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Previous by Date: Subject: Chemical Safety headlines from Google Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2010 08:14:48 -0500 Author: Ralph Stuart |
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Good thing it wasn’t fluorine gas at U. Washington. ;-) Pete
From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:DCHAS-L
**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of Ralph Stuart
Sent: Monday, Dec
ember 20, 2010 8:15 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google
Links to details available at http:/ /pinboard.in/u:dchas
ONE LANE OF REDBUD TRAIL REOPENS AFTER 18-WHEELER WRECK | THE BLOTTER, http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/s hared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2010/12/16/collision_shuts_down_west _aust.html
Crews said the move will allow som e traffic flow to ease congestion in the busy West Austin area until the sc ene can be cleared later tonight, a spokesman said.
It will be another two hours until special equipmen t arrives that will allow crews to safely remove the 18-wheeler’s hau l of 3,800 gallons of sodium hexametaphosphate, a non-hazardous product use d in the water treatment process, said Austin Water Utility spokesman Jason Hill. The contents must be removed before the 18-wheeler can be turned up from its side, Hill said.
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ICE CAUSES VOLATILE CHEMICAL LEAK AT LOCAL PRINT ING COMPANY | TENNESSEAN.COM | THE TE NNESSEAN, http://www.tennessean.com/article/20101216/DICKSON01/101216068/2141/Ice+cau ses+volatile+chemical+leak+at+local+printing+company< /p>
It’s been an unusually cold December thus far, and the frigid conditions have caused problems countywide – including the spillage of up to 400 gallons of a volatile chemical.
Thre e Nashville-based emergency management agencies were called but no local of ficials were notified of the spill, which took place at Quad/Graphics in Di ckson and involved the same chemical that severely burned and ultimately ki lled an employee in August.
The spill occurred ea rly Dec. 10 at the Quad/Graphics plant in the county industrial park when a n ice chunk fell and struck a handle, opening a valve on the facility’ ;s solvent recovery system and released 300-400 gallons of toluene, a chemi cal solvent.
Claire Ho, a Quad/Graphics corporate spokesperson, said the chemical drained across a concrete pad and into a g rate, which led to a “drainage ditch” where the spill collected .
The ditch and grate are not connected to the pu blic sewer system, Ho said.
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< /p>
CTV SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO - CHEMTURA REPORT OUT
ON CHEMICAL RELEASE IN ELMIRA - CTV NEWS, http://swo.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101216/ch
emtura-chemical-release-report-101216/20101216/?hub=SWOHome
A report looking into the accidental release of BLE25 and acetone from a chemical plant around 3:00 p.m. on Sept. 27, 2010 has found equipment and alarm issues were to blame.
< span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>Accordi ng to Chemtura, an estimated 4,200 kilograms of BLE and 112 kilograms of ac etone were released from an emergency relief vent after a buildup of pressu re in a storage vessel at the Elmira facility.
Wh ile alerts were activated, none were seen or heard due to the type of alert and the fact that no one was around to react to them.
Most of the material was originally believed to have landed on the p lant's site, but some was found to have been carried off site, which is whe n the Ministry of the Environment and Waterloo Region were notified.
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BEAUM ONT HAZMAT CREW CLEANING CHEMICAL LEAK, http://www.theexaminer.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID =61&ArticleID=4230
The Beaumont F ire Department's hazmat crew is cleaning a chemical waste leak inside of an 18-wheel tractor trailer after the rig was stopped for a routine departmen t of transportation safety inspection.
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PA. COUPLE BLO
CKS FIREFIGHTERS FROM HAZMAT RESPONSE, http://www.firerescue1.com/disaster-management/articles/921
928-Pa-couple-blocks-firefighters-from-hazmat-response/
HANOVER, Pa. — West Manheim Township Police charged an eld erly couple with obstructing police and emergency services after they refus ed to let firefighters through the right of way to fight a dangerous gas le ak at a neighbor's house.
West Manheim Police Chi
ef Tim Hippensteel said the couple Nevin and Miriam Barnhart, both 79, have
a 23-year history of ongoing harassment of others using the driveway at 28
88 Baltimore Pike, which leads to other properties as well.
But the Barnharts say they never argued with officials, and that the issue was that the truck couldn't make the turn off Baltimore Pike int o the drive without causing damage.
Police and em ergency personnel were sent to 2904 Baltimore Pike on Dec. 2 for a reported natural-gas leak. The driveway between the Barnharts' property and the one next door also serves three residences, including the one with the leak, p olice said.
Officer Paul Heffner arrived shortly after Pleasant Hill Fire Co. led by Chief Ted Clousher and saw a person sta nding on the edge of the driveway, according to court documents. Heffner sa id he recognized the Barnharts from their "history of disorderly and h arassing behavior related to this driveway," and overheard Clousher or dering them to move out of the fire engine's way.
