Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 07:09:26 -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 GAS FORCES TRUCK STOP EVACUATION | WBIR.COM, http://www.wbir.com/news/article/154876/2/Chemical-gas- forces-truck-stop-evacuation

An employee was taken to  the hospital after he accidentally mixed several chemicals together while trying to unclog a urinal at an interstate truck stop.

Members of the  Loudon County Fire and Rescue along with the Loudon County Sheriff's Office responded to the Knox West Travel Center on Watt Road off I-40 Exit 339 just before 11:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Officials say the employee mixed together drain cleaner and bleach causing a toxic gas.

Two other people were treated, but refused transportation to the hospital.

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FIREFIGHTERS BATTLE BLAZE AT INDUSTRIAL PLANT IN SPARTANBURG COUNTY - GREENVILLE NEWS STORY - WYFF GREENVILLE, http://www.wyff4.c om/news/26669267/detail.html

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Firefighters from several departments spent Sunday evening working to contain a fire at a plant in Spartanburg County.
Officials said a fire broke out at the Henkel of America plant on Highway 221 at about 3:42 p.m. Sunday.
Fire departments from Enoree, Cross Anchor, Hobbysville, Woodruff and Sandy Springs were called to the scene.
According to Deputy Fire Chief Tony Barnett, some employees were heating a mix of raw materials used to make an adhesive when then fire started. It also sparked a small grass fire when flames filtered outside through an open vent.
Will Yancey, director of operations at the plant, told News 4's John Eby that two employees were taken to an area hospital for treatment. Yancey said both employees were able to talk and walk when they left.

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HAZMAT CLEANS SEVERAL HYDRAULIC SPILLS - KLTV 7 NEWS TYLER, LONGVIEW, JACKSONVILLE |, http://www.kltv .com/Global/story.asp?S=13936076

LONGVIEW,TX (KLTV)- Hazmat crews spent several hours chasing down and cleaning up a hydraulic spill in Longview on Saturday. Fire department officials say a truck was leaking the fluid as it made its way from Loop 281 and Estes Parkway to Lamond Road and Cotton Street. Spills were found at four spots along the way, with two being cleaned up by TXDOT contractors, and the other two cleaned up by hazmat and fire crews. The spill was not a major incident and posed no danger to the public.

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MINOR PROPANE LEAK CLOSES AMESBURY ROAD =BB LOCAL NEWS =BB NEWBURYPORTNEWS.COM, NEWBURYPORT, MA, http://www.newburyportnews.com/local/x1514639831/M inor-propane-leak-closes-Amesbury-road

AMESBURY - Rescue officials closed down South Martin Road Friday night for more than an hour as they cleaned up a small propane leak at the Eastern Propane distribution facility off South Hunt Road.

Fire Chief Jonathan Brickett said only a small amount of the highly flammable liquid escaped from the end of a distribution pipe but it was enough to attract the attention of neighbors, one of whom called authorities.

Propane, like natural gas, is odorless. As a safety measure, an additive is introduced to give it the familiar smell of rotten eggs so it can be detected if spilled or leaking.

The distribution facility, located hundreds of feet away from South Hunt Road, is where Eastern Propane truck drivers come to fill their tanks before delivering propane to customers.

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UPDATE: ALL LANES ON INTERSTATE 10 REOPEN - BEAUMONT ENTERPRISE, http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/a rticle/UPDATE-All-lanes-on-Interstate-10-reopen-986180.php

An 18-wheeler carrying carpets was driving west on Interstate 10 when it hydroplaned on the wet roadway, hit the center wall and jackknifed near the downtown exit at about 10:45 a.m., according to the Beaumont Police Department.

Check out more photos from the accident scene.

The cab came to rest straddling the wall, resting on its fuel tanks, and the rig slid along the top of the wall, hitting two light poles, police said.

The fuel tanks ruptured and the diesel caught fire, police said. The driver of the truck was not injured.

Debris from the accident, including concrete and at least one of the light poles, hit a second car driving east on Interstate 10, police said. The car's passenger was taken to Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital with minor injuries.

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HAZMAT CALLED TO AUSTINTOWN BUSINESS - 33 NEWS - WE BELIEVE IN THIS VALLEY, http://www.wytv.com/content/n ews/local/story/Hazmat-Called-to-Austintown-Business/5-1ND5gugU6q06OzkySU6 A.cspx

Hazmat and fire crews were called to Main Steel on Hendricks Road, that's the old Wean United building, on Saturday morning.  Officials say the company was dumping aluminum oxide into a hopper and when it mixed with the fresh snow, it created a cloud of gas.  

Everyone within a two-mile radius of the scene was evacuated for several hours.  However, the area is all industrial, so no homes were affected.

Crews shoveled dirt into the hopper to prevent any further leaks.

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BEER DISTRIBUTOR HAS AMMONIA LEAK, http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/business/beer -distributor-has-ammonia-leak-01292011

PHOENIX - Hazmat crews are called out to a Phoenix business after a leak is detected on Saturday.

Both Phoenix and Tempe firefighters arrived at the building near 54th Street and Washington after an alarm was set off. It detected an ammonia leak at the Crescent Crown Distributing Company. 

The company distributes bottled beer, and the ammonia is used as a cooling agent for the large coolers they are stored in.

