Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2011 07:47:16 -0400
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From: Ralph Stuart <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: Chemical Safety headlines from Google

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FUEL TRUCK SPILLS THOUSANDS GALLONS GAS IN IDAHO - U.S. NEWS - LIFE - MSNBC.COM, http://www. msnbc.msn.com/id/42133915/ns/us_news-life/

BOISE, Idaho =97 The Idaho State Police say a tanker truck crashed on Interstate 84 in southwestern Idaho, critically injuring the driver, spilling thousands of gallons of gasoline and closing a 13-mile stretch of the westbound lanes for about nine hours.
The patrol says the semi was eastbound and negotiating a curve east of Mountain Home at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday when the tanker went off the left shoulder of the road, down a slope into the median and overturned.
The driver, 39-year-old Danny Guntrum of Nampa, was taken by air ambulance to St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise. The nursing supervisor said he was critical condition Thursday morning.

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DIESEL SPILL CLEANED UP, ROAD RE-OPENED | DIGTRIAD.COM, http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/article/1667 57/57/Diesel-Spill-Cleaned-Up-Road-Re-opened

Greensboro, NC -- Greensboro Police responded to a crash involving a tractor trailer and a vehicle that was pulling a trailer just at 6:32 am Thursday.

Some lanes on I-40 West near MLK Drive and Patton Avenue were closed for several hours. A tractor trailer spilled diesel fuel and hazmat teams were called to clean it up.

Police say the truck was carrying about 100 gallons at the time of the crash. Parts of the concrete barriers were also knocked out.

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WWI CHEMICAL FOUND INSIDE OLD SAFE | NEWSFIRST5.COM | COLORADO SPRINGS | PUEBLO |, http://www.newsfirst5.com/news/wwi-chemical-found-inside-old-safe/

Police officers were called to an an antique store at 1710 Dublin this morning when someone found two glass tubes inside an old safe.

Originally the person who found them thought they could be nitroglycerin, an explosive.

An investigation showed the tubes contained chloropicrin, a World War I chemical agent. The chemical causes vomiting. They tubes were apparently used as a burglary deterrent.

Employees at Willow Stone Antiques were given instructions from the HazMat team on how to dispose of the chemical.

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TWO KILLED IN DOMBIVLI CHEMICAL FACTORY BLAZE - THE TIMES OF INDIA, http://timesofindia.in diatimes.com/city/mumbai/Two-killed-in-Dombivli-chemical-factory-blaze/art icleshow/7731811.cms

DOMBIVLI: Two persons were killed and three injured in a fire at the Gharda Chemicals Ltd, MIDC, in Dombivli, on Thursday. 

Thirty workers were in the pesticide manufacturing unit's plant 4 when there was a huge explosion at 1.45 pm. Helpers G R Rathod and R V Pardeshi succumbed on the spot due to 100% burn injuries, while Dattatre Parul, Nilesh Madvi and Mahesh Tarade were taken to Hambarde hospital with burn injuries. Parul is in a serious condition. 

The fire brigade control room, which got a call around 1.45 pm, sent nine engines which took around 45 minutes to reach due to heavy traffic. 

It took two hours for the fire brigade, along with help from experts from the company, to douse the flames at Gharda, one of the biggest chemical units in Thane district.

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40 EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT MESA BUSINESS, http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/03/17/2 0110317Mesa-chemical-spill-abrk.html

Fire officials were called to manufacturing plant Thursday afternoon with report of leaking chemicals, officials said.

Crews from Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert and Phoenix were called to mitigate the potential hazards at the International Rectifier manufacturing facility near Extension and Baseline roads around 2 p.m.

Mesa Fire Department spokesman Forrest Smith said that a line carrying a liquid regularly used in semiconductor industry had sprung a leak inside the building.

After the release of the chemical, the system shut itself down and sounded a warning to employees, Smith said.

The building's 40 employees were safely evacuated.

