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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, November 12, 2012 7:21:09 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 (21 articles)
INDIA: MINOR FIRE AT DRUG COMPANY
Tags: India, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
CRACKER BUYERS IN LUCKNOW IGNORANT OF SUPREME COURT'S RULING
Tags: India, industrial, follow-up, environmental, fireworks
AUTHORITIES BATTLE COPPER THIEVES AT FORMER FORMOSA PLASTICS
Tags: us_IL, industrial, follow-up, environmental, metals
WEEKEND FIRES RAGE ON IN SHARJAH'S INDUSTRIAL AREA WAREHOUSES
Tags: United_Arab_Emirates, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
SOUTH STREET SEAPORT STORE OWNERS BATTLING THICK GREEN MOLD THAT HAS INFESTED SHOPS AFTER HURRICANE SANDY
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, response, other_chemical
RUPTURED URETHANE DRUM PROMPTS HAZMAT RESPONSE AT CASE NEW HOLLAND; HAZMAT RESPONSE AT CASE NEW HOLLAND
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, urethane
THIRD MAN DIES AFTER SHERBROOKE BLAST
Tags: Canada, industrial, follow-up, death, acetone
KOSCIUSKO COUNTY METH PROBLEM GROWS
Tags: us_IN, public, follow-up, environmental, meth_lab
MAN ACCUSED OF ARSON FOR CAUSING CHEMICAL FIRE IN HIS MOTEL ROOM
Tags: us_KS, public, fire, response, unknown_chemical
UNSTABLE CHEMICAL FORCES UC SAN DIEGO EVACUATION
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, discovery, response, explosives
JEFFERSON COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER CLOSED BECAUSE OF EMERGENCY
Tags: us_NE, public, release, injury, cleaners
REMEMBRANCE DAY: WOMEN HEROES OF PERILOUS WWII MUNITIONS FACTORIES FINALLY HONOURED
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, follow-up, environmental, explosives
DULUTH ICE ARENA EVACUATED DUE TO HIGH CARBON MONOXIDE
Tags: us_MN, public, release, injury, carbon_monoxide
INDIANA PRINTING PLANT FIRE CAUSED $75M DAMAGE
Tags: us_PA, industrial, follow-up, response, solvent
TWO MEN BADLY BURNED IN TENSAS PARISH LOUISIANA OIL RIG FIRE
Tags: us_LA, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
UPPER PENINSULA METH LAB NUMBERS INCREASE - THE NORTH WIND
Tags: us_MI, public, discovery, response, meth_lab
LICKING COUNTY HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO AMMONIA LEAK
Tags: us_OH, public, release, response, ammonia
SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE DETONATED AT EL PASO TRANSPORTATION COMPLEX
Tags: us_CO, public, discovery, response, unknown_chemical, waste
HAZMAT: CONCRETE DYE TURNED FAYETTE COUNTY CREEK BLUE
Tags: us_PA, public, release, environmental, dye
CHEMICAL LEAK IN CENTRAL WELLINGTON
Tags: New_Zealand, public, release, response, hvac_chemicals
FATAL EXPLOSION AT QUEBEC CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: Canada, industrial, explosion, injury, acetone
---------------------------------------------
INDIA: MINOR FIRE AT DRUG COMPANY
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Minor-fire-at-drug-company/articleshow/17188232.cms
Tags: India, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
BANGALORE: A minor fire broke out at the manufacturing unit of Himalaya Drug Company on Tumkur Road near Nelamangala on Sunday morning.
Police said the fire was noticed at 10.30am when two employees who had just checked into the company's R&D unit saw smoke emanating from a container. The staff who were present at the factory alerted the fire brigade who arrived immediately.Four fire tenders doused the flames in almost one hour. There were no casualities, police said, probably because it was a Sunday.
Fire and emergency services officials suspect the fire outbreak was caused due to a chemical reaction of the contents of the container. "A few electrical wires in the unit have been burnt," they said.
---------------------------------------------
CRACKER BUYERS IN LUCKNOW IGNORANT OF SUPREME COURT'S RULING
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Cracker-buyers-in-Lucknow-ignorant-of-Supreme-Courts-ruling/articleshow/17187105.cms
Tags: India, industrial, follow-up, environmental, fireworks
LUCKNOW: Most of the shops selling fire crackers in the city are flouting the norms laid down by the Supreme Court, which makes it mandatory to print the noise level, chemical composition and a word of advice on the boxes. However, authorities are yet to act in this direction.
