Chemical Safety Headlines =46rom Google
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 8:22:29 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

Table of Contents (14 articles)

PLAINSBORO: 'MINOR' CHEMICAL EXPLOSION AT HIGH SCHOOL
Tags: us_NJ, education, explosion, response, unknown_chemical

CHEMICAL SPILL TEMPORARILY CLOSES CLARK HALL
Tags: us_NY, laboratory, release, injury, nitrobenzene

NEW BERN BRIDGE BACK OPEN AFTER FERTILIZER SPILL SHUTS IT DOWN
Tags: us_NC, transportation, release, injury, ag_chems

HAZMAT, BOMB SQUAD CALLED TO CLEAN UP CHEMICALS
Tags: us_OK, public, discovery, response, fireworks

OSHA CITES 50 SAFETY VIOLATIONS, PROPOSES US 917,000 IN FINES AGAINST 
BOSTIK INC.
Tags: us_MA, industrial, explosion, injury, acetone, follow-up

DANBURY FIRE DEPARTMENT HAZMAT HELPING WITH ROUTE 8 GASOLINE LEAK
Tags: us_CT, transportation, release, response, gasoline

EASTBOUND I-20 IN COBB REOPENS AFTER HAZMAT CRASH
Tags: us_GA, transportation, release, response, radiation

UPDATE: ALL LANES OF U.S. RT. 23 ARE NOW OPEN IN GATE CITY AFTER 
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SPILL
Tags: us_VA, transportation, release, response, ammonium_nitrate

KENYA EXPLOSION EXPOSES LETHAL LINES THAT TEMPT THE DESPERATELY POOR
Tags: Kenya, transportation, explosion, death, petroleum, follow-up

MAN RECEIVES CHEMICAL BURNS AT HAZ-MAT SAFETY LAB
Tags: us_MD, laboratory, fire, injury, unknown_chemical

REST STOP ON INTERSTATE 77 IN BATH TOWNSHIP CLOSED FOR CHEMICAL VAPORS
Tags: us_OH, transportation, release, injury, hydrochloric_acid

BLAST AT CHINA CHEMICAL PLANT KILLS THREE: STATE MEDIA
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, death, corrosives

AT LEAST 61 KENYANS DEAD AFTER PIPELINE EXPLOSION
Tags: Kenya, industrial, explosion, death, gasoline

1 DEAD, 4 HURT IN EXPLOSION AT FRENCH NUCLEAR SITE
Tags: France, industrial, explosion, death, radiation, waste

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

PLAINSBORO: 'MINOR' CHEMICAL EXPLOSION AT HIGH SCHOOL

http://www.centraljersey.com/articles/2011/09/14/the_princeton_packet/news
/doc4e6fc9543091b764153486.txt
Tags: us_NJ, education, explosion, response, unknown_chemical

PLAINSBORO =97 A minor chemical explosion occurred at around 2:30 p.m. 
on Tuesday on the second floor at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School 
North.

   Several students had to be decontaminated and the school was 
evacuated.

   =94They just evacuated the top floor. I did not think it was that 
much big of a deal, but I guess it was,=94 said Kris Bebenov, 18.

   One student said buses had to pick up students on the side of the 
school where visitors park.
   =94I=92m glad they had a plan in place and that they evacuated the 
kids if they thought it was unsafe,=94 said Amy Baldwin, a mother who 
was taking her 9-year-old daughter for tryouts and heard of what had 
happened.

   The website of West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District said, 
=93Thanks for your patience as students will be arriving home late 
today.=94

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

CHEMICAL SPILL TEMPORARILY CLOSES CLARK HALL

http://www.cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2011/09/14/chemical-spill-t
emporarily-closes-clark-hall
Tags: us_NY, laboratory, release, injury, nitrobenzene

Clark Hall was evacuated at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday after a chemical spill 
occurred in one of its laboratories.

An apparatus in the Advanced Experimental Physics Laboratory was knocked 
over during an experiment, causing nitrobenzene to spill in the room, 
said Prof. Kyle Shen, physics.

