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Date: Sat, 5 Mar 2011 08:02:25 -0500
Reply-To: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
Sender: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
From: Ralph Stuart <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: Chemical Safety headlines from Google
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Clearfield =95 Two business
owners and their employees wonder what they will do next after a
two-alarm fire destroyed their building in Clearfield and injured one
person Friday.
The fire began at Clear Sky Biofuels Inc., near 400
West and 200 South, at 11:37 a.m., and in about an hour the fire spread
and consumed the whole building, which also housed an automotive-repair
business. It also destroyed an adjacent building, fire officials
said.
A woman was taken to the hospital with serious burns,
according to Clearfield Police Chief Greg Krusi.
At least
five fire agencies responded to the blaze. It took about two hours to
put out the flames.
"All the sudden I heard a loud explosion and fire was
coming past the door of my office," said Gary Clark, a chemical engineer
and part owner of Clear Sky.
-----------------------
BENDIGO
Day Surgery staff were forced indoors yesterday after a chemical spill
in the centre car park.
Pedestrian traffic was blocked from both sides of the
building for more than two hours as CFA crews, including one officer in
a Hazmat suit, identified and cleared the liquid.
Day
surgery office manager Terri Billett said the chemical was believed to
be a herbicide that leaked from the back of a patient=92s ute in the car
park.
She said it was discovered by a staff member from
Melbourne Pathology, who shares the building.
-----------------------
SUDBURY,
Mass. -- The bomb squad was called to a home in Sudbury for a possible
explosive device on Thursday by a mom who was suspicious of her teenage
son. Hazmat crews were also on hand.
State and local police
continue to keep a close eye on the home at 28 Firecut Lane, where the
bomb squad destroyed a device they called potentially hazardous and
explosive on Thursday.
=93It=92s frightening. The family is a very nice
family,=94 said Steve Saloman, neighbor. =93We=92ve actually hired the
boy to help out with snow removal during the winter.=94
Neighbors
say the family at the house includes two teenage boys and younger
children.
Investigators say the mother came to the police
station and explained that one of her sons was mixing
chemicals.
The boy told them the chemicals were in a bottle in
the house.
Using a remote control robot and an explosive charge
of their own, police say the bomb squad rendered the mixture
safe.
-----------------------
Odessa,
Texas - A West Odessa neighborhood was put on alert Thursday as Hazmat
crews combed a home on the 700 block of West Moss Avenue, analyzing what
they called suspicious chemicals that could be sued to build a
bomb.
Suspicious chemicals reported to be inside the West Odessa
home drew the attention of several law enforcement agenciesThursday
morning, even prompting hazmat crews to venture inside and
investigate.
Three
substances initially discovered appeared to be precursor
chemicals.
"A precursor chemical is if you combine certain
chemicals in a certain order, you could have the potential for a bomb,"
says Ector County Sheriff=92s Office Spokesman, Sergeant Gary
Duesler.
That's why authorities took the report and finding so
seriously, but the threat turned out to be less than was originally
assumed.
"Final testing of them showed that they weren't being
used in a manner which would indicate that they were being used as an
explosive,=94 says Midland FBI Agent Matt Espendshade.
He
believes the effort was necessary, especially considering recent events
in West Texas.
-----------------------
LINCOLN,
Neb. (AP) - Fire officials say 18 firefighters were taken to a hospital
for a possible chemical exposure after an explosion inside a business
that applies spray-on truck bed liners in Lincoln.
Acting
Battalion Chief Guy Pinkman says it's a precautionary move, and the
firefighters will be observed for several hours to make sure they
OK..
Television station KOLN/KGIN says the blast at Line-X
happened just before noon on Thursday. Officials say a vehicle was on
fire inside the business. The fire was contained by a sprinkler system
and extinguished.
Pinkman says there's a concern that some of the
chemical used in the spraying process may have been in the smoke from
the fire, and that some firefighters may have been exposed to
it.
The cause of the fire is under
investigation.
-----------------------
Hawthorne
Elementary School in Boise was placed on lockdown for about an hour
Thursday afternoon, as Boise Fire and HAZMAT crews tried to identify a
chemical found in a nearby house.
The school was placed on
lockdown "simply as a precautionary measure," according to Boise Fire
Dept. spokeswoman Lynn Hightower. "We didn't want the students going out
into the playground."
The backyard of the house where the chemical was found
backs up to the school yard.
Boise Police determined the chemicals in the home are
not illegal.
Residents living next door to the house where the
chemical was found were evacuated at one point.
A tip
from a citizen prompted police to search the home for the
chemicals.
-----------------------
A fire at a key supplier is temporarily shutting down
production at General Motors=92 Lordstown complex.
Flames
and small chemical explosions ripped through the Magna International
plant in Howell, Michigan, late Wednesday afternoon, destroying much of
the plant. The Canadian automotive supplier makes door-panel interiors
and other parts for GM, Ford and Nissan.
The
Lordstown shutdown begins at 7 a.m. tomorrow (Friday).
Lordstown
has been running three full shifts since early last fall when it
ratcheted up production of the Chevrolet Cruze. Sales of The Cruze
approached 19,000 last month, making it GM=92s third highest-selling
model.
-----------------------
ABOUT 120
students were evacuated and two Year 5 girls hospitalised after
coming into contact with an unknown substance in a building at Holy Name
Primary School today.
