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From: Secretary ACS DCHAS <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] CHAS Tweets and Chemical Safety headlines (15 articles)
Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2013 07:50:46 -0500
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: F5448FDE-2D0B-4956-AE40-28DB80BDB2A6**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
**At_Symbol_Here**ACSDCHAS and **At_Symbol_Here**LabSustain tweets and Chemical Safety Headlines
A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
Connecting Chemistry and Safety at http://www.dchas.org
Tweets available on our ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety (DCHAS) Facebook Page
Tagged Article summaries are available at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas
labsustain 6 questions about Nike's water-less fabric dyeing technology http://t.co/89ql789JDn
acsdchas Cargill?s soybean-based fluid for electrical transformers has fewer environmental and fire risks than current oils. http://t.co/qTOSEyD2od
acsdchas New Cornell Website is 'One-Stop Shop' for Climate Change Info http://t.co/MaG4OrvSS7
labsustain ACS DCHAS Reactive Chemical Management for Laboratories & Pilot Plants:Dallas 15 March 2014 http://t.co/LFbrENarup
labsustain Discover: Undersea Freshwater Reserves Could Quench the World?s Thirst for Decades http://t.co/vCfA0C0YKm http://t.co/LUIwRvesbu
acsdchas Vermonters push for chemical labeling on household products http://t.co/roZLGpF4eH http://t.co/xmSxPB8WhX
labsustain SusChem&Eng: Sustainability Assessment of the Coal/Biomass to Fischer?Tropsch Fuel Processes http://t.co/430u87ZfMS http://t.co/rFskDaIsSe
Table of Contents (15 articles)
AGILENT TO PAY COUNTY $120,000 IN 2011 EXPLOSION
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, injury
CHEMISTRY GETTING GREENER AT MICHIGAN COMPANIES, UNIVERSITIES
Tags: us_MI, industrial, discovery, environmental
HESPERIA TRUCK STOP EVACUATED DUE TO CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, environmental, hydrochloric_acid
EPA SAYS CHEVRON VIOLATED FEDERAL LAW REPEATEDLY AT CALIFORNIA REFINERY PRIOR TO FIRE (12/17/13 8:13 PM)
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, injury, illegal
HEALTH ADVISORY LIFTED AFTER FIRE AT SIMS METAL MANAGEMENT YARD IN REDWOOD CITY
Tags: us_CA, industrial, explosion, response, metals, waste
MAGNESIUM FIRE IGNITES IN SOUTHEAST ALBUQUERQUE
Tags: us_NM, industrial, fire, response, magnesium, waste
SULTAN HIGH SCHOOL EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_WA, laboratory, release, injury, hydrochloric_acid
NO INJURIES REPORTED IN APEX FUEL TANK EXPLOSION
Tags: us_NC, transportation, explosion, response, diesel
ASESSING ALTERNATIVES TO TOXIC CHEMICALS
Tags: industrial, discovery, response, cleaners, solvent
INQUIRY PANEL SEES FLAWS IN RESPONSE TO PAULSBORO SPILL
Tags: us_PA, transportation, follow-up, response, other_chemical
CHEMICAL COMPANIES VIE FOR SPACE, WORKERS AND PERMITS IN HOUSTON
Tags: us_TX, industrial, discovery, environmental, natural_gas
HAZMAT LEAK CLOSES I65 FOR 12 HOURS SATURDAY
Tags: us_IN, transportation, release, response, flammables
ILL. EPA SEEKING LEGAL ACTION IN QUEST FOR DETAILS ABOUT ALSIP CHEMICAL FIRE (12/16/13 11:06 PM)
Tags: us_IL, industrial, follow-up, injury, phenol
DRAMATIC SAFETY OVERHAUL SOUGHT AFTER CHEVRON FIRE
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, injury, petroleum
OIL THIEVES CAUSE SINOPEC?S WORST EVER PIPELINE EXPLOSION
Tags: China, transportation, follow-up, death, petroleum
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AGILENT TO PAY COUNTY $120,000 IN 2011 EXPLOSION
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20131217/articles/131219579
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, injury
Agilent Technologies has agreed to pay Sonoma County $120,000 to settle a case stemming from a chemical explosion that severely injured an employee at the company?s Santa Rosa campus in April 2011, the District Attorney?s Office announced Tuesday.
Agilent failed to report two smaller explosions in 2010, the District Attorney?s Office said. As part of the settlement, the company is required to change the way it reports hazardous materials incidents.
