern Sydney.

Fire and ambulance crews were called after a strong odour was detected throughout the Qantas catering building near Sydney Airport at 7.37am today.

NSW Fire Brigades Superintendent Ian Krimmer said the odour was believed to be from a floor treatment product.

"At this stage it is believed to be a floor treatment product, the vapours of which have gone through the building as a result of air-conditioning," he told reporters.

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BBC NEWS - FILTON HOTEL EVACUATED AFTER POOL CHEMICAL SPILL, http://www. bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-11918488

Firefighters in South Gloucestershire have dealt with a chemical incident at a hotel in Filton.

Emergency services were called to the Holiday Inn after reports staff had inadvertently mixed two chemicals together near the hotel's pool.

An Avon Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said one man in his 20s had been taken to hospital.

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GOVT REPRIEVE FOR MPCB OFFICIALS - THE TIMES OF INDIA, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ci ty/pune/Govt-reprieve-for-MPCB-officials/articleshow/7044963.cms

NAGPUR: The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board's (MPCB) regional office in Pune has got a major reprieve as the state government has refused to link the August 2008 fire incident at a chemical factory in Bhosari with negligence on the part of the board officials in carrying out regular inspection of the factory. 

Eleven women were killed and several others were injured in one of the worst ever industrial accidents to have occurred in the twin industrial township of Pimpri-Chinchwad on August 27, 2008. The chemical plant, Sai Industries, which had a green category status, has since been shut down. 

"It won't be appropriate to conclude that the fire incident had resulted out of negligence on the part of the concerned authorities," minister for environment Sanjay Deotale told the state assembly in a written reply on Saturday.

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OFFICIALS: CHEMICAL REACTION LIKELY LED TO TAHOE SCHOOL CLOSURE; IT WILL RE-OPEN FRIDAY | SIERRASUN.COM, http://www.sierrasun.com/article/20101202/NEWS/101209983/0/FRONTPAGE

TAHOE CITY, Calif. =97 A chemical reaction was the probable cause for a cloud of noxious vapors Thursday morning at Tahoe Lake Elementary School that eventually led to the school being shut down prior to students arriving to campus, officials confirmed.

The North Tahoe Fire Protection District received a call at 8:31 a.m. Thursday, said spokesman Dave Zaski, about possible smoke coming from the gymnasium at the school.

...
Out of the staff evacuated, 18 people were assessed on scene by responding paramedics; 17 of them were immediately released, while one employee =97 janitor Frank Godoy =97 was taken to Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee. Godoy was later released.

Steve Dickinson, assistant superintendent of finances, said Godoy had been mixing cleaning chemicals to scrub the gym floor when the chemicals caused the reaction.

Dickinson said the chemicals =97 which the district labeled as a releasing a =93strong odor=94 and =93visible fumes=94 =97 used by Godoy are unknown.

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HIGHWAY 65 REOPENED AFTER HAZMAT SPILL, http://www .nbc11news.com/home/headlines/111267334.html

The Grand Junction Fire Department Hazmat Team says a hauling drilling fluid lost its load of barrels around 7:20 a.m. About 100 gallons of the hazardous fluid spilled from a punctured barrel.

Hazmat members wore full protective gear and oxygen masks while they cleaned up. None of the chemical is believed to have gotten into the river.

Highway 65 was closed for more than five hours at from the I-70 off ramp to 45 1/2 Road. Drivers were forced to take the De Beque cut off.

Officials say the driver of the truck won't be cited for losing his load because he handled the situation properly after it happened. He stopped immediately and called a towing company to help him put the barrels back on the truck and it was the towing company that actually punctured the barrel in the course of repacking the load. It's unclear if the towing company will be cited.

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WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES ONLINE - NEWS, http:// www.wdtimes.com/articles/2010/12/03/news/news3.txt

JEFFERSON - Jefferson High School was evacuated for a few hours Thursday after workers mixed chlorine and hydrochloric acid while trying to clean the school's pool, according to Jefferson School District Superintendent Michael Swartz.

The accident happened about 1:15 p.m. Thursday. Police say workers were trying to clean the pool, where an accident earlier this week hurt two people.

=93The company that was cleaning the pool and the pool's maintenance area mixed chlorine with hydrochloric acid and that created a chlorine gas,=94 Swartz said. =93It was an accident, but it happened. So, the chlorine gas then seeped into the building and we immediately evacuated the building as a precaution.=94

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CAUSE OF CAMP BELZER FIRE TO BE RELEASED, http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/local/marion_cou nty/cause-of-camp-belzer-fire-to-be-released

LAWRENCE, Ind. (WISH) - Fire investigators say the fire at Camp Belzer in Lawrence was an accident.

The fire completely destroyed the center for volunteer training at the Boy Scout camp.