According to the order passed by the Supreme Court on July 18, 2005, the Department of Explosives (DoE) should specify the composition and maximum permissible weight of every chemical used in manufacturing firecrackers. The details are required to be published on packets and boxes having crackers. The permissible limit of noise for a single cracker is 125 decibel and for a series of cracker is 105 decibel.
---------------------------------------------
AUTHORITIES BATTLE COPPER THIEVES AT FORMER FORMOSA PLASTICS
http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x1272755985/Authorities-battle-copper-thieves-at-former-Formosa-Plastics
Tags: us_IL, industrial, follow-up, environmental, metals
ILLIOPOLIS Ñ Authorities say a new security firm hired by Formosa Plastics has reduced the number of scrap-metal thieves who have been plundering the shuttered chemical plant.
The facility in Illiopolis, which formerly manufactured polyvinyl chloride used in plastics, has been a hotbed for thieves since a massive explosion killed five workers and injured several others on April 23, 2004.
The plant can be a bonanza for a metal thief Ñ a well-equipped burglar might be able to steal 5,000 pounds of copper wire, worth as much as $15,000 from a scrap-metal dealer, in a single night, police reports say.
---------------------------------------------
WEEKEND FIRES RAGE ON IN SHARJAH'S INDUSTRIAL AREA WAREHOUSES
http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/weekend-fires-rage-on-in-sharjah-s-industrial-area-warehouses-2012-11-11-1.482626
Tags: United_Arab_Emirates, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
There is no end to weekend fires in Sharjah. The number of warehouses destroyed by fire in Sharjah's industrial areas has increased and surprisingly most of them happen on weekends or after working hours.
Emirates 24/7 has traced at least eight such fires, most of them in the industrial areas of the emirate.
Most of the fires broke out in warehouses storing garments, automobile spare parts and furniture.
The fire at the Al Tayer residential tower near Al Nahda Park in Sharjah also occurred on Saturday. Property worth several hundred thousand dirhams was destroyed and hundreds of families had to vacate the 43-storey building following the fire that started at around 2:30am.
In the latest such incident, electronic goods worth several hundred thousand dirhams were destroyed following a fire in Sharjah's industrial area on Friday.
The fire started at around 9:30am and destroyed nine warehouses located in Industrial Area No.6, behind the Macro Emirate supermarket. The warehouses were used to store used electronic products and automobile parts. Some warehouses even had chemical and petroleum products, which caused the fire to spread faster.
---------------------------------------------
SOUTH STREET SEAPORT STORE OWNERS BATTLING THICK GREEN MOLD THAT HAS INFESTED SHOPS AFTER HURRICANE SANDY
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/merchants_battling_growing_mold_C9YfFCRUBZ6CTXHqFOSRHO
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, response, other_chemical
The devastated business owners who saw their South Street Seaport stores destroyed by Hurricane Sandy are under attack again Ñ by thick green mold that has infested their once-bustling shops.
Workers in hazmat suits and surgical masks yesterday pulled large clods of the dangerous green growth from buildings in the low-lying area, which residents said suffered 10-foot storm surges.
"Fungus is everywhere. There was bad mold Ñ it was green, an inch thick . . . I lost everything," said a shaken Shawn Makani, owner of Cafe on the Pier, who plans to reopen.
---------------------------------------------
RUPTURED URETHANE DRUM PROMPTS HAZMAT RESPONSE AT CASE NEW HOLLAND; HAZMAT RESPONSE AT CASE NEW HOLLAND
http://www.fox43.com/news/wpmt-ruptured-urethane-drum-prompts-hazmat-incident-at-case-new-holland,0,452903.story
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, urethane
NEW HOLLAND, LANCASTER COUNTYÑ New Holland firefighters and Hazmat crews spent much of Friday night cleaning up a chemical spill at a warehouse in Lancaster County. Emergency crews were called to Case New Holland located along the 100 block of South Hoover Avenue, after an employee noticed a drum of flammable liquid had spilled onto a loading dock.
Authorities say a 55-gallon drum of urethane, a hardening agent for paint, was punctured and leaked onto a trailer and then onto the ground.
The plant was evacuated as crews worked to clean up the mess.
---------------------------------------------
THIRD MAN DIES AFTER SHERBROOKE BLAST
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Sherbrooke+blast+site+Neptune+Technologies+Bioressources/7531305/story.html
Tags: Canada, industrial, follow-up, death, acetone
MONTREAL Ñ A third man has died as a result of a massive chemical explosion in Sherbrooke on Thursday. The man, described only as middle-aged, had suffered burns over 90 per cent of his body, as well as inhalation injuries.