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CHEMICAL SPILL - 3 EMPLOYEES TREATED, RELEASED - THE TIMES-HERALD, http://www.times-herald.com/local/3-employees-treated--released-159 7441

A chemical spill at the CLM waste transfer station on Werz Industrial Boulevard Wednesday morning sent three employees to the hospital for evaluation.

Newnan Fire Department responded to the call, and the spill was ultimately cleaned up by a professional hazardous materials company, according to Newnan Fire Department Battalion Chief Denise Freeman.

The incident occurred just after 10 a.m. at 129 Werz Industrial Boulevard -- a CLM Sanitation-operated transfer station where waste is sorted and shipped to various locations. The call was dispatched as a possible fire that began as the result of chemicals that had been mixed together. Newnan Engine 1 was the first to arrive at the scene. Firefighters reported finding a white vapor coming from the building. Sgt. Bart Henson ordered three employees to evacuate the immediate vicinity, according to Freeman.

One of the employees reported that he was moving a pile of debris when it began smoking. Assuming it was a fire, he poured water on it, but the debris started "popping and smoking more," according to Freeman.

Those three employees were decontaminated at the scene and then transported to Piedmont Newnan Hospital where they were treated and released after a brief evaluation, according to Freeman.

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BLUE ISLAND SCHOOL CLOSED: SUBURBAN SCHOOL CLOSED TOMORROW AFTER CHEMICAL REACTION - WGN, htt p://www.wgntv.com/wgntv-school-fumes-mar17,0,6738472.story

BLUE ISLAND, Ill.=97 22 students and 10 staff members were transported to hospitals after a chemical reaction released fumes throughout Paul Revere Intermediate School in Blue Island just before noon today.

District 130 Communications Coordinator Stephanie Fordice said the release appears to have originated in a first-floor custodian room after bleach was poured into a drain.

The school was evacuated after numerous complaints of shortness of breath and feeling lightheaded.

The Blue Island Fire Department categorizes those injured in "good condition."

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SEMI SPILLS LIQUID FERTILIZER NEAR DONIPHAN | NEWS 5 | NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS FOR HASTINGS | KEARNEY | GRAND ISLAND | NEBRASKA | LOCAL NEWS, http://www.khastv.com/news/local/Semi-spills-li quid-fertilizer-near-Doniphan-118202549.html

Up to 5500 gallons of concentrated liquid fertilizer spilled onto an I-80 entrance ramp after a semi truck turned over near Doniphan Thursday morning.

Driver Matt Dobish was headed to Kearney from Hastings. When he turned off Highway 281 onto the I-80 on-ramp he said the liquid inside the tanker shifted and turned over the entire truck.

Dobish made it out with just bumps and bruises as thousands of gallons of Thio-Sul -a fertilizing chemical ran onto the grass and down a drainage pipe.

"The fertilizer was flowing out, I shut the engine off right away so there wasn't a fire but there was fertilizer flowing out," said Dobish. 

The Grand Island fire department's hazmat team kept onlookers about a hundred yards from the spill to avoid inhaling any fumes.

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FIREFIGHTERS RESCUE UNCONSCIOUS MAN FROM INSIDE TANKER - BAKERSFIELD NEWS STORY - KERO BAKERSFIELD, http://www.turn to23.com/news/27227304/detail.html

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- A man cleaning a tanker truck passed out due to low levels of oxygen, fire crews said.
The Kern County Fire Department said that about 1:20 p.m. on Wednesday, a call was received about an unconscious man inside a tank in the 7100 block of Golden State Highway.
Crews said a man was found unconscious inside a tanker trailer carrying residual crude oil.
The man had been cleaning the tank with a citrus chemical when a coworker noticed him unconscious, according to the KCFD.
Crews immediately began to monitor the air within the tank for potential hazards prior to making entry.
An air system was placed inside the tank after determining high levels of flammable vapors and low levels of oxygen.