=93A number of professors, including myself, were in the lab at the time 
of the accident. Fortunately, in the end, no one was seriously hurt by 
the accident and no major damage occurred,=94 he said.

Members of Cornell=92s Environmental Health and Safety Department, the 
Ithaca Fire Department and Cornell University Police cleared the 
building in response to the spill, according to Claudia Wheatley, 
director of University press relations. Less than two ounces of the 
chemical =97 =93a very small amount=94 =97 were spilled, Wheatley said.

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

NEW BERN BRIDGE BACK OPEN AFTER FERTILIZER SPILL SHUTS IT DOWN

http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/Fertilizer_Spill_Shuts_Down_New_Bern_Br
idge_129761248.html
Tags: us_NC, transportation, release, injury, ag_chems

Traffic around New Bern was a headache Tuesday afternoon for many 
drivers after an accident closed down one side of the Neuse River 
bridge.

State troopers say they had to shut down the northbound lanes of U.S. 17 
toward Bridgeton after an accident with a fertilizer truck.

Some 50 to 60 gallons of fertilizer spilled on the bridge and Hazmat 
crews were working to clean up the mess.

Troopers say there were only minor injuries in the accident. The bridge 
re-opened around 7:00 p.m.

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

HAZMAT, BOMB SQUAD CALLED TO CLEAN UP CHEMICALS

http://www.kjrh.com/dpp/news/local_news/hazmat,-bomb-squad-called-to-clean
-up-chemicals-
Tags: us_OK, public, discovery, response, fireworks

TULSA - The Tulsa Bomb Squad was called out to a residence after the 
landlord found around 20 pounds of barium nitrate and potassium chloride 
in the backyard.

The landlord was cleaning up his rental property in the 500 block of 
South Louisville when he noticed a white powder, said Acting Assistant 
Fire Chief Mike Atchison.

The powder was identified as barium nitrate and potassium chloride, 
Atchison said.

Both are legal to buy and widely used to make fireworks, he said.

The bomb squad was called to dispose of the chemicals.

The renter will not face any charges because the chemicals are legal to 
buy.

 

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

OSHA CITES 50 SAFETY VIOLATIONS, PROPOSES US 917,000 IN FINES AGAINST 
BOSTIK INC.
http://www.mmdnewswire.com/osha-cites-66542.html
Tags: us_MA, industrial, explosion, injury, acetone, follow-up

BOSTON (MMD Newswire) September 13, 2011 - - The U.S. Department of 
Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Bostik 
Inc. for 50 alleged violations of workplace safety standards following a 
March 13 explosion at the company's Middleton plant in which four 
workers were injured. The adhesives manufacturer faces a total of 
$917,000 in proposed fines.

OSHA's inspection identified several serious deficiencies in the 
company's process safety management program, a detailed set of 
requirements and procedures employers must follow to proactively address 
hazards associated with processes and equipment that involve large 
amounts of hazardous chemicals. In this case, the chemical was acetone, 
used in a PSM-covered process known as direct solvation. On the day of 
the explosion, a valve on a transfer line inadvertently was left open, 
resulting in the release of flammable acetone vapors. The vapors 
exploded after being ignited by an undetermined source.

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

DANBURY FIRE DEPARTMENT HAZMAT HELPING WITH ROUTE 8 GASOLINE LEAK

http://danbury.patch.com/articles/danbury-fire-department-hazmat-helping-w
ith-route-8-gasoline-leak
Tags: us_CT, transportation, release, response, gasoline

Skip Route 8 northbound tonight, because State Police are reporting a 
gasoline tanker rollover on the Thomaston Watertown line on Route 8 
overlooking the Naugatuck River.

Danbury Fire Department hazmat equipment and personnel are assisting in 
this dangerous situation. An estimated 5,500 gallons of gasoline have 
drained into the ground. That soil must now be removed.