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HAZMATS ABOUND, BUT HARD TO QUANTIFY | SAVANNAHNOW.COM, http://savannahnow.com/news/2010-12-17/hazmats-abound-hard-quantify
Emergency preparedness consultant Ben Johnson told the Savannah City Council that so far he's identified more than 600 hazardo us chemicals being transported through the city.
And there's no major route in or out of the city where hazardous materials can't be found: I-16, I-516, I-95, Ga. 21, Bay Street, Martin Luther King J r. Boulevard, DeRenne Avenue, U.S. 80, U.S. 17.
B ut he hasn't completed a flow study that will give a more detailed picture of which materials are being transported on which roads. Savannah State Uni versity students will help him complete that study by actually tallying the identifying triangular hazmat placards they observe on trucks going by des ignated study spots.
< span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>
Council requested the study in October after discussions of proposed LNG trucking revealed a lack of de tailed data about the types and quantities of all hazardous materials flowi ng through the city.
< span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>
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CHEMICAL FIRE NEAR UPTOWN SENDS FIVE TO HOSPITAL, h ttp://www.firefightingnews.com/article-us.cfm?articleID=88088
United States (North Carolina) - Five workers at Ch arlotte Pipe and Foundry were taken to the hospital to be evaluated this mo rning after a chemical fire broke out at the plant on South Clarkson Street near uptown. At least 60 firefighters helped control the fire in about 90 minutes, Charlotte fire Capt. Rob Brisley said. No firefighters were injure d, he said.
Fire officials s aid they took air quality samples and found no danger to residents from any fumes released by the fire.
The fire started at about 3:15 a.m. Fire officials haven't yet said what chemical may have been involved or what caused the fire.
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POSSIBLE HAZMAT SITUATION AT INTERNATI
ONAL PAPER SENDS 2 TO HOSP - WMBFNEWS.COM | MYRTLE BEACH/FLORENCE, SC | NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS, http://www.wmbfnews.com/story/13704879/possible-h
azmat-situation-at-international-paper-sends-2-to-hospital
Chief Mack Reed with the Georgetown County Fire Department said they received a call from IP about a non-responsive patient around 10:30 a.m.
< /div>
It is possible two people may have come in contact with a chemical, possibly hydrogen sulfide.
They were both taken to Georgetown Memorial Hospital where they were decontamin ated as a precaution.
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OFFICIALS INVESTIGATE CRASH BETWEEN BOX TRAILER AND DUMP TRUCK - WAFB CHANNEL 9, BATON ROUGE, LA |, http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S =13702691
PLAQUEMINE, LA (WAFB) - Authoriti es report a crash involving a box trailer and a dump truck has closed a sec tion of LA 1 near Dow Chemical Plant.
According t o the Louisiana State Police, one caught fire when the two vehicles collide d, but the flames have since been put out.
" (It was) very emotional. I'm just devastated. I'm glad the driver's not dea d. We can fix this but I'm glad no one was killed," said Wilbert Forre st Jr., owner of the dump truck.
The southbound lanes of LA 1 have been reopened, but the northbound lane is expected to b e closed until 7 p.m.
Investigators have not indi cated when the roadway will be completely reopened.
The box trailer, which was carrying plastic pellets, burst into flames w hen the wreck happened.
The dump truck was haulin g hot asphalt. Troopers said no one was killed or even seriously injured.
< /div>
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HAZMAT RESPONDS TO SPILL AT NILES PLANT - WKBN - 27 FIRST NEWS - LOCAL NEWS - YOUNGSTOWN, WARREN, COLUMBIANA, OHIO - SHARON, PENNSYLVANIA, http://www.wkbn.com/content/news/loc al/story/HAZMAT-Responds-to-Spill-at-Niles-Plant/ROR3eEY-p02gI2jzle5FNw.csp x
Workers at a nearby tow truck lot thought t
hey saw oil leaking from BRT Extrusions on Main Street in Niles.
But the black, dirt-like substance was actually industrial waste, dumped there from the plant.
"Basical ly what it is, is the grit from a parking lot and some of the remnants of w hat was left in the mill. They wanted to unclog their drains, and that's ba sically what they were doing," said Trumbull County HAZMAT Chief Don W aldron.
"It's a dirty black water with grave l and sludge from the storm sewer line," said Niles fire Lt. Rodney Fr eel.
BRT Extrusions hired an outside company to c lean their drains, and that subcontractor said they didn't know they had to contain the waste. Waldron said it's technically considered open dumping, but the workers were only given a warning, and the material isn't in danger of spreading or causing any harm.
