Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:38:35 -0400
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: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety"

Subject: Chemical Safety headlines from Google

Links to details available at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas< /div>


CHEMICAL WORRIES AFTER EASTER FACTORY BLAZE - LOCAL - NORTHAMPTON CHRONICLE &AMP; ECHO, http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/l ocal/chemical_worries_after_easter_factory_blaze_1_2624751

FIRE investigators were today still trying to discover what caused a factory blaze in Northampton during the Easter holiday.

Four crews of firefighters were needed to tackle the severe fire at Expert Developments, in Bective Road, Kingsthorpe, after it was spotted at about 7pm on Easter Sunday.

An employee at the metal finishing firm was nearby and spotted the smoke, arriving in time to warn firefighters that there were chemicals kept on site.

-----------------------

THE HINDU : CITIES / MADURAI : TWO KILLED AS CRACKER UNIT CATCHES FIRE NEAR SIVAKASI, http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/article1769379.ece

Two persons were killed and five others injured today when a fire broke out in a fireworks factory at Nathikudi near here, police said.

Police said the fire broke out due to friction when two workers were carrying =91mixed-chemical=92 substances from the factory=92s godown to the manufacturing sheds.

Five other workers were seriously injured in the fire, which was extinguished by fire personnel, and have been admitted to hospital.

Sivakasi is famous for its cracker manufacturing units.

-----------------------

PORT TERMINAL SHUT DOWN BECAUSE OF CHEMICAL SPILL THE NEWS TRIBUNE BLOGS, TACOMA, WA, http://blog.thenewstribune.com/busine ss/2011/04/26/port-terminal-shut-down-because-of-chemical-spill/

Operators of one of the Port of Tacoma's larger container terminals have notified truckers that the terminal is shut down indefinitely today while environmental workers clean up an early morning chemical spill.

The leaking container contains a chemical called
chlorobenzotrifluoride. According to the Tacoma Fire Department, the chemical is a solvent used in the printing industry.

The chemical leaked in two different spots, one on the dock at 1815 Port of Tacoma Road, and the other on the ship's hull.

Firefighters were called to the pier shortly before 4 a.m. to investigate the spill where the Hyundai Oakland container ship was unloading.

Chlorobenzotrifluoride is highly flammable and can irritate skin, eyes and the respiratory system.

-----------------------

HOMEMADE BOMB EXPLODES IN THE SPRINGS : NEWS : COLORADOCONNECTION.COM, htt p://www.coloradoconnection.com/news/story.aspx?id=610152

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Colorado Springs police are investigating a homemade chemical bomb explosion at a Colorado Springs apartment complex.

It happened around 11 p.m. Monday night at Stonebrook Apartments, located in the 4000 block of Tappan Drive.

Officers originally responded to a report of shots fired at the location.

At the scene, officers found the exploded homemade bomb.

Authorities say the bomb was made from a soft drink bottle, chemicals and aluminum foil.

Fire officials were able to diffuse the bomb with a neutralizing agent.

Authorities said no injuries were reported, and no suspects had been identified.

-----------------------

4 FIREFIGHTERS TREATED FOR MINOR INJURIES IN SHEBOYGAN CO. CHEMICAL FIRE - MILWAUKEE NEWS STORY - WISN MILWAUKEE, http://www.wisn.com /news/27677706/detail.html

TOWN OF WILSON, Wis. -- Four firefighters were injured in a fire in a chemical lab in Sheboygan County, according to the Sheboygan County Sheriff's Department.
Smoke was reported from Lab 1 at Aldrich Chemical, 5485 County Highway V, in the Town of Wilson. The plant is between Sheboygan and Cedar Grove, just west of Interstate 43.

The Town of Wilson Fire Department was initially dispatched to the scene. Mutual aid from Oostburg, Cedar Grove, Sheboygan Falls and city of Sheboygan Fire Departments was requested.
Lt. Mark Rupnik of the Sheboygan County Sheriff's Department said the fire was under control about 90 minutes after the initial call.

-----------------------

EXPLOSION INJURES 3 AT AGILENT FACILITY IN SANTA ROSA - SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_17931561?nclick_check=1

SANTA ROSA -- An explosion at the Agilent Technologies facility in Santa Rosa this morning left three people injured and prompted about 100 employees to evacuate the building, a company spokesman said.
The explosion happened about 10:30 a.m. in Building One at the facility, located at 1400 Fountaingrove Parkway. It occurred in a ground-floor laboratory, in an area where integrated circuits are made using molecular beam epitaxy, said Jeff Weber, spokesman for Santa Clara-based Agilent.
The explosion injured two employees, a man who was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with critical injuries and a woman with minor injuries who was later taken by private car to Kaiser Hospital, Weber said.
The man was cleaning a machine when there was a chemical flash, Weber said. He said cleaning the machine generally involves wearing a protective body suit, but he did not know whether the man was wearing one Tuesday morning.
The woman, a contract employee from Volt, was injured when something fell and hit her on the head outside the laboratory, he said.