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

EASTBOUND I-20 IN COBB REOPENS AFTER HAZMAT CRASH
http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/eastbound-i-20-in-1177659.html
Tags: us_GA, transportation, release, response, radiation

The eastbound lanes of I-20 near Six Flags reopened early Tuesday, 
nearly six hours after a truck hauling low-level radioactive material 
overturned.

Crews were expected to return to the area near Six Flags Parkway at 10 
a.m. to finish cleaning up debris along the shoulder of the interstate, 
according to the state Department of Transportation.

The Cobb County Fire Department's hazmat team was called to the scene 
overnight to assist with the clean-up.

"Our hazmat team got on the scene and they did find some low-grade 
readings of some sort of medical-related radioactive material," Cobb 
fire spokeswoman Denell Boyd told WSB.

No injuries were reported in the wreck.

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

UPDATE: ALL LANES OF U.S. RT. 23 ARE NOW OPEN IN GATE CITY AFTER 
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SPILL

http://www2.tricities.com/news/2011/sep/12/breaking-us-rt-23-shut-down-gat
e-city-after-hazard-ar-1304335/
Tags: us_VA, transportation, release, response, ammonium_nitrate

One of the region's busiest roads is shut down tonight, after a tractor 
trailer overturned, dumping its potentially explosive cargo.

It happened around 6:45 tonight on U.S. Route 23 Bypass in Gate City. 
That's between mile marker 6 and 7. The tractor trailer was carrying 
ammonium nitrate commonly used as a fertilizer, sometimes an ingredient 
in explosives. Fire crews on scene are saying the clean up will take 
hours.

Officials hope to have it cleaned up by rush hour traffic in the 
morning, but that is even looking doubtful at this point.

Virginia State Troopers tell me the tractor trailer was traveling north 
on the bypass when the driver lost control, trying to pass two cars in 
the left lane. The trailer detached itself from the cab and landed in 
oncoming traffic. Luckily no other cars were involved, but the ammonium 
nitrate inside the trailer now covers the road.

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

KENYA EXPLOSION EXPOSES LETHAL LINES THAT TEMPT THE DESPERATELY POOR

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/12/kenya-pipeline-explosion-death
s-analysis
Tags: Kenya, transportation, explosion, death, petroleum, follow-up

n the last two years there have been at least 30 major pipeline 
explosions and leaks of oil and gas, and possibly hundreds of smaller 
ones. Many have led to injuries and deaths but there has been nothing on 
the scale of the Nairobi explosion since 2006, when around 270 people 
died after a vandalised oil pipeline exploded in the Abule Egba district 
of Lagos, in Nigeria.

The explosions mostly take place in poor countries because international 
oil and gas companies often fail to bury or protect their pipelines as 
they would have to do by law in rich countries. The easily accessible 
pipes, which often run through slums and informal settlements in 
burgeoning cities, are tempting to desperately poor communities, who 
often have no electricity and must rely on oil lamps for lighting and 
power.

Groups of youths drill into the pipes or sabotage the pumping stations. 
Many have set up rudimentary refineries, where the stolen crude oil is 
heated up to make "bush" diesel good enough to run generators and older 
cars. Many of these DIY refineries explode, and fires sometimes destroy 
large areas.

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

MAN RECEIVES CHEMICAL BURNS AT HAZ-MAT SAFETY LAB

http://gaithersburg.patch.com/articles/man-receives-chemical-burns-at-haz-
mat-safety-lab
Tags: us_MD, laboratory, fire, injury, unknown_chemical

One man was transported to an area hospital this afternoon after 
receiving chemical burns at a Gaithersburg lab facility, fire and rescue 
officials said.

Beth Anne Nesselt, a spokeswoman for County Fire and Rescue Service, 
said rescue workers were called to the scene in the 8500 block of Atlas 
Drive at 1:21 p.m. for a possible chemical burn.

Nesselt did not know the chemicals that were involved.

The lab is owned by Geomet Technologies, which is based in Germantown, 
and specialized in making hazmat suits and ensuring chemical safety, 
according to their website.

A slogan on the front page of Geomet's website says "GEOMET is focused 
on protecting people, property, and the environment."