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PROPANE EXPLOSION IN PORTLAND | WTNH.COM CONNECTICUT, http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/middlesex_cty/propane-explosion-in-po rtland

Portland, Conn (WTNH) - Portland fire officials are on the scene of a 2-Alarm fire that started with reports of a gas leak, and led to an explosion.

On Saturday afternoon around around 2:45pm, Portland fire, police, and Hazmat teams were dispatched to a duplex on Summer Road after receiving reports of a gas leak. Police say the leak was caused by a backhoe that had struck a propane tank.

As firefighters were on the scene, an explosion occurred. A witness said that part of the house blew up in a huge explosion.

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FRAYED NERVES, ODOR FOLLOW WV BAYER PLANT POWER FAILURE | HUNTINGTON NEWS, http://www.huntingtonnews.net/ 1230

NSTITUTE, WV (HNN) - Area fire departments have found no air quality issues following a two hour power failure at the Bayer CropScience plant, Institute, WV. After the electricity had been restored around 12:45 p.m., Kanawha 911 reported that no injuries had been reported and that no shelter in place recommendations were issued on or off site.

Power went out across the site about 10:30 a.m. Saturday Jan. 29.

Residents complained of odors during the outage and after the restoration of power. However, communication with Bayer employees indicated no environmental releases have occurred. The Kanawha 911 news release stated that =93all of the production units at the site were safety shut down and secure.=94

The plant make the dangerous chemical MIC, which killed thousands in India in the 1980 during an accident at a then Union Carbide plant.

Since an explosion two years ago at the Institute plant, the company has agreed to begin steps to remove the MIC production from the plant, which is located near West Virginia State University.

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CHEMICAL ATTACK LEAVES CHURCH DAMAGES COSTING $25,000 | HOUSTON &AMP; TEXAS NEWS | CHRON.COM - HOUSTON CHRONICLE, htt p://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7402932.html

GALVESTON =97 Last week, Mary Frank arrived early as she does every Sunday to open the Christian Fellowship Ministry Church in Dickinson. When she got there, she found someone had knocked off the front-door lock.
Frank, 60, the church secretary, stepped inside to find a chemical had been poured on the carpet from the front door to the pulpit, eating all the way through and into the concrete.
The chemical was poured over the 20 pews, cutting through wood and upholstery, and in the kitchen. The church's three guitars, two keyboards and amplifier were gone.
"I can't put it into words how I felt that day; it was so emotional," Frank said.
Dickinson police Detective Frank Price estimated the damage caused last Sunday at about $25,000.
The chemical still covers the church floor, said Assistant Pastor Eddie Glenn, who suspects it is some sort of acid.

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FIRE RIPS THROUGH CHEMICAL FACTORY AT MOUNT DRUITT | THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, http://www.dailyteleg raph.com.au/news/fire-rips-through-chemical-factory-at-mount-druitt/story- e6freuy9-1225996269972

A FIRE has ripped through a warehouse in western Sydney, causing a massive chemical explosion today.

Three workers were in the warehouse on Kurrajong Avenue in Mount Druitt when the fire broke out at about 12.42pm.

The warehouse contained more than 20,000 litres of solvent and resin. Witnesses said they heard a large bang and felt of wave of heat when the chemicals exploded.

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TEN KILLED, 11 INJURED IN HIRAFIYEEN BUILDING COLLAPSE | AL-MASRY AL-YOUM: TODAY'S NEWS FROM EGYPT, http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/news/ten-killed-11- injured-hirafiyeen-building-collapse

Seven policemen and three citizens were killed and 11others injured when a building collapsed in Cairo's Hirafiyeen district on Thursday.

The building collapsed after an explosion tore through a chemical warehouse located on the first floor. The bodies of three policemen and three residents--who had been searching for survivors before the building collapsed on them--were eventually pulled from the rubble.

The fire spread to three neighboring buildings before firefighters managed to extinguish it and evacuate the buildings.

Public prosecutors have since revealed that the 13-story building was built without an official permit. The building=92s owner reportedly suffered a nervous breakdown upon learning of the collapse.

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PROPANE TANK LEAK INVESTIGATED IN STOUGHTON, http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2011/01/propane_ tank_le.html

Firefighters were investigating a leaking propane tank at a gas supplier in Stoughton tonight, authorities said.

Stoughton Fire Lieutenant Jim Curtin said in a phone interview that a snow plow is believed to have struck the 1,000-gallon tank at the Airgas East facility on Maple Street at some time today. Curtin could not say how serious the leak was. He said no injuries have been reported.

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9NEWS.COM | DENVER | COLORADO'S ONLINE NEWS LEADER | 1 DEAD AFTER SEMI ROLLS, CATCHES FIRE, http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=17 8387&amp;catid=346

CANON CITY - A driver is dead and a HazMat crew is working to clean up a spill after a semi-truck and tanker rolled and caught fire on Friday.


The Colorado State Patrol says crews were on scene around 11 a.m. after the tanker went off the right side of eastbound Colorado Highway 50, near mile post 228 and rolled.

Troopers say the rig, which was hauling fuel, caught fire, spilling chemicals and fuel.

The fuel spilled away from the nearby river, but Arkansas Head Waters and a Colorado State Patrol HazMat team were on scene.

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, troopers say.

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