From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (10 articles)
Date: April 9, 2012 8:07:14 AM EDT
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, April 9, 2012 8:06:51 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)

INVESTIGATIONS INTO GRAINCORP CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: Australia, public, release, response, other_chemical

AMMONIA LEAK CONTAINED
Tags: us_FL, industrial, release, response, ammonia

MERCURY, RADIOACTIVE URANIUM FOUND AT SITE OF TIDEFLATS BLAZE
Tags: us_WA, public, follow-up, environmental, mercury, radiation

GOOD FRIDAY HELPS MINIMIZE IMPACT OF CHEMICAL RELEASE
Tags: us_MA, education, discovery, response, unknown_chemical

CHEMICAL SPILL SPARKS FOREST ALERT
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, response, unknown_chemical

SKY NEWS: SHELL REFINERY CHEMICAL SCARE
Tags: Australia, industrial, release, response, flammables, petroleum

EXPLOSION ROCKS CPC PLANT IN KAOHSIUNG
Tags: Taiwan, industrial, explosion, response, petroleum

EAST HEMET: POT LAB BLAMED FOR HOUSE EXPLOSION
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, explosion, response, drugs, flammables

FLUOESCENT DYE TRIGGERS HAZMAT RESPONSE IN PALO ALTO
Tags: us_CA, public, release, environmental, dye

WCAX.COM LOCAL VERMONT NEWS, WEATHER AND SPORTS-
Tags: us_VT, public, discovery, response, corrosives


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INVESTIGATIONS INTO GRAINCORP CHEMICAL LEAK
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-09/carrington-incident/3939690/?site=newcastle
Tags: Australia, public, release, response, other_chemical

Residents at about 30 homes in the Newcastle suburb of Carrington were forced to stay indoors on Saturday night (AEST) after a gas leak at Graincorp.

The New South Wales Fire and Rescue Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) unit was called to the Graincorp Carrington terminal just before 7pm (AEST)

About 100 kilograms of the gas methyl bromide leaked from a canister, while staff were fumigating at the site.

A Graincorp spokesman says while the gas is commonly used to kill pests and bugs, a leak of this kind is uncommon.

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AMMONIA LEAK CONTAINED
http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2012-04-08-0#.T4LMdHmX-yE
Tags: us_FL, industrial, release, response, ammonia

An ammonia leak from a large cylinder tank Sunday morning at the St. Johns County Water Treatment Plant in the 200 block of Water Plant Road forced a local Hazardous Material team response and the shuttering of some nearby homes.

A call from a plant employee reached St. Johns County Fire Rescue Sunday at about 10:45 a.m., Fire Rescue spokesman Jeremy Robshaw said Sunday.

Robshaw said both emergency personnel and the specialized HAZMAT unit of St. Johns County Fire Rescue safely evacuated one employee from the plant. The employee did not need medical attention, Robshaw said.

Fire Rescue did not evacuate any nearby residents, but asked a handful of people downwind of the leaked chemical Ñ anhydrous ammonia Ñ to close the windows and doors to their homes.

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MERCURY, RADIOACTIVE URANIUM FOUND AT SITE OF TIDEFLATS BLAZE
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/04/07/2099183/mercury-radioactive-uranium-found.html
Tags: us_WA, public, follow-up, environmental, mercury, radiation

Federal and state environmental officials have discovered a potpourri of thousands of pounds of chemicals - many of them potentially hazardous - at a Tacoma Tideflats site that was engulfed by a sudden fire March 28.

Those chemicals, most of them stored in two old trucks untouched by the blaze, included 15 pounds of mercury, several hundred pounds of highly flammable sodium and mildly radioactive uranium.

That site at 4111 E. 11th St. near Marine View Drive drew some three dozen firefighters and a dozen pieces of equipment when it burst into flames about 10:30 a.m. The smoky fire destroyed a single-story house used by a chemical recycling company and threatened a nearby warehouse and two trucks used for chemical storage.

Firefighters initially attacked the fire in the house but withdrew to defensive positions when it became apparent that the building and the surrounding areas contained unknown quantities of chemicals. The site is in an industrial area adjacent to the Hylebos Waterway, but homes are atop a hill overlooking the site.

When the fire department received the call, responders thought the site might be a pallet-recycling company. Later investigation showed the site was used by a company, NW Chemical Recycling, to repackage surplus chemicals for sale.

Neighboring businesses said workers from the company told them the fire had begun with a flaming can of paint. Later investigations showed the blaze started when sodium chlorite that was being repackaged into smaller containers burst into flame. The chemical is used in bleaching and stripping of pulp and paper, among other uses.

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GOOD FRIDAY HELPS MINIMIZE IMPACT OF CHEMICAL RELEASE
http://hamilton-wenham.patch.com/articles/good-friday-helps-minimize-impact-of-chemical-release
Tags: us_MA, education, discovery, response, unknown_chemical

The science building at Gordon College was evacuated for a time on Friday morning after a chemical vapor was released for an air-conditioning unit that was being repaired.

Luckily, the Ken Olsen Science Center was mostly empty since classes were not in session on Good Friday and there were fewer students and staff in the building that on a typical Friday,

"There were very few students in the building," said Wenham Fire Chief Bob Blanchard.

The repairman was working on the AC unit in a service room on the lower level of the building.

"It released a mist and set the detectors off," Blanchard said.