-----------------------

UC MERCED BUILDING REOPENS AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL FORCES EVACUATION  http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2011/04/26/1867391/uc-me rced-building-reopens-after.html

Four UC Merced custodians were taken to Mercy Medical Center Monday night after a chemical spill in one of the buildings at the university, officials said.
The spill happened at the penthouse of the science and engineering building, which is the floor right above the third-floor and houses mechanical machines that help operate the building, said Kevin Creed, director of environmental health and safety. The spill leaked to a lab on the third-floor.
The spill involved anywhere from 10 to 15 gallons of water treatment chemicals used in industrial and large buildings to prevent mineral build-up in pipes, Creed said. The chemicals aren=92t flammable and are similar to strong bleach.

-----------------------

PROPERTIES WORTH LAKHS DESTROYED IN FIRE AT FACTORY, HOUSE - THE TIMES OF INDIA, http://tim esofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur/Properties-worth-lakhs-destroyed-in-f ire-at-factory-house/articleshow/8082314.cms

KANPUR: Property worth lakhs of rupees was reduced to ashes in a fire that broke out on Sunday night in an ink factory in Dada Nagar Industrial area. There were no casualties. Firemen had to face hardships in dousing the flames as explosions took place in the chemicals stocked in the factory. 

Around six fire tenders from various fire stations were rushed to the site. The fire may have been caused by a short-circuit, sources said. 

The main shed and other adjoining structures and fixtures and the machinery turned into smouldering rubble, with the concrete building also developing cracks at several places.

-----------------------

HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO UNKNOWN TYPE OF FUEL SPILL - NEWS STORY - WHIO DAYTON, http://www.whiotv .com/news/27665185/detail.html

DAYTON, Ohio -- Hazmat crews spent hours on Monday afternoon trying to stop a spill from flowing into the Great Miami River.
A fuel storage tank broke, leaking gallons of some type of liquid in a neighborhood and down a drain.
Fire officials said they are not sure what was in the tank. However, the rain helped the mix move a lot quicker toward the river, but the water diluted it at the same time, authorities said.
Jamy Parworth called firefighters as soon as she smelled it.
"It was just a chemical smell Initially, then it started smelling like gasoline," Parworth said.
She soon discovered where the smell was coming from.
"Just a big black pool just starting gushing out of the tank," she said.

-----------------------

AMMONIA LEAK AND EVACUATION IN MARTINSBURG - KMEG 14 - NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS FOR SIOUX CITY AND SIOUXLAND |, http://www.kmeg14.com/story/14511615/ammonia-leak-and-evacu ation-in-martinsburg

(MARTINSBURG, NE) An ammonia leak leads to the evacuation of a small Nebraska town.

Firefighters responded to the scene in Martinsburg just after 8:00 Monday morning, when a farmer's tank came loose from his tractor hitch and tore a line causing the chemical leak. Officials quickly evacuated the town of about 100 residents and called in a HAZMAT team to verify that the leak had been contained.

A few people were taken to Mercy Medical Center for evaluation. Emergency managers and citizens both said the situation was handled in the best and fastest possible way.

"The wind actually came into favor to us today, luckily the wind was not that high, it was only around one to three miles an hour today, so the cloud actually stayed put and it did not come into town, it just stayed on the gravel road and the field area," says Dixon County Emergency Manager Shea Scollard.

-----------------------

TODAY IN EXPLOSIONS - SHANGHAIIST, http:// shanghaiist.com/2011/04/25/today_in_explosions.php

The past 24 hours has seen a downright disturbing series of explosions and fires in factories, plants, and mines across China:
A fire in a four-story clothing factory in Beijing early this morning killed 17 and injured at least 24 in yet another tragedy caused by illegal construction practices. Those killed were all migrant workers.
Rescue workers are scrambling to reach eight miners trapped underground after an explosion rocked their facility in Guizhou this morning.
An explosion in a pesticide plant in Guangxi caused three known injuries. Fires engulfed 3,000 meters and two warehouses. Two harmful chemicals have been confirmed on site, and authorities have cordoned off the factory awaiting further tests.
Another two people were killed when an oil tank exploded in a factory in Wenzhou, Zhejiang. Welding and oil do not mix.
Investigations are now underway to determine the cause of an explosion that killed nine in a chemical plant in Heilongjiang province last Wednesday.

-----------------------

SWALLOWED RODENT POISON TRIGGERS HAZMAT SITUATION | DETNEWS.COM | THE DETROIT NEWS, http://www.detnews.com/article/20110425/METRO/104250398/1409/METRO

Ann Arbor=97 Officials at an Ann Arbor hospital have declared an end to a hazmat situation that developed when a patient swallowed rodent poison, leaving authorities to fear he would emit harmful gases.
Officials at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital today isolated the patient to one room, where Washtenaw County hazmat teams monitored air quality. As of 4:50 p.m., hazmat teams had left the hospital and officials said gas readings were within safe levels.
Hospital spokeswoman Lauren Jones said a machine would take environmental samples over the following 24 hours.
"The levels are not at explosive or flammable levels," Jones said in a statement earlier in the afternoon. "The air has been tested and confirmed for low levels."
Hospital units remained open to the public, other than the specific unit where the patient was being treated, officials said.

-----------------------





Previous post   |  Top of Page   |   Next post



The content of this page reflects the personal opinion(s) of the author(s) only, not the American Chemical Society, ILPI, Safety Emporium, or any other party. Use of any information on this page is at the reader's own risk. Unauthorized reproduction of these materials is prohibited. Send questions/comments about the archive to secretary@dchas.org.
The maintenance and hosting of the DCHAS-L archive is provided through the generous support of Safety Emporium.