Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2011 08:22:50 -0400
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From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety"

Subject: Chemical Safety Headlines From Google (10 articles)

Chemical Safety Headlines =46rom Google
Monday, June 27, 2011 8:15:01 AM

   A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
   Connecting Chemistry and Safety at http://www.dchas.org
   All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas< /div>

Table of Contents (10 articles)

STUDENT INJURED IN BOSTON COLLEGE CHEMICAL ACCIDENT
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, explosion, injury, mustard_gas, toxics, water

500 GALLONS OF LIQUID ASPHALT SPILLS FROM TANKER TRUCK
Tags: us_SC, transportation, release, response, asphalt

SUSPICIOUS CONTAINER FOUND IN BAYONNE
Tags: us_NJ, public, discovery, response, petroleum

BLAZE AT METUCHEN PLASTICS WAREHOUSE INJURES 2 FIREFIGHTERS
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, fire, response, plastics

SHELTER-IN-PLACE LIFTED AFTER WAREHOUSE FIRE
Tags: us_TX, industrial, fire, injury, plastics

TRAIN DERAILS IN CALERA, SPILLING 350 GALLONS OF DIESEL FUEL
Tags: us_AL, transportation, release, response, diesel

MAN TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER CHEMICAL CLOUD AT FARM
Tags: United, Kingdom, industrial, release, injury, cleaners

GAINESVILLE FIREFIGHTERS EXTINGUISH CHEMICAL FIRE AT SIVANCE NEAR AIRPORT
Tags: us_FL, industrial, fire, response, hydrochloric_acid

CHEMICAL SPILL SHUTS LEBANON CHURCH RD. IN WEST MIFFLIN
Tags: us_PA, transportation, release, injury, corrosives

FIREFIGHTERS DECONTAMINATED AFTER EXTINGUISHING AUSTELL CHEMICAL FIRE
Tags: us_GA, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
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Student injured in Boston College chemical accident
http://ww w.boston.com/Boston/metrodesk/2011/06/student-injured-boston-college-chemi cal-reaction/4nrTP7jQ4uupE1rLcKmBeI/index.html
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, explosion, injury, mustard_gas, toxics, water

A Boston College chemistry student was injured when a beaker exploded during an experiment this morning, cutting her face and forcing the evacuation of Merkert Chemistry Center, officials said.

The student was working alone in the lab with a small amount of thionyl chloride -- a substance commonly used in organic chemistry experiments -- when it reacted violently, according to fire department spokesman Steve MacDonald.

The student, Hee Yeon Cho, received cuts on her face and minor burns on her hands, he said.

Boston College spokesman Jack Dunn said Cho, who recently finished her fourth year in the doctoral program, subsequently left the lab to take care of the cuts while fellow graduate students notified Boston College police. The university then notified the Boston fire department.

=93This was a minor chemical reaction that caused the beaker she was using to break,=94 Dunn said.

Fire crews and a hazmat team responded to a call at 10:47 a.m., but cleared the scene by 1 p.m., MacDonald said. Throughout the early afternoon, some responders=92 vehicles remained at the lab at 2609 Beacon St. in Brighton, but people were allowed in and out of the building.

After going through a series of showers in a mobile decontamination unit, Cho was taken to St. Elizabeth=92s Medical Center, where she was treated for injuries that do not appear life-threatening, MacDonald said. No one else was injured, Dunn said.

After the beaker ruptured, Cho put a paper towel over the cut on her cheek and then drove herself home, said Chris Schuster, 25, a graduate chemistry student at the scene.

Her return home complicated the cleanup effort: Crews also had to decontaminate her car and her apartment in Brighton, MacDonald said.

=93It was more challenging because the student left,=94 he said.

A chemistry professor came to the lab and determined responders should dilute the thionyl chloride with =93large amounts of water,=94 MacDonald said, and Boston College brought in a cleaning company.

It is still unclear what caused the reaction, he said.

Thionyl chloride reacts strongly with moisture and can be dangerous to humans if vapors are inhaled, said Lawrence Scott, Cho=92s professor. The chemical can be used to make mustard gas and nerve toxins.

=93Honestly, I think she was probably never expecting this to happen. This seems like a somewhat standard procedure,=94 Schuster said regarding the experiment.