?It is imperative that first responders have adequate information about workplace hazardous materials releases so that they may safely respond,? District Attorney Jill Ravitch said in a news release. ?Businesses should know that the law requires businesses to report the release or threatened release of a hazardous material that could present a danger to either employees or first responders.?
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CHEMISTRY GETTING GREENER AT MICHIGAN COMPANIES, UNIVERSITIES
http://greatlakesecho.org/2013/12/18/chemistry-getting-greener-at-michigan-companies-universities/
Tags: us_MI, industrial, discovery, environmental
A movement to make chemical manufacturing more environmentally friendly has gained steam and turned Michigan into a national leader.
The term ?green chemistry? first appeared in the early 1990s, and has gained currency in policy, business and environmental circles, spurring an executive Green Chemistry Program, changes in university courses and influential business initiatives.
It?s described as chemistry that is benign toward people and the environment, whether during a product?s manufacture, consumer use or after it?s discarded.
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HESPERIA TRUCK STOP EVACUATED DUE TO CHEMICAL SPILL
http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20131217/hesperia-truck-stop-evacuated-due-to-chemical-spill
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, environmental, hydrochloric_acid
HESPERIA -- Sheriff?s deputies and firefighters evacuated a truck stop Monday off the 15 Freeway after a tractor trailer hauling 4,800 gallons of hydrochloric acid spilled about 600 gallons of the chemical.
San Bernardino County firefighters came to the Pilot Travel Center near Joshua Street and Highway 395 at 4:54 p.m. A truck driver had stopped and could smell the chemical when he got out of the semi. He discovered a leak from a faulty valve.
Several gallons had leaked into a nearby storm drain by the time firefighters arrived.
Authorities cleared about 200 people from the truck stop. Hazardous materials personnel removed the remaining hydrochloric acid from the semi truck and transferred it into another carrier, fire officials said.
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EPA SAYS CHEVRON VIOLATED FEDERAL LAW REPEATEDLY AT CALIFORNIA REFINERY PRIOR TO FIRE (12/17/13 8:13 PM)
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/01d7690ee90e4dc3a5de29753bcfabe5/US--Refinery-Fire-EPA
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, injury, illegal
SAN FRANCISCO ? Chevron Corp. failed to maintain equipment at a California refinery and has not responded adequately to multiple airborne chemical releases, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday.
The EPA filed a formal notice against Chevron finding 62 violations of federal environmental laws after an investigation spurred by the Aug. 6, 2012, fire.
Federal chemical safety investigators have determined the blaze was caused by the failure of a corroded, 1970s-era pipe that released a massive gas cloud and sent thousands of people to hospitals seeking medical attention.
The EPA called Chevron's risk management at the Richmond facility a "pervasive failure" and warned it could pursue criminal charges or fines if the company fails to address the violations.
---------------------------------------------
HEALTH ADVISORY LIFTED AFTER FIRE AT SIMS METAL MANAGEMENT YARD IN REDWOOD CITY
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/peninsula&id"63280
Tags: us_CA, industrial, explosion, response, metals, waste
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (KGO) -- Firefighters have contained a blaze at the Sims Metal Management Yard in Redwood City on Seaport Boulevard. Investigators want to know why there was a second fire at the same recycling plant in Redwood City in five weeks.
The fire erupted after an explosion early Tuesday morning at the Sims Metal Management Yard.
Air quality officials are measuring contaminants in the air while firefighters are still at the scene decontaminating their equipment after battling the smoky fire.
It felt like de´ja` vu at Sims Metal Management Yard in Redwood City.
The fire started in a pile of appliances just before 1 a.m.
Police blocked Seaport Boulevard until 8 a.m. to keep people out of the way of the toxic plume of smoke.
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MAGNESIUM FIRE IGNITES IN SOUTHEAST ALBUQUERQUE
http://www.abqjournal.com/321287/abqnewsseeker/magnesium-fire-ignites-in-southeast-albuquerque.html
Tags: us_NM, industrial, fire, response, magnesium, waste
Sparks flying from welders at Excel Manufacturing ignited a fire on a 5 foot by 5 foot pile of magnesium, and 10 workers were evacuated from the business near Central and Eubank Monday, according to the Albuquerque Fire Department.
Department spokeswoman Melissa Romero said sparks flew into the metal fabrication shop?s recycling pile, which then caught fire. The pile, made up of magnesium, was brought outside and firefighters are extinguishing it, Romero said.
No injuries were reported.