The victim was burned by a flash fire, Nesselt said, and was in stable 
condition when he was transported to Medstart for treatment.

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

REST STOP ON INTERSTATE 77 IN BATH TOWNSHIP CLOSED FOR CHEMICAL VAPORS

http://fairlawn-bath.patch.com/articles/rest-stop-on-interstate-77-in-bath
-township-closed-for-chemical-vapors
Tags: us_OH, transportation, release, injury, hydrochloric_acid

A rest area on Interstate 77 has been closed since 11 a.m. after an 
inspector smelled the odor of hydrochloric acid coming from a truck.

Bath Township Fire Department Lt. George Seifert said the Ohio Highway 
Patrol officer who smelled the vapor coming from a tanker truck was 
hospitalized briefly, but was not injured.

"He was under the truck and wasn't able to get out right away, so we did 
that as a precaution.  The tanker was empty, he just smelled a little 
bit of the acid coming from a hose. There was only a little left -- less 
than a cup."

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

BLAST AT CHINA CHEMICAL PLANT KILLS THREE: STATE MEDIA
http://www.mysinchew.com/node/63601
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, death, corrosives

BEIJING, September 13, 2011 (AFP) - Three people were killed and another 
three wounded in an explosion at a chemical plant in east China on 
Tuesday, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The cause of the explosion at the privately owned plant in Leping city, 
Jiangxi province, is not yet known and no leaks of liquid or toxic gas 
were detected, Xinhua said, citing the city government.

The Jiangwei High Technology Co., which was previously state-owned, 
produces nontoxic polyvinyl alcohol, which is commonly used in the 
manufacture of glue and acetic acid, a food additive that can be 
corrosive when concentrated.

The injured were taken to hospital in nearby Nanchang, capital of 
Jiangxi, the local government told Xinhua.

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

AT LEAST 61 KENYANS DEAD AFTER PIPELINE EXPLOSION

http://news.yahoo.com/least-61-kenyans-dead-pipeline-explosion-110656671.h
tml
Tags: Kenya, industrial, explosion, death, gasoline

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) =97 A leaking gasoline pipeline in Kenya's capital 
exploded on Monday, turning part of a slum into an inferno in which at 
least 61 people were killed and more than 100 hurt.
Flames leapt out from the pipeline in a radius of some 300 yards 
(meters), setting shacks ablaze and incinerating scores of people. 
Reporters later saw clusters of charred bodies and blackened bones at 
the site. Some burned bodies floated in a nearby river filled with 
sewage. Homes had been built right up to the pipeline, the residents 
said.
"I've lost count of the number of bodies," said Wilfred Mbithi, the 
policeman in charge of operations in Nairobi as he stood at the scene. 
"Many had dived into the river trying to put out their flames."
Provincial Commissioner Njoroge Ndirangu said at least 61 bodies have 
been recovered so far, but said the death toll from the blast will rise.

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

1 DEAD, 4 HURT IN EXPLOSION AT FRENCH NUCLEAR SITE

http://news.yahoo.com/1-dead-4-hurt-explosion-french-nuclear-130016360.htm
l
Tags: France, industrial, explosion, death, radiation, waste

PARIS (AP) =97 One person died and another was seriously injured in an 
explosion Monday in a site that treats nuclear waste in southern France, 
the country's nuclear safety body said, adding that no radioactive leaks 
have been detected.
The Nuclear Safety Authority said three other people suffered lesser 
injuries in the blast at an oven in the Centraco nuclear site.
The Centraco site is located next to another nuclear site, Marcoule, 
located in Languedoc-Roussillon, in southern France, near the 
Mediterranean Sea.
"According to initial information, the explosion happened in an oven 
used to melt radioactive metallic waste of little and very little 
radioactivity," the agency said in a statement.
Officials from France's EDF power company, whose subsidiary operates 
Centraco, stressed that there was no nuclear reactor on the site and 
that no waste treated at the site of the explosion came from a reactor.

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

Previous post   |  Top of Page   |   Next post