Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2011 08:39:16 -0500
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From: Ralph Stuart <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: Chemical Safety headlines from Google

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300 TONNES OF HYDROCHOLORIC ACID LEAKED IN SINGAPORE, http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Singapore/S tory/A1Story20110213-263329.html

Singapore - 300 metric tonnes of hydrochloric acid leaked from a chemical processing plant in Jalan Samulun - West of Singapore - yesterday morning.

Acid leaked from a damaged tank owned by Chemical Industry Far East Limited. However, the leakage was confined to the bund walls enclosing the plant.

When contacted, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) told AsiaOne that no one was injured in the incident.

The SCDF set up ground monitors and used water to neutralise the vapour and dilute the leakage. The remnants of the leakage has since been pumped into an empty storage tank.

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A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO MANAGING NANOMATERIAL SAFETY IN THE LAB, http://www.n anowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=20118.php

(Nanowerk Spotlight) In a previous Nanowerk Spotlight from last year ("Questionable safety practices in nanotechnology labs around the world") we showed that the nanotechnology research community does not exactly appear to be at the forefront when it comes to following, not to mention setting, standards for safe practices for handling nanomaterials. One of the most surprising results was that nearly three quarters of respondents reported not having internal rules to follow regarding the handling nanomaterials - approximately half of them didn't have rules and over a quarter were not aware of any internal regulations.
Researchers at EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique F=E9d=E9rale de Lausanne) in Switzerland have now taken the initiative and presented a practical, user-friendly procedure for a university-wide safety and health management of nanomaterials, developed as a multi-stakeholder effort (government, accident insurance, researchers and experts for occupational safety and health).

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FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO CHEMICAL REACTION AT BUSINESS NEAR LAGOON DRIVE - HAWAII NEWS - STARADVERTISER.COM, http:/ /www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/116089549.html

Honolulu firefighters responded to a hazardous material alarm today during a company preparation for an Environmental Protection Agency demonstration on Monday.

The reaction occurred about 11:45 a.m. at Unitek Insulation when a compound was mixed with ethylene glycol, a liquid usually found in antifreeze, that overheated, setting off the sprinklers, said Honolulu fire Capt. Earle Kealoha.

Firefighters responded the business at 2676 Waiwai Loop, near Lagoon Drive, and found the product was contained to a 55-gallon drum. A fire hazmat team covered the barrel to prevent any spills and monitored the product, which didn't present a hazard, Kealoha said.

Kealoha said Unitek is one of the companies that the Fire Department calls to contain hazardous chemicals.

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9NEWS.COM | DENVER | COLORADO'S ONLINE NEWS LEADER | MOTEL EVACUATED FOR HAZMAT INVESTIGATION, http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=18 1193&amp;catid=346

AURORA - A motel manager concerned chemicals found in a room could be from a meth lab sparked a HazMat investigation on Saturday.


The manager called 911 at 9:55 a.m. after finding the chemicals at the Pacesetter motel located at 14291 E. Colfax Ave, on the east side of Interstate 225.

Capt. Allen Robnett, a spokesperson for the Aurora Fire Department, says firefighters are unsure what the chemicals were so they treated it as a hazardous materials situation.

Robnett says no one has been injured, but at least a portion of the motel has been evacuated.

9NEWS spoke to a hotel manager Saturday afternoon who said the chemicals turned out to be non-hazardous and the motel is back to normal.

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AURORA MAN HOSPITALIZED AFTER BOILING DRANO - KWGN, http://www.kwgn.com/news/kdvr-aurora-man -hospitalized-after-boiling-drano-20110212,0,7845932.story

AURORA, Colo. --  Officials say one man was treated at the hostpital after inhaling drain cleaner fumes in his Aurora apartment.

At about 7:55 p.m. a man called 911 and said he had suddenly become sick at his apartment in Del Mar Circle.

When HazMat crews arrived they found a pot on the stove with chemicals in it giving off fumes.

The man told officials that he thought boiling the drain cleaner would make it more effective. He said the gas fumes made him dizzy.

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TULSA POLICE: ROOMMATES RAN AFTER STARTING METH LAB FIRE - NEWSON6.COM - TULSA, OK - NEWS, WEATHER, VIDEO AND SPORTS - KOTV.COM |, http://www.n ewson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=14017803

TULSA, Oklahoma -- Some Tulsa residents were left to put out a meth lab fire after their roommates ran from the scene, police say.

Tulsa firefighters responded to a house fire and found a meth lab overnight Saturday in the 4100 block of South Zunis. When firefighters arrived at the home at about 2 a.m., they were told the fire was already out.

The firefighters went into the back bedroom where the fire started to make sure everything was all right. They saw what appeared to be the components of a meth lab and called the Hazardous Materials squad to the scene.

Hazmat investigators confirmed that there was a meth lab in the bedroom and called Tulsa police to the scene.

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4 DEAD AFTER RUMOR SPREADS OF CHEMICAL EXPLOSION - GLOBALTIMES, http://ch ina.globaltimes.cn/society/2011-02/622119.html

Authorities in Jiangsu Province are holding and questioning a local resident suspected of spreading a rumor that a local chemical factory was about to explode.

The rumor caused four deaths Thursday.

The deaths, in Xiangshui county of Jiangsu, occurred during a massive fleeing early Thursday morning after residents were told that an explosion would take place at the Dahe Chemical Enterprise plant.

The rumor was spread among residents at 2 am, and by 3 am people had thronged the street and began running, media reported.

More than 20 people were escaping on a three-wheel agricultural vehicle when they and the vehicle went into the river, killing four of the occupants.

