http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2011/10/22/lyondellbasell-reports-fire-at-houston-refinery-filing/Tags: us_TX, industrial, fire, response, petroleum
HOUSTON -(Dow Jones)- A small fire at LyondellBasell Industries' (LYB) refinery in Houston has not affected operations, the company said Saturday.
Lyondell had been demolishing a de-commissioned chemical unit at the 268,000 barrel-a-day refinery when an insulation fire broke out around 11:30 p.m. local time Friday, Lyondell spokesman David Harpole said. The fire was contained in the structure and did not impact operations at the refinery, Harpole said.
No injuries were reported, Harpole said. Lyondell continues to monitor the air around the site but has so far not found high concentrations of pollutants.
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YOUNGSTOWN NEWS, METRO DIGEST || WESTERN RESERVE ROAD CLOSED AFTER SPILL
Tags: us_OH, transportation, release, environmental, asphalt
A spill of 900 gallons of driveway sealant just before 5 p.m. Saturday has left Western Reserve Road at I-680 closed until at least Monday.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol said personnel from the Mahoning County Hazardous Materials Response Team (HAZMAT), the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Mahoning County Engineer=92s Department were on the scene Saturday evening and night.
No injuries were reported in the incident.
The Vindicator=92s news partner, WFMJ TV-21, reported that the spill occurred when one driveway sealer truck ran into the back of another sealer truck, breaking the valve.
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COLLEGE CAMPUSES: SAFETY RECORD OF SCIENCE LABORATORIES QUESTIONED
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, explosion, response, follow-up
An explosion that severely burned a Texas Tech graduate student last year suggests safety problems plague college labs nationwide, a federal watchdog agency warns.
A report by the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), an independent safety agency, examines the Jan. 7, 2010, detonation at Texas Tech University in Lubbock that cost the student, Preston Brown, three fingers and caused severe burns and eye damage. Brown had set out to produce 10 grams of an explosive compound =97 100 times more than an informal lab limit =97 for research sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security. "The report serves as a cautionary tale for universities across the country," CSB's Daniel Horowitz says.
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HYDROGEN SULFIDE LEAK UNDER CONTROL IN SO. INDIANA
Tags: us_IN, transportation, fire, injury, hydrogen_sulfide
JEFFERSONVILLE, IN. (WDRB) -- One worker was hospitalized after being overcome by fumes following a gas leak at Idemitsu Lubricants in Jeffersonville.
A tanker truck hauling hydrogen sulfide gas began leaking around 2:15 p.m. Saturday. Fire crews blocked off portions of Port Road while clean continued into the evening. Members of the hazardous materials unit from Louisville Fire and Rescue were called in to help with the clean up effort.
Emergency Management Coordinator Mindy Christian said she anticipated the clean up process would be finished soon, she stated around 7:15 p.m. Saturday evening.
The leak posed no immediate danger to the public, Christian said. No one was order to evacuate.
The company, which distributes automotive oils, recently began using the new chemical, hydrogen sulfide, according to Christian the Jeffersonville emergency management coordinator.
Christian said the fear was that the chemical was getting too hot and could spark a fire. The employee who was taken to the hospital was working to clean up the leak.
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CHEMICAL REACTION IN NORTHWICH THREATENS LIVES OF WORKERS
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, release, response, flammables, follow-up
The Health and Safety Executive has prosecuted Thor Specialities Ltd as a result of a potentially fatal chemical reaction at its plant in Wincham, Northwich on 23 August 2007.
An employee at the plant had been mixing solid and liquid chemicals which eventually caused the release of both toxic and flammable substances into the workplace laboratory.
The employee had continued to mix the chemicals together after mistakenly presuming that as there was no initial reaction to the mixing process that it was safe to continue doing so.
However the chemical reaction suddenly got out of control and generated the hazardous substances into the working environment. The chemicals had reacted so rapidly that it became impossible for the employee to bring the situation safely under control and he had to flee the building.
There were no other employees in the laboratory at the time of the incident although when the alarm system was activated, another employee returned to the scene to investigate only to be forced to abandon the plant as a result of the cloud of toxic fumes.
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HAZMAT ALARM SHUTS DOWN VENICE EMERGENCY ROOM
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, ethylene_oxide
VENICE - A sensor malfunction at Venice Regional Medical Center that indicated the possible release of a harmful chemical led authorities to evacuate and close the emergency room for about an hour Friday night.
"It was a very controlled evacuation," said Venice Fire Department Chief John Reed, whose units responded at about 7:22 p.m.
A machine that disinfects medical equipment set off an alarm that led hospital workers to think the highly toxic chemical ethylene oxide had escaped. The chemical is highly flammable and dangerous, Reed said.
About two dozen emergency responders from the city and Sarasota County responded. Incoming ambulances were diverted to other hospitals during the shutdown.
No one was injured.
"We are not sure how it happened," Venice fire medic Jerry Collins said of the machine error.
The chemical is put into a disinfectant machine, which is closed; a cannister of the chemical is then punctured to begin the decontamination, Collins said. When the alarm sounded, the technician followed protocol and immediately evacuated the room; authorities then cordoned off a sizeable area around the emergency entrance.
Venice recently dismantled its hazardous materials response team because of budget cuts and had to rely on Sarasota County Fire Department specialists to respond to the possible contamination.
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HAZMAT CREWS MOP UP OVERNIGHT LEAK
Tags: Canada, transportation, release, response, flammables
Not much sleep for some HAZMAT crews Saturday morning.
Around 1:30am, Fire Rescue was called to Grimshaw Trucking at 115 Avenue and 151 Street when 1,100 litres of isopropylene alcohol began leaking from a container in the back of a trailer.
Fortunately, not all of the flammable liquid escaped the container, and crews were able to transfer it to another one.
No injuries and because the compound is in an industrial area, the leak did not threaten any residential areas.
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OFFICIALS WORKING TO CONTAIN CHEMICAL SPILL NEAR MICHIGAN CITY
Tags: us_IN, industrial, release, environmental, unknown_chemical
MICHIGAN CITY -- A hazardous materials team worked into the night Thursday to try to contain a carcinogenic chemical that had spilled from the Fiber Bond Company's plant into a local creek, officials said.
The Michigan City Fire Department was called around 3:15 p.m on Thursday to 110 Menke Road in response to a chemical that looked like "latex paint" which had spilled into Wolf Creek leading into Trail Creek, fire marshal Kyle Kazmierczak said.
"The actual hazard is more of a concern to the game life rather than the human life," he said.
Officials from the fire department, Department of Natural Resources, LaPorte Haz-Mat team and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management were assessing the spill and trying to contain it from traveling further down the creek Thursday night.
Officials had built levees to try to stop the water from moving, but the steady rain posed a problem for the management of the water and broke the levees, Kazmierczak said.
However, the chemical is visible and was sitting on top of the water, which helped in trying to determine where the concentration of the carcinogen was at.
Officials identified the source of the spill as coming from the Fiber Bond Company's plant, Kazmierczak said.
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