Chemical Safety Headlines =46rom Google Wednesday, September 28, 2011 9:07:05 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 (10 articles) PERU SCHOOL EVACUATED DUE TO CHEMICALS Tags: us_NY, laboratory, release, response, flammables SMALL CHEMICAL EXPLOSION AT UCONN HEALTH CENTER LAB CAUSES MINOR INJURIES TO 1 RESEARCHER Tags: us_CT, laboratory, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical GAS LEAK IN NW SENDS DOZENS TO HOSPITAL Tags: us_DC, public, release, injury, carbon_monoxide MERCURY VAPOR RELEASE IN AUSTRALIA Tags: Australia, public, release, environmental, mercury IN BRIEF: CHEMICAL SCARE DISRUPTS ER Tags: us_WA, public, release, response, unknown_chemical SEARCH FOR GAS LEAKS CUT SHORT BEFORE BLAST Tags: us_WA, public, explosion, response, natural_gas SOOT-COVERED P-COOK FLED FIRE Tags: New_Zealand, public, explosion, injury, meth_lab TWO INJURED IN U.MD. CHEM LAB EXPLOSION Tags: us_MD, laboratory, explosion, injury, acids, waste NTSB: PG&E STILL UNABLE TO ACCURATELY ASSESS SAFETY OF ITS PIPES Tags: us_CA, industrial, explosion, response, natural_gas, follow-up FIRE CREWS RESPOND TO CHEMICAL LEAK NEAR BUSH INTERCONTINENTAL AIRPORT Tags: us_TX, industrial, release, response, toluene --------------------------------------------- PERU SCHOOL EVACUATED DUE TO CHEMICALS http://pressrepublican.com/0100_news/x857073/Peru-School-evacuated-due-to- chemicals Tags: us_NY, laboratory, release, response, flammables PERU =97 A chemical spill at Peru Middle High School prompted an evacuation of the building Tuesday morning. Interim School Superintendent A. Paul Scott said that during early morning classes on Tuesday, a teacher and some students noticed a smell emanating from an OSHA-approved flammable cabinet located in a High School science lab. The smell was apparently the result of a chemical spill in the cabinet, which was directly vented into a chemical vapor hood, immediately removing vapors from the building. Scott said Tuesday afternoon that he believed the incident had caused no harm to students, faculty or staff. ... The school promptly notified Clinton County Emergency Services, the Peru Fire Department, the Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Conservation, and Scott said the agencies responded quickly. =93It=92s best to have all agencies involved,=94 he said. =93I appreciate very much their assistance throughout the morning and day.=94 In consultation with these agencies, it was decided that the school should be evacuated as a precautionary measure, so about 1,000 students in grades 6 through 12 were brought to the primary and intermediate school campus, where they were picked up by school buses and released just before noon. --------------------------------------------- SMALL CHEMICAL EXPLOSION AT UCONN HEALTH CENTER LAB CAUSES MINOR INJURIES TO 1 RESEARCHER http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/7e652c99ba02479c892a66d372064f90/CT- -UConn-Lab-Explosion/ Tags: us_CT, laboratory, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical FARMINGTON, Conn. =97 University of Connecticut Health Center officials say a small chemical explosion in a research building laboratory has left one person with minor injuries. The incident happened at about 2:45 p.m. Tuesday at the Cell and Genome Sciences Building, which is across the street from the health center's main campus in Farmington. The building has been evacuated as a precaution and it's not clear when it will reopen. Health center spokeswoman Maureen McGuire says four people were in the lab at the time of the explosion. Three people declined medical treatment and the fourth was brought to the health center's hospital. It's not immediately clear what caused the accident or what chemicals were involved. --------------------------------------------- GAS LEAK IN NW SENDS DOZENS TO HOSPITAL http://www.wjla.com/articles/2011/09/potential-carbon-monoxide-leak-poison s-nw-residents-67128.html Tags: us_DC, public, release, injury, carbon_monoxide Several dozen people have been affected by a carbon monoxide poisoning in Northwest. Continue reading 7 COMMENTS Post a comment Residents of a building on Harvard Street Northwest started feeling flu-like symptoms and passing out. Fire officials evacuated the 45 residents inside, of whom 43 were transported to a nearby hospital. Three of them were in serious condition. The fire chief says it was crucial to get the residents away from the deadly gas as soon as possible. A high level of carbon monoxide was detected in the building, D.C. Fire Department officials say. The building is home to the Second Genesis Rehab Facility, a privately owned rehabilitation clinic. Streets in the area were blocked while the fire department was on scene. --------------------------------------------- MERCURY VAPOR RELEASE IN AUSTRALIA http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-28/orica-safety-record-under-fire/30254 80 Tags: Australia, public, release, environmental, mercury Orica's safety record is being described as a disgrace after yet another incident at one of its sites. For nine hours yesterday morning, mercury vapours exceeded the licensed levels at the chemical company's Botany site in Sydney. The environmental regulator says the risk to health was low, but is deeply concerned about Orica's repeated transgressions. Yesterday's incident was Orica's third mishap in New South Wales in less than two months. First there was a leak of hexavalent chromium at the Kooragang Island plant in Newcastle on August 8, then a release of arsenic in the Hunter River. Yesterday the company revealed mercury vapours at its Botany site in Sydney's south-east had exceeded the licensed levels from midnight to 9.00am (AEST). --------------------------------------------- IN BRIEF: CHEMICAL SCARE DISRUPTS ER http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/sep/28/in-brief-chemical-scare-disru pts-er/ Tags: us_WA, public, release, response, unknown_chemical The emergency room at Providence Holy Family Hospital and several surrounding streets were closed Tuesday evening as authorities investigated a report of a potential chemical spill. Investigators were unable to detect and confirm any chemical release