Schuster said chemistry students at Boston College are required to take a lab safety training course. While it is uncommon for students to work alone, the department=92s guidelines for lab safety do not forbid it, according to a document posted online by the Boston College Office of Environmental Health and Safety.

Still, researchers are warned not to work with hazardous or potentially explosive compounds by themselves, said Kai Hong, 26, another chemistry graduate student who was going to the building this afternoon.

Dunn said that to his knowledge, Cho, whom he called a =93skilled researcher,=94 did not violate any safety procedures.


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500 GALLONS OF LIQUID ASPHALT SPILLS FROM TANKER TRUCK
http://www.theitem.com/news/local_news/article_1a0 a2476-cd4e-5111-a0a2-8a51e6d44f7a.html
Tags: us_SC, transportation, release, response, asphalt

MAYESVILLE - A tanker truck spilled about 500 gallons of liquid asphalt into the median of U.S. 378 near Mayesville on Thursday.
Capt. Brian Horton of the Sumter Fire Department said the Seaco Asphalt Emulsions truck was heading west when it popped a tire near East Brewington Road about 10:30 a.m., causing a leak in the bottom of the tank it was pulling. The truck pulled into the road's grassy median, where most of the viscous, black tar-and-water mixture spilled onto the ground.

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SUSPICIOUS CONTAINER FOUND IN BAYONNE
http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_stories_home /14463680/article--Suspicious-container-found-in-Bayonne-?instance=up_to _the_minute_lead_story_left_column
Tags: us_NJ, public, discovery, response, petroleum

BAYONNE - A 15-gallon drum marked =93toxic=94 was found by Bayonne fire fighters at about 6 p.m. on June 23 in the area of 169 West 28th St. near the curb.

Firefighters cordoned off the area and representatives from the state Department of Environmental Protection and Hudson Regional Health Commission were called to the scene.

The Bayonne Fire Department Hazmat Team donned protective gear, and metered the area to check for any harmful readings. There were none. 

The DEP, in conjunction with a cleanup contractor (Ken=92s Marine Service of Bayonne), removed the container from the scene at about 9 p.m. According to a DEP representative, early testing reportedly points to a petroleum-based product, and will undergo further analysis.

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BLAZE AT METUCHEN PLASTICS WAREHOUSE INJURES 2 FIREFIGHTERS
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/06/blaze_in_metuchen_pla stics_war.html
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, fire, response, plastics

METUCHEN =97 Firefighters are still working on the scene of a large, early-morning fire at a plastics warehouse that required the assistance of over 14 area fire companies.
Metuchen mayor Thomas Vahalla said borough police originally responded to a burglary alarm automatically dispatched from C+K Plastics at 159 Liberty Street, but saw signs of smoke and fire instead. By 2:30 a.m. the fire was being addressed by multiple fire and HAZMAT units. It took nearly four hours to put the fire out, according to several firemen on the scene.

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SHELTER-IN-PLACE LIFTED AFTER WAREHOUSE FIRE
htt p://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7627979.html
Tags: us_TX, industrial, fire, injury, plastics

A two-alarm fire destroyed a warehouse in Pasadena on Sunday and forced a shelter-in-place order for some residents.
A transformer blew during the blaze at Global Plastics Co., 6224 Spencer Highway, temporarily putting a Pasadena sewage treatment plant out of service. In addition, one of the more than 60 firefighters at the scene had to be treated for heat exhaustion. No other injuries were reported.
Officials said the last employee left the facility around 3 p.m. Passers-by noticed the smoke from the recyclable plastics facility around 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
Authorities issued a shelter-in-place order that from the site to Beltway 8 and Red Bluff. It was later canceled. Hazmat was called to the scene because officials had concerns about hydrocarbons in the building. Global Plastics Co. recycles discarded plastic products by grinding them into pellets, Pasadena Fire Marshall David Brannon said. The facility has had a fire before, he said.
Because plastics were ignited in the blaze, Brannon expected a protracted effort to put it out, using an excavator to stir the materials and attack potential hot spots in the rubble. He expected the facility to be "a total loss."
"The things about plastics is when they start burning, they burn hot," he said.