He was removed from life-support early Saturday evening, Sylvie Robitaille, a spokesperson for the Centre Hospitalier de l'Universite´ de Montre´al's H™tel Dieu burn unit said.
Three others were still said to be in serious condition at the burn unit as a result of the explosion on Thursday involving highly flammable acetone at the Neptune Technologies and Bioressources plant in Sherbrooke.
A total of 21 people, including the three men who died, were injured in the explosion.
On Saturday, officials deemed the Sherbrooke plant too dangerous to enter and said it could take a few days to decide how to safely investigate the site.
---------------------------------------------
KOSCIUSKO COUNTY METH PROBLEM GROWS
http://www.staceypageonline.com/2012/11/09/kosciusko-county-meth-problem-grows/
Tags: us_IN, public, follow-up, environmental, meth_lab
Kosciusko County is now on track to be No. 5 in Indiana for the most number of methamphetamine labs this year.
Indiana State Trooper Andy Cochran, who heads the ISP Meth Suppression Unit for District 24, credits law enforcement, fire officials and even medical personnel for being well trained in spotting potential meth labs.
"That doesn't necessarily make us the worst," Cochran says of the county's current rating, "it just means our officers are well trained. I would say 90 percent of police here know what to look for. It seems worse here because we are proactive in the training."
As of Sept. 30, Kosciusko County had reported 33 meth labs. Of those, 14 properties have been condemned by the Kosciusko County Health Department as a direct result of meth production. Those on the condemned list include three rooms at the Economy Inn in Warsaw where a meth lab was just found yesterday.
---------------------------------------------
MAN ACCUSED OF ARSON FOR CAUSING CHEMICAL FIRE IN HIS MOTEL ROOM
http://www.kfdi.com/news/local/178166971.html
Tags: us_KS, public, fire, response, unknown_chemical
An amateur chemist was booked into jail Thursday night for arson after he accidentally started a fire by mixing chemicals in his motel room.
A resident of the Auto Motel at 1230 North Broadway called 911 at about 11 p.m. after seeing a flaming object thrown from a window. Another person then saw a man and woman quickly leave the area.
Police called in the bomb squad and the fire department to assess the situation. They found that the man was just experimenting with the chemicals and he was not attempting to manufacture methamphetamine.
Police arrested a 58-year-old man. They also questioned a 37-year-old woman. There were no injuries.
---------------------------------------------
UNSTABLE CHEMICAL FORCES UC SAN DIEGO EVACUATION
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_21967424/unstable-chemical-forces-uc-san-diego-evacuation
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, discovery, response, explosives
SAN DIEGOÑA University of California, San Diego official says an unstable chemical used in research forced the evacuation of a campus building.
UCSD official Garry MacPherson said in a statement that the chemical decalin had crystallized and was believed to be unstable when it was found at 7 a.m. Friday in the basement of Urey Hall, where there is a physics and chemical lab.
MacPherson says university officials contacted San Diego County hazardous material authorities and fire officials and they determined the safest response would be moving the chemical outside the building.
MacPherson says once the chemical was removed from the building it was destroyed with a blasting cap to neutralize it.
He says the people returned to the building without incident.
---------------------------------------------
JEFFERSON COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER CLOSED BECAUSE OF EMERGENCY
http://www.kwbe.com/news/2012/11/09/kutt-local-news/jefferson-community-health-center-closed-because-of-emergency/
Tags: us_NE, public, release, injury, cleaners
Jefferson Community Health Center was closed Friday afternoon because of an accidental chemical leak in the laundry area. The leak happened shortly after noon. The chemical was undetermined as of 3:30 p.m. Fairbury Fire Department and Beatrice Fire and Rescue/Hazmat were called immediately for assistance and were on scene.
There were no serious injuries.
---------------------------------------------
REMEMBRANCE DAY: WOMEN HEROES OF PERILOUS WWII MUNITIONS FACTORIES FINALLY HONOURED
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/remembrance-day-women-heroes-of-perilous-1427595
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, follow-up, environmental, explosives
It turned her hair orange, brought her skin out in hives and robbed work colleagues of their limbs and lives.
....
Tomorrow, for the first time, the factory workers who aided the war effort will be remembered at the Cenotaph alongside other heroes who risked and gave their lives for their country.