Lawrence fire investigators told 24-Hour News 8 Friday morning a chemical called "Duraseal Renovator" was being used to refinish the dining halls' hardwood floors.

The company contracted to do the work left flammable materials in containers which caused the fire.

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FIREFIGHTERS ARE INVESTIGATING A FATAL FIRE, JUST EAST OF COLUMBIA CITY, http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/loca l/Firefighters-are-investigating-a-fatal-fire-just-east-of-Columbia-City

COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. (WANE) - Police are investigating a fatal explosion just east of Columbia City.

According to the Whitley County Sheriff=92s Department, a loud bang was reported just after 1 a.m. Friday at lot 65 of the Miami Village Mobile Home Park on East Old Trail Road.

When Deputy Jason Spencer first arrived, he entered the residence and detected a strong chemical odor. He also found Alecia L. Stine, 24, dead on the master bedroom floor.

The preliminary investigation shows there was some kind of chemical explosion which occurred in or near a glass container. That explosion threw shards of glass into the air hitting Stine in the throat, neck and arm. She also had chemical burns to her face.

Deputy Spencer was taken to the hospital after he complained that the chemical smell was causing him to have trouble breathing. He has since been treated and released.

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ONE OF TWO DUPONT WORKERS RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL FOLLOWING CHEMICAL LEAK - STATE JOURNAL - STATEJOURNAL.COM, http://www.statejournal.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&a mp;storyid=90515

"The first of two DuPont Belle Plant employees hospitalized early on Friday morning for observation following a monomethylamine railcar leak at the plant was released from the hospital Friday evening. The second employee remains at the hospital for observation as a precaution and continues to show no signs of respiratory symptoms."

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BBC NEWS - CHEMICAL SPILL SPARKS FLINTSHIRE FACTORY EVACUATION, http ://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-11911745
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Staff were evacuated after a chemical spill at a Flintshire aerospace factory.

Four fire engines were called to the scene at Gardner Aerospace, Hawarden Business Park, Flintshire, at 0939 GMT Friday.

There had been a spillage of sulphuric acid and chromic acid at the factory, which makes aeroplane parts.

North Wales Fire Service said an environmental protection unit and incident response unit was also sent.

No-one was hurt.

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AMTRAK TRAIN COLLIDES WITH VEHICLE IN JASPER COUNTY, http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/indiana/amtrak-tr ain-collides-with-vehicle-in-jasper-county

JASPER COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) - Hazmat crews are still on the scene of an accident involving an Amtrak train and semi in Jasper County.

It happened on County Road 1200 West near the small town of Fair Oaks at 9:05 a.m. Friday.

According to Jasper County Sheriff=92s Department, the semi failed to yield at the crossing and the Hoosier State Train from Indianapolis slammed into the semi=92s trailer splitting it into two pieces.

The semi was carrying methanol bottles which are highly flammable. Hazmat crews were called to the scene to clean up the spillage.

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THE HAYS DAILY NEWS, http://www.hdnews. net/Story/mercuryspill120310

Hays Parks Department personnel had an unexpected encounter with a hazardous material Wednesday afternoon.

During cleanup of the abandoned wastewater treatment plant in the 1500 block of U.S. Highway 183 Alternate, a piece of equipment was knocked over and about a quart of mercury spilled out.

According to Hays Fire Department Chief Gary Brown, the mercury was used as a bearing lubricant in an aeration arm of a settling tank.

"When the plant was abandoned, nobody ever took the mercury out of the pivots and as they were working in there, they knocked over one of the pivots and the mercury spilled out of it," Brown said. "We cleaned it up and got rid of it."

After the spilled mercury was cleaned up, the hazmat team drained the mercury from the second pivot.

"The city of Hays operates the regional hazmat team, so we mobilized our folks and went down there," Brown said. "We cleaned up the spill, double contained it and then we went to the second pivot and drained the mercury out of that."

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HAZMAT TEAM CALLED TO EWING HOUSE - NJ.COM, http://www.nj.com/news/times/regional/i ndex.ssf?/base/news-21/1291445172201430.xml&amp;coll=5

EWING -- The Trenton Fire Department's Hazmat team was called out to the township yesterday when people cleaning out a house stumbled upon old pesticides, Battalion Chief John Gribbin said.

Two men and a woman who had been hired to empty the home of a deceased woman on the 1000 block on Pennington Road were cleaning out the basement.

"They were carrying a box out that had a couple of containers of insecticides, glass containers," Gribbin said.

The bottles contained mathalion, which was commonly diluted with water and placed in a spray container to keep bugs off vegetables, he said. The box was leaking the liquid, and one of the workers placed the box on the floor. He put baking powder over it, then placed water on top of everything, causing the chemicals to spread, Gribbin said.

Firefighters dispatched around noon removed the containers, which contained 4 to 5 ounces each, Gribbin said. An EMS check of all the people who were in the basement revealed they were fine, he said.


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