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TRAIN DERAILS IN CALERA, SPILLING 350 GALLONS OF DIESEL FUEL
http://www.shelbycountyreporter .com/2011/06/26/train-derails-in-calera-spilling-350-gallons-of-diesel-fue l/
Tags: us_AL, transportation, release, response, diesel

CALERA - About 350 gallons of diesel fuel spilled Sunday afternoon when a train derailed at a CSX substation, according to Calera Fire Capt. Luke Crim.

=93The lead engine came up and the track gave way and the engine just laid over on its side,=94 Crim said of the incident, which happened about 2 p.m.

Vehicle traffic was not affected, nor were residents ever in danger, Crim said.

=93It was on their (CSX) property, but it was a hazmat condition,=94 Crim said. =93It was in an area where there weren=92t any residents. We contained it to that one little area.=94

The engine contained about 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel, Crim said.

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MAN TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER CHEMICAL CLOUD AT FARM
http://www.thisisstaffordshire .co.uk/Man-taken-hospital-chemical-cloud-farm/story-12828497-detail/story. html
Tags: United, Kingdom, industrial, release, injury, cleaners

 farm worker has been taken to hospital after a chemical incident at a farm this morning.

Fire crews from Burton, Stone, Cheadle, Longton and Hanley, including specialist vehicles, were called out to the farm in Leigh shortly after 8.30am to reports that cleaning chemicals had been mixed and created a gas cloud. 

Bob Preston, station manager for Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said a 60-metre cordon was set down and firefighters used gas-tight suits and other specialist equipment to assess the situation.

He said: "Only a very small amount of gas had been created as a result of the accidental mixing and so the incident did not require any further firefighter activity.

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GAINESVILLE FIREFIGHTERS EXTINGUISH CHEMICAL FIRE AT SIVANCE NEAR AIRPORT
http://www.gai nesville.com/article/20110624/ARTICLES/110629735/1109/sports?Title=Chemi cal-fire-likely-started-by-lightning
Tags: us_FL, industrial, fire, response, hydrochloric_acid

Firefighters spent 30 minutes extinguishing a fire started by lightning at a specialty chemical company Thursday evening, fire officials said. No one was injured.

According to Gainesville Fire Rescue, the fire at SiVance at 5002 NE 54th Place was reported at 8:33 p.m.

The plant is on the company=92s 65-acre site just north of the Gainesville Regional Airport.

Fire crews wore full protective clothing and breathing tanks to deal with the fire that broke out in a tank of hydrochloric acid.

Officials said the fire in the partially filled, 5,000-gallon tank appeared to be the result of a lightning strike that accompanied a band of thunderstorms crossing the region late in the day on Thursday.

Due to the chemical involved, some decontamination was required once the fire was out.

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CHEMICAL SPILL SHUTS LEBANON CHURCH RD. IN WEST MIFFLIN
http://www.p ost-gazette.com/pg/11175/1155973-100.stm
Tags: us_PA, transportation, release, injury, corrosives

Allegheny County Emergeny Services hoped to reopen Lebanon Church Road in West Mifflin by early evening, after a chemical spill closed the road this morning.

The local fire and police department and an Allegheny County Hazmat team continue to clean the road after a commercial tank trucker leaked coal tar oil -- a flammable corrosive chemical that can cause burns if it comes in contact with skin. Alvin Henderson, the acting chief of Allegheny County Emergency Services, said a malfunctioning cap probably caused the leak.

The product splashed onto passengers of a van directly following the truck. Mr. Henderson said the five people were treated on scene by emergency medical teams, then sent to Jefferson Regional Medical Center. All have been released, he said.

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FIREFIGHTERS DECONTAMINATED AFTER EXTINGUISHING AUSTELL CHEMICAL FIRE
http://southcobb.patch.com/articl es/firefighters-decontaminated-after-extinguishing-austell-chemical-fire
Tags: us_GA, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical

After extinguishing a chemical fire in Austell late Thursday, Cobb County firefighters had to be decontaminated.

The cleaning supplies at Lance Alliance and Textile Company, which provides dry cleaning services, near Six Flags Drive caught fire a little before midnight on Thursday, firefighters explained.

It was a small fire, which the firefighters put out quickly, according to this report from WSB TV. However, some of the firefighters had come in contact with burning chemicals, which is when the county's hazardous materials team was called in.


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