The repairman quickly shut down the equipment, he said.

Initially, there was concern because it was not clear what the substance was before firefighters checked the air quality in the building.

"Everything turned out OK," Blanchard said, adding that firefighters ventilated the building.

Related Topics: Air Conditioning, Gordon College, Ken Olsen Science Center, and wenham fire department
Email me updates about this story.

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CHEMICAL SPILL SPARKS FOREST ALERT
http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/Chemical-spill-sparks-Forest-alert/story-15754350-detail/story.html
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, response, unknown_chemical

SPILLED chemicals sparked a response from firefighters.

After a dog walker spotted a blue liquid on a track near Plump Hill in the Forest of Dean, police alerted Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service at 11am on Friday morning.

Two fire crews from Cinderford station using breathing apparatus attempted to identify the spilt chemical.

It was found that the chemical urea had been previously used at the scene by the Forestry Commision to mark out tree stumps.

The crews made the area safe and left the incident in the hands of the Forestry Commission.

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SKY NEWS: SHELL REFINERY CHEMICAL SCARE
http://www.skynews.com.au/businessnews/article.aspx?id=737507&vId=
Tags: Australia, industrial, release, response, flammables, petroleum

A section of Shell's southern Victorian oil refinery has been shut down following a chemical leak.

About 20 firefighters were called to the plant at Corio, southwest of Melbourne, about 11pm (AEST) on Saturday when super-heated flammable sand, used in fuel production, began leaking from a pipe.

Part of the plant was shut down and roads in the vicinity closed as a precaution while authorities responded to the leak, Country Fire Authority (CFA) spokesman Ian Beswicke said.

The area was declared safe about 2am and air monitoring equipment was used to confirm that no dangerous substances had escaped from the refinery.

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EXPLOSION ROCKS CPC PLANT IN KAOHSIUNG
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/local/kaohsiung/2012/04/07/337076/Explosion-rocks.htm
Tags: Taiwan, industrial, explosion, response, petroleum

A major explosion at a CPC Corp., Taiwan plant in Kaohsiung has caused local residents to worry about their safety and disrupted the local petrochemical supply chain.
The explosion, which occurred at about 3:28 a.m., sparked a fire that gutted the plant for about five hours before being extinguished.

No casualties were reported. The state-run firm also claimed that no pollution was detected because of the accident.

Operations of the plant and other areas of the same refinery complex were halted, with Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu instructing that the heaviest possible penalties be imposed on CPC over the accident.

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EAST HEMET: POT LAB BLAMED FOR HOUSE EXPLOSION
http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/hemet/hemet-headlines-index/20120405-east-hemet-pot-lab-blamed-for-house-explosion.ece
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, explosion, response, drugs, flammables

Authorities are searching for two men who fled a suburban East Hemet home Wednesday afternoon during an inferno caused by a marijuana lab explosion.
Riverside County sheriff's investigators determined burning marijuana chemicals set the blaze that destroyed a home at the corner of Acacia Avenue and Lake Street, in the unincorporated neighborhood of Little Lake.
The Sheriff's Department Special Investigations Bureau issued a statement Thursday that said two men were seen fleeing after several explosions were heard just before 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Detectives believe the men were using a flammable substance to extract concentrated cannabis from marijuana plants in the garage. Evidence suggests a spark ignited the fumes, which caused an explosion and flames that consumed most of the home, according to the statement.
The fire also caused ammunition in the home to discharge and fire at the same time firefighters arrived.

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FLUOESCENT DYE TRIGGERS HAZMAT RESPONSE IN PALO ALTO
http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_20338167/fluoescent-dye-triggers-hazmat-response-palo-alto
Tags: us_CA, public, release, environmental, dye

A fluorescent green dye found its way into a Palo Alto storm drain Thursday afternoon, triggering a hazardous materials response by firefighters.
The fire department received multiple calls beginning at 1:15 p.m. about a green sheen in a storm drain at the corner of Hanover Street and Page Mill Road, Battalion Chief Niles Broussard said.
The sheen was caused by uranine, a dye used to trace the flow of water. Contractors had been using the substance to diagnose a drainage problem at a nearby building, but it wasn't immediately clear how it ended up in the storm drain, Broussard said.
Firefighters contacted the city's Public Works Department and the California Department of Fish and Game about the 1,500-gallon spill. The substance ultimately did not pose a threat to human health or the environment, Broussard said.

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WCAX.COM LOCAL VERMONT NEWS, WEATHER AND SPORTS-
http://www.wcax.com/story/17346665/chemical-scare-in-south-burlington
Tags: us_VT, public, discovery, response, corrosives

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. -
A chemical scare in South Burlington kept hazmat and fire crews busy for hours Thursday.

Police were called to a home on Swift Street after the tenants discovered a box of suspicious, liquid-filled jars hidden upstairs in their rental property. Hazmat crews removed less than two gallons of the mystery substance from the home. Officials tested the liquid on site and determined that the combination of chemicals was hazardous.

The state's hazmat chief says the chemicals may have been used by a previous tenant to make illicit drugs.

"And so the chemicals were, in fact, dangerous chemicals. They were flammable, toxic, corrosive and so our folks were able to identify them," Vt. Hazmat Chief Christopher Herrick said.

Officials say the chemicals do not pose a health risk to anyone in the area. But police are remaining on the scene until a hazardous waste company comes to remove them.

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