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SULTAN HIGH SCHOOL EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20131216/NEWS01/712169935/Sultan-High-School-evacuated-after-chemical-spill
Tags: us_WA, laboratory, release, injury, hydrochloric_acid
SULTAN -- A chemical spill at Sultan High School on Monday morning caused classrooms to be evacuated as a safety precaution.
One teacher was taken to a local hospital for potential exposure, according to the fire department and the school district.
A hydrochloric acid spill was reported about 8:45 a.m. in a science lab, district superintendent Dan Chaplik said.
School officials were waiting for fire crews to make sure hazardous fumes didn't get into the ventilation system, Chaplik said.
As of 10:30 a.m., students were being housed in the gymnasium while crews monitored air-quality levels in the school, said Sultan fire Lt. Tim Tullis.
The second-alarm hazardous-materials response also involved crews from Gold Bar, Monroe, Clearview and Fire District 1 in south Snohomish County.
---------------------------------------------
NO INJURIES REPORTED IN APEX FUEL TANK EXPLOSION
http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/article/309432/57/No-Injuries-Reported-In-Apex-Fuel-Tank-Explosion
Tags: us_NC, transportation, explosion, response, diesel
APEX, N.C. -- No injuries were reported after three fuel tankers exploded in parking lot near downtown Apex.
The News & Observer of Raleigh reports that the fuel tanks on three pavement-marking trucks exploded on Saturday afternoon after one of them caught fire.
An indoor sports center was evacuated because of smoke in the area. Up to 150 gallons of diesel fuel spilled into a parking lot.
Town officials say they don't yet know what caused the fire and explosions.
---------------------------------------------
ASESSING ALTERNATIVES TO TOXIC CHEMICALS
http://cen.acs.org/articles/91/i50/Asessing-Alternatives-Toxic-Chemicals.html
Tags: industrial, discovery, response, cleaners, solvent
Eliminating a toxic substance from a product?s ingredients seems like a straightforward way to improve product safety. But when a toxic chemical gets removed from a product, some other substance?or substances?goes in as a replacement to carry out that ingredient?s function, such as softening plastic or helping remove grease. Such a switch is intended to resolve the problem. But in some cases this situation can lead to what is being called ?regrettable substitution.?
For example, brake cleaner, which auto mechanics use, once contained chlorinated solvents, primarily methylene chloride. But in the 1990s, pollution control regulations pushed manufacturers of the cleaner to rid their products of chlorinated solvents. In place of these compounds, brake cleaner makers substituted n-hexane, which performs well in their products.
By the late 1990s, physicians began to report that auto mechanics using brake cleaner were suffering nerve damage, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Since the 1960s, n-hexane has been known to be neurotoxic. Product makers had swapped chemicals with a significant pollution downside for a substance that posed a serious health risk to workers.
---------------------------------------------
INQUIRY PANEL SEES FLAWS IN RESPONSE TO PAULSBORO SPILL
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20131217_Inquiry_panel_sees_flaws_in_response_to_Paulsboro_spill.html
Tags: us_PA, transportation, follow-up, response, other_chemical
WOODBURY The Gloucester County hazardous-materials team should meet and train more regularly, coordinate better with county public safety agencies, and develop a long-term plan to improve performance, an investigative panel concluded in a review of the team's response to last year's train derailment and chemical spill in Paulsboro.
The county appointed the three-person panel in January, after a dozen firefighters from Washington Township quit the countywide Hazmat team, saying the air-monitoring equipment they used while responding to the toxic spill was inoperable.
The county disagreed, saying "inadequate familiarity with the equipment" was to blame, according to the report.
The firefighters said faulty equipment prevented them from accurately detecting their level of chemical exposure. More broadly, they questioned the county's leadership and commitment to emergency preparedness. The panel did not address that accusation.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL COMPANIES VIE FOR SPACE, WORKERS AND PERMITS IN HOUSTON
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2013/12/16/year-in-review-chemical-companies-vie.html
Tags: us_TX, industrial, discovery, environmental, natural_gas
Chemical companies spent much of 2013 thanking their lucky stars for shale gas, which is single-handedly reviving the U.S. chemical industry, particularly in the Houston area.
The glut of available, cheap natural gas in U.S. shale plays has spurred billions of dollars of U.S. chemical investment. Many essential chemicals use natural gas liquids as feedstocks, and all chemical plants can use natural gas for power. According to the American Chemistry Council?s last count, this natural gas revolution has spawned more than 135 new chemical production projects in the U.S., valued at more than $90 billion.