The county government said at a Thursday press conference that the rumor was false and announced that neither a gas leak nor an explosion had occurred.

By 6 am Thursday, residents had returned home and the rumor had stopped spreading, the local government said in the press release.

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GAS LEAK TRIGGERS CHEMICAL PLANT BLAST IN NORTHEAST CHINA, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-02/11/c_13727997.htm

HARBIN, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- A gas leak was the likely cause of a chemical plant blast Thursday afternoon in Tsitsihar City of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, local authorities said Friday.

The explosion ripped through a nitrogen fertilizer workshop at around 5 p.m. Thursday in the chemical plant of Heilongjiang HeiHua Corporation, according to a spokesman with the local work and safety bureau.

Two workers were injured and rushed to hospital, said the spokesman.

There was no damage to the environment, according to test results from the city environmental protection bureau.

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10 CHEMICAL UNITS IN AHMEDABAD UNDER MUNICIPAL CORPORATION SCANNER - INDIA - DNA, http://www.dnaindia.com/ind ia/report_10-chemical-units-in-ahmedabad-under-municipal-corporation-scann er_1506305

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) issued notices to 10 chemical units in Naroda GIDC in the last two days. The health department of AMC's north zone initiated action against the chemical units after Chinmay Chemicals caught fire on Tuesday evening.

The civic body has sealed the chemical unit that was destroyed in the fire. "The chemical unit did not have a health licence and it had also failed to adhere to fire safety norms," said AMC official. 
The department served notices to Union Acid, Atul Intermediate, Pranav Chemical, Glochem Ltd and Sanjay Industries on Thursday, while Rosewell Industries, Abhinav Industries, Kinjal Chemicals, Chunikaka Industries and Arun Dyestuff Industries were issued notices on Wednesday.

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THURSTON: CHEMICAL TANKER GOES UP IN FLAMES - NEWS - EAST ANGLIAN DAILY TIMES, http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/thurston_chemical_tanker_goes_up_ in_flames_1_800192

FIREFIGHTERS are tackling a blaze which engulfed a lorry at a Suffolk farm.

The fire broke out shortly before 7.40pm at Woodend Green Farm in Hollow Lane, Thurston.

A crew from Bury St Edmunds fire station were alerted and at around 7.55pm called for backup after they discovered the tanker was carrying chemicals.

Crew from Bury, Newmarket, Haverhill, Holbrook, Stowmarket, Needham Market and Ixworth are at the scene helping to fight the fire.

The trailer contained 1,000 litres of liquid ammonium nitrate.

Firefighters battled the flames and extinguished the blaze by 9.05pm.

A spokesman for the fire brigade said the chemicals were not involved in the fire.

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SEMI CRASH, FUEL SPILL SNARLS TRAFFIC ON MAJOR FREEWAY | NBC SAN DIEGO,
The accident happened just north of Rancho Bernardo Rd. at about 3 p.m Friday.
Northbound I-15 traffic was limited to vehicles in the express lane separated by concrete barriers as CalTrans crews swept up fuel-soaked sand. Lanes reopened around 6 p.m.
Seven to eight vehicles were involved in the collision, according to CHP.
Kristian Tristan, who lives close to the crash scene, followed events closely in the accident's aftermath. He said he saw vehicles swerving to avoid a car that was "badly hit."

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NORTHBOUND I-83 SHUTDOWN FOR HAZMAT SITUATION IN BALTIMORE, http://www.abc2news.com/d pp/news/region/baltimore_city/northbound-i-83-shutdown-for-hazmat-situatio n-in-baltimore

BALTIMORE - Crews reopened I-83 northbound at Fayette Street after 1:30 Friday.  An oil spill shut the road down for more than an hour.  

According to Baltimore City Fire Department spokesman Chief Kevin Cartwright, some oil from a truck spilled onto the road so they are not allowing traffic northbound from Fayette Street to Calvert Street for safety.

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UPDATE: INTERSTATE 44 REOPENS AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK | KSDK.COM, http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/243670/3/UPDA TE-Hazmat-situation-on-I-44-in-Franklin-County

St. Clair, MO (KSDK) - The westbound lanes of Interstate 44 reopened Friday evening after being closed for several hours after a reported tractor trailer chemical leak.

Fire Chief Jim Casey with the Boles Fire Protection District said the incident occurred around 4 p.m. in the westbound lanes of I-44 at mile marker 239, just west of St. Clair.  The tanker truck had pulled over at a rest stop after the driver noticed a leak.  NewsChannel 5 had previously heard an accident had occurred.

All westbound lanes were closed until just after 8 p.m.  Interstate 44 was closed for a ten-mile stretch around mile marker 239 so traffic could be diverted.

Firefighters had heard reports the truck was possibly leaking ammonia and hydrochloric acid.  However, firefighters only found traces of ammonia in the trailer.  No major leaks were detected and the public was in no immediate danger.

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EASTBAYRI.COM, http://www.eastbayri. com/detail/141189.html

PORTSMOUTH =97 Emergency crews spent over five hours coping with a chlorine gas leak at the Newport water treatment plant at Lawton Valley early Friday.

Nobody was hurt, and the hazardous materials teams were finally able to head home at around 5:30 a.m.

A chlorine gas alarm sounded just after midnight at the west Main Road plant and the three workers on duty reported a very strong odor of chlorine, the chief said. They called the fire department and evacuated the separate building where the chlorine tanks are located.

Because it does not have the hazardous materials gear needed to deal with chlorine, Portsmouth called in =91hazmat=92 teams from the Navy base and East Providence as well as Newport=92s decontamination team.

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