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» PIPELINE EXPLOSION IN LAGOS - VANGUARD (NIGERIA), http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/12/pipeline-explosion- in-lagos/
What would have been a major disast
er, few days to Christmas was averted by the combined efforts of
; fire service men,members of the National Security and Civil Defence Corps
, NDSC, the police and staff of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
, NNPC, when an explosion occured along the NNPC pipelines around Ish
eri Olofin in the Egbe-Idimu Local Council Development Area.
The explosion, on Thursday, though didn 217;t affect the pipelines of NNPC, occured about 150 meters away in a swam py area and was caused by bush burning by neighbouring farmers. According to eye witnesses, pipelines vandals had channeled their pipes fr om the NNPC pipeline into the swampy area and so the bush burning onl y aided the explosion.
Calis tus Ukachukwu, an official of Red Cross, corroborated the claim, saying tha t the explosion was caused by bush burning but added that if the vandals ha dn’t chenneled the pipe from the NNPC pipelines, the explosion would not have occured.
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MEXICO'S OIL PIPELINE EXPLOSION DEATH TOLL RISES TO 27, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-12/20/c_13655935.ht m
MEXICO CITY, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of an oil pipeline explosion in central Mexico rose to 27 with 52 inju ries, state-run energy giant Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) said in a statemen t on Sunday.
Earlier on Sunday, an official from the Puebla state government told Xinhua by telephone that the explosion too k place after criminals tapping two oil pipelines running through Puebla to wn San Martin Texmelucan lost control of oil flow.
The Puebla official said that 33 homes were completely destroyed by the e xplosion and 32 more were seriously damaged. Pemex said that a total of 115 houses had been affected. Regional authorities are now moving 5,000 reside nts of the town to the Angeles Blancos emergency shelter and cleanup work i s under way. Pemex said that the incident began at 5.50 a.m. local time. Th e fire had been put out by 10 a.m. local time. Pemex investigators are at t he scene seeking the cause of the explosion. The area is now being guarded by 125 soldiers, it added.
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FIRE CAUSES STORE EVACUATION, http://www.sheppnews.com.au/members/login.aspx?noacce ss=1&from=/article.aspx?id=1193382
< /div>
A deliberately lit fire caused an evacuation at the Shepparton Market P lace yesterday.
Customers an d staff of the shopping complex were asked to leave after a fire was report ed in Big W about 2.30 pm.
P olice said two men entered the store and grabbed a bottle of chlorine from the pool section before walking to the car care section and grabbing a bott le of brake fluid.
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U. OF WASH. LAB EVACUAT
ED, FLOURINE GAS LEAKED | FIREHOUSE.COM, http://www.firehouse.com/topic/rescue-an
d-special-ops/u-wash-lab-evacuated-flourine-gas-leaked
Seattle Fire has finished with a hazmat incident at the Universit
y of Washington's Henderson Hall, the Applied Physics Lab.
Sue Stangl with the Seattle Fire Department said the building was evacuated.
The problem substance is flourine gas. The gas, which is toxic, was stopped from spreading.
Seat tle Fire said 3 to 4 cubic centimeters of the gas was released on the first floor lab. A lab technician said he heard a hiss, turned off the valve and left to call 9-1-1.
< span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>Lt. Sta ngl said the hazmat team members suited up in what is called "level A& quot; protection and entered the lab where the gas leaked to make sure the nozzle is closed.
The incident began at about 4:30 p.m. Friday.
< /div>
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STAFFSLIVE » BLOG ARCHIVE » FIRE CREWS TACKLE CHEMICAL SPILL AT BURTON FACTORY, http://www.staffs.ac.uk/schools/art_and_design/journal ism/staffslive/wordpress/2010/12/14/fire-crews-tackle-chemical-spill-at-bur ton-factory/
By Anneka Masih: Firefighters ta ckled a toxic chemical spill in Burton-upon-Trent caused by a faulty machin e.
< /p>
The leak happened at Rumenco animal feed facto ry in Derby Road, Stretton.
The alarm was raised this morning (December 14) when machinery began smoking and toxic liquids s pilled out.
Firefighters wore gas tight chemical
suits and poured sand over the spill to absorb the chemical.
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HAWKER BEECHC RAFT EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL - TODA YSTHV.COM | KTHV | LITTLE ROCK, AR, http://www.tod aysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=133579&catid=119
< /div>
A plane manufacturing company in Little Rock is le
tting employees back into the building after a chemical spill.
< span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>
It happened around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. The Little Rock Fire Department says a woman was in a room of t he building where cabinets are installed into aircrafts when she heard a po pping and crackling sound coming from a fire-proof cabinet. As she was tryi ng to leave the room, one of the 55-gallon drums ruptured. She was taken by MEMS to a local hospital after feeling nausea and a burning sensation in h er nose.