Houston, which has been established as a chemical industry hub, is receiving the lion?s share of these investments because it has existing infrastructure in place. Companies investing in chemical plant expansions in the area believe that they can produce chemicals more competitively here than in other areas of the world where natural gas prices are much higher.
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HAZMAT LEAK CLOSES I65 FOR 12 HOURS SATURDAY
http://www.chestertontribune.com/PoliceFireEmergency/hazmat_leak_closes_i65_for_12_ho.htm
Tags: us_IN, transportation, release, response, flammables
A hazardous-materials leak forced the closure for nearly 12 hours of northbound I-65 Saturday, the Indiana State Police said.
According to police, at 4:35 a.m. trucker Dennis A. Rheiner, 61, of Jonesborough, Tenn., was northbound on I-65, north of the I-80/94 ramp, when a car cut him off, causing Rheiner to lose control of his semi-tractor tanker on the snow-covered road surface. The tanker--carrying 6,935 gallons of placarded hexanes, a colorless flammable liquid derived from the distillation of petroleum and used as a solvent--flipped onto its passenger side, police said, and a small leak in the tank was subsequently found.
Rheiner was not injured and his trucking firm, Transport Service Company of Oak Brook, Ill., dispatched a second tanker to offload the hexanes, police said.
That second tanker, however, was struck by another vehicle after it arrived at the scene. According to police, Tyrone Lashaun Hardin, 35, of Gary, was in the left lane when he came around the curve portion of the road, began to slide, and struck the rear of the second--and still--empty trailer.
The tanker?s driver, Anthony C. Smith, 51, of Chicago, was standing in front of his rig at the time, talking to a Hoosier Helper, and was not injured. Hardin, wearing his seatbelt, was treated and released at the scene.
The second tanker itself sustained minimal damage and was used to offload the hexanes, police said.
---------------------------------------------
ILL. EPA SEEKING LEGAL ACTION IN QUEST FOR DETAILS ABOUT ALSIP CHEMICAL FIRE (12/16/13 11:06 PM)
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/9576497203f5403b830b47e8ef58ac53/IL--Chemical-Plant-Fire-EPA
Tags: us_IL, industrial, follow-up, injury, phenol
ALSIP, Illinois ? The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is asking a judge to order operators of a Chicago-area chemical plant damaged in an explosion and fire to provide details about why it happened and how to prevent a recurrence.
The EPA says it has asked the Illinois Attorney General's Office to seek a court order requesting the information from Blue Island Phenol.
The plant manager has said two workers were injured last Friday during the explosion and fire in the southern suburb of Alsip.
The EPA says it's unclear what chemicals were involved in the fire. The agency wants Blue Island Phenol to conduct an analysis and submit it for state review, calculate the level of chemical releases and outline cleanup plans.
---------------------------------------------
DRAMATIC SAFETY OVERHAUL SOUGHT AFTER CHEVRON FIRE
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Safety-overhaul-sought-after-Chevron-fire-5069330.php
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, injury, petroleum
Federal investigators on Monday called for a dramatic overhaul of oil refinery regulation in California and across the nation, saying the massive fire at Chevron's Richmond refinery last year is evidence that the current system does not force the state's 15 refineries to operate as safely as possible.
"We are here because we have a refinery safety problem in the United States," said the chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, Rafael Moure-Eraso, in introducing his agency's draft report on the blaze that sent clouds of smoke through the region on Aug. 6, 2012, prompting more than 15,000 people complaining of breathing problems to go to hospitals.
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OIL THIEVES CAUSE SINOPEC?S WORST EVER PIPELINE EXPLOSION
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/12/16/oil-thieves-cause-sinopecs-worst-ever-pipeline-exp.aspx
Tags: China, transportation, follow-up, death, petroleum
Back in November an oil pipeline running through the Chinese city of Qingdao in Shandong province exploded, killing 62 people. It turns out that the pipeline was punctured on average twice a week by thieves siphoning off the oil, and that despite this it had passed a safety check just two months earlier.
An investigation into the cause of the explosion, which is the worst ever experienced by China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec), has found that the most likely reason for the blast was crude oil that had leaked from one of the many perforations into urban storm drains.
Pipeline explosions and leaks are becoming more of a threat to China's people as both the country's pipeline network and cities expand quickly, covering more ground and inevitably coming into contact with each other more often.
A source working at Sinopec told Reuters that the Dongying-Huangdao II pipeline is tapped more than 100 times a year, and yet still it managed to pass an internal safety inspection in September.
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