Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2011 08:58:57 -0400
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Subject: Chemical Safety headlines from Google (8 articles)
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Chemical Safety Headlines =46rom Google
Friday, November 4, 2011 8:58:32 AM

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Table of Contents (8 articles)

DECADES OLD BOTTLE OF PICRIC ACID LEADS TO EVACUATION AT WATERVILLE JR SR HIGH
Tags: us_NY, education, discovery, response, picric_acid

CHEMICAL MIXUP AT HOTEL POOL SENDS EMPLOYEE TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_MN, public, release, injury, pool_chemicals

ALLENSPARK MAN SUSPECTED OF PREPPING FOR A DRUG LAB SAID CHEMICALS FOR 'EXPERIMENTS'
Tags: us_CO, public, discovery, response, illegal

19 ACTION NEWS|CLEVELAND, OH|BREAKING NEWS, WEATHER, EXCLUSIVES
Tags: us_OH, industrial, release, injury, chlorine

3 EMPLOYEES OF SPRINGFIELD UTILITY SUFFER CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING AFTER FIRE
Tags: us_MO, industrial, fire, response, carbon_monoxide

TEEN RECOVERS AFTER SCHOOL SCIENCE EXPLOSION
Tags: us_OK, laboratory, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical

ALOHA PETROLEUM SPILLS 14,700 GALLONS OF FUEL ONTO GROUND AT HILO HARBOR
Tags: us_HI, transportation, release, response, diesel

NUKE PLANT RESUMES OPERATIONS AFTER AMMONIA LEAK
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, ammonia


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DECADES OLD BOTTLE OF PICRIC ACID LEADS TO EVACUATION AT WATERVILLE JR SR HIGH
http://www.wktv.com/news/local/Decades-old-bottle-of-Picric-acid-leads-to-evacuation-at-Waterville-Jr-Sr-High-133195948.html
Tags: us_NY, education, discovery, response, picric_acid

WATERVILLE, N.Y. (WKTV) - Students and staff members at Waterville Junior and Senior High School were evacuated a little after Noon on Thursday the New York State Police Bomb Disposal Unit out of Albany was called in to assess and dispose of some potentially hazardous chemicals.

"We are concerned about one of the chemicals that is possibly dangerous and could call an explosion," says Gary Lonczak, superintendent of schools.

The main issue is a bottle of picric acid which is over 25 years old.

When in liquid form, the chemical is safe to use. However, the compound has solidified over the years, which means it could be potentially explosive if not removed properly.

"We acted as quickly as we could and we followed protocol and we got good advice from the State Police and hazmat unit," says Lonczak. 

Administrators were never advised to evacuate students, but they say they did so as a precautionary measure. 

Lonczak says he will send an informational letter to parents regarding the incident and on Friday, the school day will resume as usual.

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CHEMICAL MIXUP AT HOTEL POOL SENDS EMPLOYEE TO HOSPITAL
http://www.kare11.com/news/article/945056/396/Chemical-mixup-at-hotel-pool-sends-employee-to-hospital
Tags: us_MN, public, release, injury, pool_chemicals

LONG LAKE, Minn. -- An employee at the AmericInn Hotel in Long Lake is hospitalized after creating a potentially deadly chemical mixture during pool maintenance Thursday afternoon, according to Long Lake Fire Chief James Vaneyll.

Long Lake firefighters responded to the AmericInn Hotel around 12:45 p.m. at 521 Willow Dr. N. for a hazmat situation. Vaneyll says an employee working in the pool area mixed together muritic acid and hydrochloric solution in error and inhaled a large cloud of gas. The man was transported to HCMC with unknown injuries.

The chemical combination could have been deadly if exposed long enough, Vaneyll says.

Another employee was also exposed to the gas but was treated and released at the scene.

The pool area is back open after a chemical company removed the container with the bad mixture.

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ALLENSPARK MAN SUSPECTED OF PREPPING FOR A DRUG LAB SAID CHEMICALS FOR 'EXPERIMENTS'
http://www.timescall.com/news/longmont-local-news/ci_19259613Tags: us_CO, public, discovery, response, illegal

LONGMONT -- Longmont hazmat officers on Thursday inventoried and secured a box of chemicals retrieved from an Allenspark man's home after he was arrested Tuesday outside of a Longmont ACE Hardware when employees there reported he appeared to be stockpiling the supplies needed for a PCP lab.

Cmdr. Jeff Satur said Thursday that Trevan Lake's parents turned over the box of chemicals and glassware following their son's arrest, his second in two years at the Longmont store on suspicion of preparing to build a drug lab.

Lake pleaded guilty in September 2010 to buying all of the supplies he needed to build a methamphetamine lab at the same ACE Hardware where he was arrested Tuesday. In that plea deal with


Longmont Police Detective John Steele holds up an item suspected in the production of PCP while processing evidence in Longmont on Thursday. ( Richard M. Hackett/Times-Call )
prosecutors, his felony conviction would have been removed from his record if he stayed out of legal trouble and followed a therapy plan. Boulder County Judge David Archuleta told Lake at the time that the plea deal was "a golden opportunity to get back on track."
Police were called to the store on Main Street on Tuesday on a report that Lake was in the store and had bought all the chemicals he would need to manufacture PCP.

Longmont Police Sgt. Sean Harper said officers stopped Lake in the parking lot and found the chemicals in a backpack. Satur said the box of supplies collected from his parents and the supplies Lake bought Tuesday appeared to be for one lab setup, so additional arrest charges are unlikely.