Acting
principal Ron Rosentreter said the girls had reacted to something in a
music room about 10am.
=93They
were panicking a bit because they were itchy,=94 Mr Rosentreter
said.
The building was evacuated
and fire fighters used gas monitoring equipment but returned a negative
reading.
Queensland Ambulance Service
regional operations supervisor Brad Setch said the girls were short of
breath as well as itchy.
=93They
have been taken to Toowoomba Hospital to get a doctor to look at them,=94
Mr Setch said.
-----------------------
A
chlorine leak at North Vancouver=92s Canexus plant has sent four people
to hospital.
Emergency crews were called to the Maplewood facility
on Amherst Avenue at about 5:30 a.m. today after an unknown amount of
the toxic chemical escaped from a scrubbing tank.
Four
workers were apparently exposed, with two seriously affected. A woman
who was in a vehicle nearby was initially thought to have been exposed
as well, but was later deemed to be OK, according to
firefighters.
Police, fire crews and paramedics arrived a few
minutes after the incident to find the leak had been contained and that
on-site medical and rescue personnel were already decontaminating the
victims.
The four exposed workers were taken to Lions Gate
Hospital by ambulance for treatment. Two were released later that
morning and two were kept for observation, according to plant manager
Rick Denton. None of the workers=92 injuries were life-threatening, he
said.
-----------------------
An
elderly woman from Brighton who died after ingesting cyanide on Tuesday
left a note in Russian mentioning the cyanide and warning family members
to be careful, according to Steve MacDonald, a spokesman for the Boston
Fire Department.
An investigation into the cause of death of the woman,
who police identified this afternoon as Olga Tretyakov, 72, is ongoing
-- including the question of how she obtained the cyanide. She was a
research technician in a laboratory at Dana-Farber Cancer
Institute.
Bill Schaller, a spokesman for Dana-Farber, said
police informed the hospital of Tretyakov's death Tuesday
afternoon.
"She had
been a valued member of our research community for more than 20 years,
and we are deeply saddened by this loss," Schaller said. "We are working
closely with the Boston police to learn more about the circumstances of
her death."
Cyanide compounds are often used in biomedical
research laboratories. Schaller said it was not known whether Tretyakov
would have had access to the chemical in the laboratory where she
worked.
-----------------------
WATERBURY, Conn. -- A hazmat
situation was reported at St. Mary's Hospital in Waterbury on Wednesday
morning.
Officials from the Waterbury
Fire Department said crews were at the hospital to help staff members
contain a spill of dye that was being used in one of the
labs.
The leak was small,
according to hospital officials, and was contained
quickly.
Hospital officials said a
"limited number" of patients were forced to move because of the
leak.
The hospital was working to
clean up and dilute the spill.
-----------------------
Virudhunagar (TN), Mar 2 (PTI) Twelve workers,
including seven women, were seriously injured in a blaze at a matchstick
manufacturing unit at nearby Sattur this afternoon, officials
said.
They said the fire broke out in the unit''s chemical
dipping unit due to alleged carelessness and spread instantly, fanned by
strong winds. The fire was doused at 6.00 PM after a four-hour battle,
they said.
The women, who were packing boxes, were trapped and
seriously injured.
All the injured have been hospitalised, they said,
adding that the condition of three workers was stated to be
critical.
-----------------------
BUSINESSES on Winwick Quay industrial estate were evacuated
after a chemical spill at Cameron Court on Tuesday at
1.55pm.
Twenty litres of nitric acid spilled into a contained
drainage system and reacted with steel.
All fluid
was contained on site and there were no casualties or injuries
reported.
A Cheshire Fire spokesman said: =93The premises were
ventilated and the quality of air was sampled by an on-site
chemist.
=93Adjoining properties were evacuated as a
precaution.
=93The buildings were declared clear and staff were
allowed to re-enter the buildings.=94
-----------------------
Chemical services business Omnia Holdings has
announced the death of three employees following an explosion at
its BME Losberg cartridge production plant in the North West
Province.
In addition, a further six
employees were injured. All people who were at the scene of the incident
have now been accounted for, the group said.
"Omnia is
making available counsellors to its employees and the injured, as well
as the families of the deceased and injured. Omnia expresses its
sincerest condolences to the families of the deceased and injured
employees," the group said.
Omnia said it had notified the relevant authorities
and launched a full investigation to determine the cause of the
incident.
The plant involved in the incident supplies Megamite
to the underground mining market. The other plants at Losberg were not
affected, the group concluded.
-----------------------
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A leak
early this morning at Canexus Chemical Plant in North Vancouver
left four workers injured. The workers have been
hospitalized; one of the injured is reported to be in serious
condition. Throughout the day, the Vancouver Observer attempted
unsuccessfully to contact the plant's officials, the North Vancouver
Fire Department, and other officials who might comment on the
chlorine leak. VO received an anonymous report from someone who
said they lived in the vicinity of the plant and that there were no
warning blasts given from the plant's warning system, when the leak
occurred. The anonymous caller reported having a sore throat and
respiratory difficulties, but these claims could not be
confirmed.
The plant has long been a concern to North Vancouver
residents. Chlorine catastrophes have resulted in the evacuation of
large populations in the United States, China and Latin America, as
exposure to the gas can be lethal.
-------------------
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