As a new recruit to the nightshift, huge boxes of cordite - the propellant that replaced gunpowder - was mixed by hand in virtual darkness.
It was not unknown for the sound of an explosion nearby to fill the air and jolt the workers - but not because of any passing Luftwaffe strike.
Instead the walls would shake as a result of an accident in another workhouse where the slightest slip could trigger a blast.
Women either volunteered to do their bit or were conscripted.
Some turned back at the gates, unable to stand the sight or smell of the vast factories. Explosions were common. Machinery was dangerous.
And the potent raw bomb materials, including cordite and sulphur, caused lasting yellowing of the skin and hair.
---------------------------------------------
DULUTH ICE ARENA EVACUATED DUE TO HIGH CARBON MONOXIDE
http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/content/duluth-ice-arena-evacuated-due-high-carbon-monoxide
Tags: us_MN, public, release, injury, carbon_monoxide
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) Ñ High carbon monoxide levels sickened several people and caused an evacuation at an ice arena in Duluth.
Fire officials continue to investigate the source of what they say were "dangerously high" CO levels at the Fryberger Arena Wednesday night. Emergency responders evacuated about 30 people. Elevated blood levels of carbon monoxide were found in eight people who complained of headaches and nausea. Only one person was taken to the hospital.
Duluth fire officials said early Thursday the suspected causes of the carbon monoxide are the aging heating system and propane-powered Zamboni, which resurfaces the ice.
Hockey teams that had played earlier in the evening were notified of the problem and urged to go to the hospital if they experienced any symptoms. One person was transported to the ER from his home by ambulance.
---------------------------------------------
INDIANA PRINTING PLANT FIRE CAUSED $75M DAMAGE
http://tribune-democrat.com/latestnews/x1095525119/Indiana-printing-plant-fire-caused-75M-damage
Tags: us_PA, industrial, follow-up, response, solvent
A western Pennsylvania fire chief says last month's massive fire at a printing plant caused $75 million damage Ñ more than the combined damage caused by all other fires in his agency's 134-year history.
A state police fire marshal has been investigating the fire at Creps United Publications near Indiana, Pa. on Oct. 23. Smoke from the fire about 45 miles northeast of Pittsburgh was visible for miles.
Charles Kelly, chief of the Indiana Fire Association, tells the Indiana Gazette that the fire destroyed the plant building and much of the material and equipment inside.
The company prints bulk inserts and brochures for newspapers and spent $9.5 million on a new press in 2001.
Solvents used to service the press and other equipment, and paper stock fueled the fire.
---------------------------------------------
TWO MEN BADLY BURNED IN TENSAS PARISH LOUISIANA OIL RIG FIRE
http://www.emsworld.com/news/10826636/two-men-badly-burned-in-louisiana-oil-rig-fire
Tags: us_LA, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
Nov. 08--ST. JOSEPH -- Two men were transported by air after receiving serious burns at the site of a land-based oil rig fire in Tensas Parish Thursday morning.
....
Tensas Parish Sheriff Rickey Jones said emergency responders went to the scene of the fire at 9 a.m. today. The rig was located in the Buckhorn state game management area off of Louisiana 128 West outside of St. Joseph.
Jones said crews were capping the well there when gas bubbles apparently came up and ignited a capper truck that was backed up to the well and caught the well's mud vat on fire.
The two men injured in the fire were treated on the scene before being flown to University Medical Center in Jackson.
The truck was destroyed in the fire, and Jones said the mud vat had some oil in it, which burned until it was gone.
"It was self-contained, so everything is taken care of right now," Jones said.
---------------------------------------------
UPPER PENINSULA METH LAB NUMBERS INCREASE - THE NORTH WIND
http://www.thenorthwindonline.com/?p=3865867
Tags: us_MI, public, discovery, response, meth_lab
The amount of methamphetamine or "meth" use in the Upper Peninsula has been on the rise in a community unaware of how to report such a dangerous drug.
Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team (UPSET) Lt. Detective Tim Sholander said Allegan County started as the meth capital of the state. Allegan County, southwest Michigan, held 80 percent of the meth labs in Michigan in 2003.
Many users learned to make meth there, and the skills eventually branched off to the Upper Peninsula.
According to Sholander, the number of meth labs has substantially jumped since 2008 when there were only seven meth labs in the Upper Peninsula.