Lake told police after his Tuesday arrest that his parents took away and stored chemicals he already had for "experiments," but that they were not to make drugs, according to police reports.

Lake is due in court today for filing of charges.

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19 ACTION NEWS|CLEVELAND, OH|BREAKING NEWS, WEATHER, EXCLUSIVES
http://www.woio.com/story/15956570/chlorine-leak-at-dover-chemical
Tags: us_OH, industrial, release, injury, chlorine

The fire department and Hazmat have contained a Chlorine leak at Dover Chemical on Davis St. Thursday night.

Officials tell 19 Action News that three workers were transported to a local hospital to be checked out, the extent of their injuries are not known at this time.

We are told the leak was called in just after 6:30pm, the caused of the leak is being investigated.

I-77 was shut down as a precaution for a short period of time, but is now open.

Some residents and commercial business in a two block radius of the building were evacuated as a precaution for a couple of hours while the leak was being contained.

Most of the Dover Chemical is closed at this time while repairers are being made.

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3 EMPLOYEES OF SPRINGFIELD UTILITY SUFFER CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING AFTER FIRE
http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/3380edf970ef414e8ec458709b6211fe/MO--Utility-Fire-Carbon-Monoxide/
Tags: us_MO, industrial, fire, response, carbon_monoxide

Springfield, Mo. =97 Three employees of a Springfield power plant were treated after suffering carbon monoxide poisoning during a fire at the plant.

Fire officials say the blaze in coal bunkers at the John Twitty Energy Center on Monday released dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide.

Assistant Fire Chief Randy Villines says fire crews found carbon monoxide readings up to 3,000 parts per million when they tested air near the bunkers.

The three employees tried to fight the fire inside three of four coal bunkers before firefighters arrived.

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TEEN RECOVERS AFTER SCHOOL SCIENCE EXPLOSION
http://www.kfor.com/news/local/kfor-teen-recovers-after-school-science-explosion-20111102,0,7764150.story
Tags: us_OK, laboratory, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical

DEL CITY, Okla. -- Eighth grader Ashley Cherry has burns on her face, neck and hands after a school scientific demonstration went wrong at Kerr Middle School. "We were watching and she put the chemicals in and it exploded and hit me. I remember seeing the fire and I went on the ground and my friends were putting me out."

She's worried about long-term scarring and discoloration.  

The pain, especially at night, is hard to withstand.

Her parents say they don't understand how this happened.  

Ashley told them they weren't wearing goggles.  

Her mom, Kimberly Cherry, also said her daughter told them something else. 

"The most disturbing thing is that she remembers getting off the floor and the table being on fire and nobody being in the room with her," Kimberly said.

Ashley's family is working to help her heal.  

Her father, Buddy Cherry, said this is something that didn't have to happen.

"It just angers me that they're messing with volatile chemicals and lighting them on fire with no protection for these children at all," he said.

Mid-Del School released this statement:

Mid-Del Schools and the Del City Fire Department have determined the science demonstration that burned a Kerr Middle School student was an accident. At this time, all middle school science chemical and fire lab activities have been suspended while the District continues to evaluate safety measures and science curriculum involving labs at the secondary level. 

The District has maintained daily contact with the family of our injured student. It is our sincerest wishes for a speedy recovery and we hope to welcome her back to school soon. 

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ALOHA PETROLEUM SPILLS 14,700 GALLONS OF FUEL ONTO GROUND AT HILO HARBOR
http://www.hawaii247.com/2011/11/02/aloha-petroleum-spills-14700-gallons-of-fuel-onto-ground-at-hilo-harbor/
Tags: us_HI, transportation, release, response, diesel

Fire and Hazmat crews responded to a 10:08 a.m. alarm Tuesday (Nov 1) to 999 Kalanianaole Avenue after receiving a report of leaking fuel at the Aloha Petroleum Hilo Harbor facility.
Crews found diesel fuel spilling from two overflow pipes onto the ground as a storage tank was being filled from a barge at Pier 3.
Approximately 14,700 gallons of fuel spilled onto the ground after an operator apparently miscalculated the tank=92s capacity.
The spilled fuel was contained by low walls surrounding the area, authorities said.
No fire was ignited and no injuries were reported.

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NUKE PLANT RESUMES OPERATIONS AFTER AMMONIA LEAK
http://www2.wnct.com/news/2011/nov/02/nuke-plant-resumes-operations-after-ammonia-leak-ar-1564419/Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, ammonia

IRVINE, Calif. Officials at a Southern California nuclear plant searched for the cause of a non-radioactive ammonia leak that triggered an unusual emergency alert and precautionary evacuation of some workers before it was contained.

Officials stressed there was never any danger to the public.

Workers stopped the leak by 5 p.m. Tuesday, about two hours after it was detected in a storage tank in the water purification system of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station's Unit 3, said Todd Adler, the plant's engineering manager.

The emergency alert was required because fumes could prevent access to certain areas of the plant, Adler told reporters at a media information center in Irvine, Calif.

The alert, the second lowest of four federal classifications for emergencies at commercial nuclear power plants, was canceled at 6:07 p.m. and evacuated workers were allowed to return.

"It's a chemical spill that could happen at any industrial facility," Adler said.

The leak was in the non-nuclear section of the plant, which is operated by Southern California Edison. No radioactive material was released, no injuries were reported and there was no danger to the public, the company said.

Approximately 25 gallons of leaked ammonia were collected in a basin underneath the tank that was designed for that purpose, Edison spokeswoman Lauren Bartlett said.

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