and eventually turned the hospital back over to hospital officials. Six people were treated at the scene for potential respiratory issues, and five others were being held for observation after the 5:13 p.m. report that a chemical had been dispersed in the entryway along the south side of the hospital=92s emergency room, according to the Spokane Fire Department. Incoming ambulances were diverted to other hospitals while the investigation was under way. About 35 to 40 firefighters responded, including the department=92s hazardous materials team. --------------------------------------------- SEARCH FOR GAS LEAKS CUT SHORT BEFORE BLAST http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016332869_gasleak28m.html Tags: us_WA, public, explosion, response, natural_gas After a rare electrical problem blew four holes in natural-gas pipes in Seattle's Pinehurst neighborhood on Sunday, Puget Sound Energy says, the agency went house to house in the neighborhood to check for more leaks. Its workers stopped at nightfall, without finding more. It wasn't until the next day, after a huge explosion and house fire, that PSE did a much larger "leak survey" across a 5-square-mile area, working into the night. Crews found four more leaks, but say at least three are unrelated. With customers and Seattle residents now rattled Tuesday, PSE defended its initial search. Sunday's testing area =97 which stopped just five blocks short of the explosion site =97 focused on areas with similar pipe, said Martha Monfried, PSE's communications director. ... The explosion, which rattled windows across North Seattle and sent a married couple to the hospital, is under investigation by the Seattle Fire Department and state utilities regulators. On Tuesday, David Ingham, a 53-year-old Seattle City Light lineman, was released from Harborview Medical Center after being treated for burns. --------------------------------------------- SOOT-COVERED P-COOK FLED FIRE http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/5693537/Police-hunt-soot-covere d-P-cook Tags: New_Zealand, public, explosion, injury, meth_lab A man was seen leaving an alleged Takapuna P lab with a soot-covered face shortly before the home was engulfed by flames. Police are searching for the man who they believe was injured in the chemical explosion that started the fire, though he has not sought any medical attention. The Harley Close unit was almost destroyed by the fire that began about 8am on Monday. Detective Sergeant Steve Brewer of North Shore police said he believed the occupant of the house was responsible. "We think he was in the process of doing a cook when the explosion's happened or the fire's started," he said. "There were reports from neighbours of a male rapidly leaving the area with what appeared to be soot on his face but he hasn't surfaced at any hospital or A and E." --------------------------------------------- TWO INJURED IN U.MD. CHEM LAB EXPLOSION http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/sep/26/two-injured-umd-chem-lab-e xplosion/ Tags: us_MD, laboratory, explosion, injury, acids, waste Two University of Maryland students were injured Monday in the College Park campus=92s Chemistry Building when a chemical reaction caused an explosion and small fire in the lab where they were working. The two women were taken to a hospital with first-degree chemical burns and minor lacerations but were in good condition, Prince George=92s County fire department spokesman Mark Brady said. The explosion occurred during an afternoon chemistry class as students were working with nitric and sulfuric acid. =93Typically these are friendly acids that work well together, but when they dumped the chemicals into a chemical waste container, that was what caused the explosion and fire,=94 Mr. Brady said. The four-story building was evacuated after the explosion and a small fire were reported on the third floor at about 12:30 p.m. University employees attempted to extinguish the fire before smoke and vapor drove them out of the lab, Mr. Brady said. Firefighters who responded to the lab were quickly able to extinguish the fire. About 11 people were in the lab when the fire broke out, but only the two students were injured. --------------------------------------------- NTSB: PG&E STILL UNABLE TO ACCURATELY ASSESS SAFETY OF ITS PIPES http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_18982471 Tags: us_CA, industrial, explosion, response, natural_gas, follow-up More than a year after the San Bruno natural gas explosion, PG&E still lacks "a large percentage" of the information it needs to accurately assess its pipeline risks and hasn't taken needed steps to inform the public about its gas lines, according to the National Transportation Safety Commission's final report on the 2010 disaster released Monday. The 153-page report went further than earlier NTSB statements by including a strong warning about PG&E's limited understanding of what other dangers may lurk underground. Noting that PG&E uses data in a computerized system to gauge the risk posed by its pipelines, the agency said it fears the system contains "a large percentage of assumed, unknown or erroneous information for the Line 132" -- the one that erupted in San Bruno -- "and likely its other transmission pipelines as well." --------------------------------------------- FIRE CREWS RESPOND TO CHEMICAL LEAK NEAR BUSH INTERCONTINENTAL AIRPORT http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=8368638 Tags: us_TX, industrial, release, response, toluene HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Dozens of firefighters and a HazMat crew responded to a chemical leak near Bush Intercontinental Airport Monday. It happened at around 11:15am at Dyna Drill Technology in the 4600 block of World Houston Parkway, just south of the big airport. A chemical reaction produced thick, light yellow smoke at the facility. The leaking chemicals were identified as Toluene, Thixon and Zonyl. By 3:20pm, the Houston Fire Department had the leak secured. All employees were accounted for and workers exiting the plant were decontaminated. ---------------------------------------------
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