The cabinet was warped and chemicals s pilled onto the floor with chemical vapors being released into the air. HAZ -MAT was called to the scene and they turned on vents in the room to help e vacuate the vapor.
The room is now taped off and HAZ-MAT will continue testing until the room is safe to let employees back in.
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MINOR SPILL CONTAINED AT DOW CHEMICAL IN MARLBOROUGH - FRAMINGHAM, M A - THE METROWEST DAILY NEWS, http ://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x1046514921/Minor-spill-contained-at-Dow -Chemical-in-Marlborough
A drum of furfuryl a lcohol ruptured at Dow Chemical yesterday afternoon, prompting the evacuati on of the main facility for about an hour, a company representative said.
< /div>
The rupture was contained by Dow Chemical's emerge
ncy response team, said Kevin DeLine, site manufacturing leader.
The business moved employees from the main facility to a di fferent building on the property until the area was secured and the air was deemed OK, DeLine said.
No one was exposed to an y chemical, and there was no chemical release outside the area of the ruptu re, DeLine said. The business, at 455 Forest St., was cleaning up as of las t night.
Dow Chemical is investigating the rupt ure and has not determined a cause.
Furfuryl alco
hol is a raw material, one of the products that the company makes.
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< span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>LOVELY COUNTY CITIZEN: LOCAL NEWS: METH AFTERMATH -- WHO PAYS? (12/15/10), http://www.lovelycitiz en.com/story/1688215.html
CARROLL COUNTY -- Unless there's another find, Carroll County is going to end the year with a count of eight methamphetamine labs processed by city and county law enfo rcement.
According to Carr oll County Sheriff Bob Grudek, two of the labs were in Berryville, four wer e in county jurisdiction, and two were in Green Forest. The busts have resu lted in ten arrests, but that's just one aspect of cleaning up meth.
The latest lab was discovered December 10 in Green Fore st when a caller reported a suspicious duffel bag in the crawl space of a h ouse being cleaned for rental. After the Green Forest Police Department (GF PD) responded, Chief John Bailey saw the duffel was open and determined it contained hazardous materials common to meth labs.
...
A side from the obvious human toll of lives that are ruined, and in some case s are lost, meth costs every taxpayer in the county each time a lab is proc essed and cleaned. Once a lab is discovered; whether it's a house, hotel ro om or an open field, local law enforcement must notify the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
...
Bailey told the Citizen, &quo t;Even a small, 'one pot' lab can cost upwards of $10,000. Get four of thos e and that's at least $40,000 that comes out of a city's budget. We don't h ave that kind of money to spend in Green Forest, so we're lucky we have a c ertified hazard processing team in Carroll County."< /p>
Once the DEA arrives, they call a Hazmat transport company to move the hazardous materials to a location where they are eventually destroyed u nder government protocol. Although the DEA picks up the tab for transport, the bottom line is still taxpayer money.
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TWO 18-WHEELERS RUN OFF I-12 IN D ENHAM SPRINGS | NBC 33 TV - WVLA, http://www.nbc33tv.com/local /two-18-wheelers-run-off-i-12-in-denham-springs
DENHAM SPRINGS, La (NBC33) Two crashes in less than three hours at the s ame spot on I-12 near the Amite River Bridge.
Aut
horities say the first truck, a fuel tanker, hit the railing and ran o
ff the road. It was carrying thousands of gallons of gas.
< span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>
Haz-mat crews cleared the sc ene and the rail was repaired just in time for another 18-wheeler to come b arreling through.
The second big rig was als o carrying some hazardous paint and gases when it ran off I-12 and crashed into a ditch.
Th e Denham Springs Police Department and State Police Hazmat crews were back on scene again to deal with the mess.
DOTD had to close the right line of I-12 eastbound to repair the guard rail agai n.
< /p>
Authorities tell us this is the seventh overtu rned truck in this area in just six weeks.
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WAREHAM FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO 4TH DISTRICT COURT FOR HAZMAT SPILL; THE FREEZE IS ON AT THE YARMOUTH FIRE STATION ICE RINK, http://www.ca pecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php/2010/12/15/the-freeze-is-on-at-the-yarmouth- fire-st?blog=80
WAREHAM - Wareham firefight
ers responded to the 4th District Court in Wareham Wednesday, December 15,
2010, for a reported sulfuric acid spill around 10:30 a.m.
According to emergency broadcast reports, approximately one half quart of sulfuric acid was spilled in the basement of the courthouse comple x.
The courthouse was evacuated and will
be closed for the remainder of the day according to the Wareham District Co
unty Clerk's Office. There were no reported injuries.
Hazardous material crews also responded to the scene.
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