---------------------------------------------
LICKING COUNTY HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO AMMONIA LEAK
http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2012/nov/08/licking-county-hazmat-crews-respond-ammonia-leak-ar-1234083/
Tags: us_OH, public, release, response, ammonia
NEWARK, Ohio -- Members of the Licking County Hazmat Team for Newark Fire were called to a Newark business Thursday afternoon on a report of a spill of liquid ammonia.
According to fire officials, the Hazmat team was called to Owens Corning located at 400 Case Avenue at about 2 p.m.
Employees for Owens Corning were filling a small tank with liquid ammonia when some of it spilled.
Newark fire supervised while an Owens safety crew cleaned up the spill.
Owens Corning says the leak was likely caused by a broken valve. There was a total of about nine gallons of a mix of equal parts of liquid ammonia and water.
---------------------------------------------
SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE DETONATED AT EL PASO TRANSPORTATION COMPLEX
http://www.krdo.com/news/Suspicious-package-detonated-at-El-Paso-transportation-complex/-/417220/17335470/-/nxw4yv/-/index.html
Tags: us_CO, public, discovery, response, unknown_chemical, waste
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. -
Authorities detonated one of several suspicious packages that were brought to El Paso County's Charlie Brown Transportation and Environment Complex on Thursday evening.
Access to El Paso County's Charlie Brown Transportation and Environment Complex at 3200 Akers Drive was closed off while authorities investigated what they called a possibly explosive material.
The El Paso County Sheriff's Office says that the closure was strictly precautionary. The material was dropped off at the facility on Thursday afternoon.
Hazmat crews safely detonated what they called the most suspicious package around 6 p.m. Thursday. And they will not be able to identify the substance.
Officials tell our crew at the scene that they will continue to investigate the remaining suspicious substances. Authorities say they do know who dropped off the products but will not reveal that information.
The complex is where people can bring in cleaning products and other materials they wish to dispose of safely.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT: CONCRETE DYE TURNED FAYETTE COUNTY CREEK BLUE
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/11/08/hazmat-concrete-dye-turned-fayette-county-creek-blue/
Tags: us_PA, public, release, environmental, dye
CONNELLSVILLE (KDKA) Ñ The state Department of Environmental Protection is investigating the odd blue color in a local creek.
On Wednesday, Connellsville-Breakneck Run turned the mysterious blue, and Fayette County Hazmat responded.
According to DEP spokesperson John Poister, Hazmat determined it was concrete dye that came from a nearby home where some work was being done.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL LEAK IN CENTRAL WELLINGTON
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington-central/7929623/Chemical-leak-in-central-Wellington
Tags: New_Zealand, public, release, response, hvac_chemicals
A hazardous gas leak forced the evacuation of hundreds of people from a building on Cambridge Tce today.
Wellington City Fire Station's senior station officer, Paul Lyall, said a refrigerant gas had leaked from a valve inside the former Telecom phone exchange building, which now houses a backpackers.
A technician met fire fighters outside the building about 4pm and said there had been a valve failure on the fourth floor, he said.
ÔÔFrom the information we received, we upgraded it to a hazardous substance situation.''
Fire fighters in chemical protection suits inspected the building and found the gas was not flammable, Mr Lyall said.
One person who inhaled a small amount of the gas was assessed on site by paramedics.
---------------------------------------------
FATAL EXPLOSION AT QUEBEC CHEMICAL PLANT
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2012/11/08/20341921.html
Tags: Canada, industrial, explosion, injury, acetone
SHERBROOKE, Que. -- Rescuers found two bodies in the rubble of a chemical plant gutted by an explosion in Quebec's Eastern Townships on Thursday.
One survivor was pulled from the rubble of the Neptune Technologies and Bioresources plant in Sherbrooke, Que., after a blast rocked the building around 1:30 p.m.
"We had just finished lunch, we were about to go back out when we were told to evacuate," said one employee. "Then it exploded ... the ceiling fell on my head."
Nineteen people were injured, including four who were airlifted to a Montreal hospital with severe burns. Witnesses said some workers were burned from head to toe.
Officials said a fire ignited 15,000 litres of acetone, a common ingredient in cleaning agents and paint thinners.
"The company does extraction with acetone, a highly flammable solvent," former plant employee Pascal Filion told QMI Agency.
"A small spark can cause an explosion, it's like gasoline."
The blast was so powerful that walls collapsed and windows were blown out. By mid-afternoon, firefighters were busy looking for other possible victims, but the unstable state of the building slowed their work.
---------------------------------------------
Ralph Stuart
secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Secretary
Division of Chemical Health and Safety
American Chemical Society
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