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AMMONIA LEAK SCARE AT HOME - HEALTH - SHIELDS GAZETTE, http://www.shieldsgazette.com/news/health/ammonia_leak_scare _at_home_1_3185443

A PENSIONER sparked a full-scale chemical alert at an old folk=92s home in South Tyneside.

A 15-strong team of firefighters, plus an anti-contamination unit, tackled the incident at Calf Close House in Calf Close Lane, Jarrow.

Elderly residents were evacuated from the upper floor of the sheltered complex just after 5.45pm yesterday.

The alarm was raised by a 78-year-old woman in a first floor flat who felt a burning sensation in her throat.

Watch manager Trevor Smith, of Hebburn fire station, said: =93This woman suffered a stinging throat and sore eyes and alerted us as a chemical smell filled her flat.

=93It is believed ammonia was released after pipework was ruptured at the back of a fridge, which had been pushed against a wall.

=93A total of nine residents were evacuated from the upper floor and moved to a communal room downstairs.

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EVACUATION AFTER CHEMICAL SCARE - WALES NEWS - NEWS - WALESONLINE, http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/w ales-news/2011/03/17/evacuation-after-chemical-scare-91466-28351145/

Factory explosion investigated

AN INVESTIGATION is under way into a major blaze at a factory which led to residents being told to stay indoors.

An explosion was reported by residents living near the American-owned Timet UK factory in Ystrad Road, Waunarlwydd, Swansea, shortly before 10am on Saturday.

The factory itself was evacuated with no workers reported hurt.

Timet UK, which employs around 250, makes specialist titanium equipment for the aerospace industry.

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HAZMAT CREW INVESTIGATING ODOR AT HOUSE | WUSA9.COM, http://wusa9.com/news/article/141911/158/Hazmat-Crew-Inves tigating-Odor-At-House

POTOMAC, Md. (WUSA) -- Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Graham says hazmat and explosives crews are on scene at a home in the 9200 block of Inglewood Drive in Potomac on Wednesday night.

According to the chief, they are investigating an odor coming from a house there. Indications are that the smell comes from some sort of explosive material.

No explosives have been seen.

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NORTH SALT LAKE HAZMAT: NINE HOSPITALIZED IN NORTH SALT LAKE HAZMAT SITUATION - KSTU, http://www.fox13now.com/news/local/kstu-north-salt-lake-hazmat-nine-hos pitalized-in-north-salt-lake-hazmat-situation-20110315,0,6607953.story

A mystery ailment sickened 26 people, sending nine to the hospital at a law firm and call center here. What made everyone ill is still under investigation, authorities told Fox 13.

"We were just taking phone calls, doing our work and a couple of employees just started becoming nauseous," said Jay Rowley, who reported feeling light headed after smelling "propane like fumes."

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FIRE BREAKS OUT AT PASADENA CHEMICAL PLANT | ABC13.COM, http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&amp;id =8016090

PASADENA, TX (KTRK) -- Firefighters knocked out a fire at a chemical plant in the Pasadena area Wednesday morning.


The fire broke out at the Ablemarle plant on South Street around 2am. Police tell us the chemical di-mythl-aluminum chloride was released into the air. However, the smoke cloud does not pose any danger. The chemical is used in the making of plastics.

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AUTHORITIES ARREST THREE AFTER METH LAB EXPLOSION - KPLC 7 NEWS, LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA, http://www.kp lctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=14263011

LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) - Three people were arrested early Wednesday morning after authorities were called to a Moss Bluff residence where they discovered a meth lab.

Early Wednesday morning, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office was called to a residence on Esther Drive in Moss Bluff in regard to a noise that sounded like an explosion.

Detectives arrived and they say they discovered 26-year-old Rachel A. Graham, 44-year-old John E. Dunn and 18-year-old Steven S. Willis were in the process of manufacturing methamphetamine when an unexpected chemical reaction occurred. They reportedly threw the chemicals out of the residence before they exploded, causing a fire.


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