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From: Secretary ACS DCHAS <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (11 articles)
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2014 07:50:25 -0500
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: D336C4E8-9686-47EC-B05C-EC84741FCFE4**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines
Links to the headlines below can be found at the DCHAS web site News Flash page
Table of Contents (11 articles)
GROUP TO FILE COMPLAINT AGAINST CAL/OSHA OVER STAFFING LEVELS
Tags: us_CA, other, follow-up, environmental
SHED FIRE RESULTS IN DISCOVERY OF 'SHAKE AND BAKE' METH LAB & AR
Tags: us_LA, public, fire, response, meth_lab
ADRIFT AT SEA: FIRE-HIT TANKER IN NORTH ASIA SHOWS FLAWS IN SAFE-HAVEN RULES
Tags: Japan, transportation, follow-up, environmental, acrylonitrile
W.VA. TO TEST WATER IN HOMES FOR SPILLED CHEMICAL
Tags: us_WV, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
FIRE IS OUT AT SAVANNAH OCEAN TERMINAL WAREHOUSE; AIR CONDITIONS ACCEPTABLE
Tags: us_GA, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
FIRE AT OIL FACILITY IN VENTURA COUNTY SERIOUSLY INJURES WOMAN
Tags: us_CA, public, fire, injury, gasoline
EXPLOSION AT N.H. BALL BEARINGS PLANT INJURED 15
Tags: us_NH, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
'SIGNIFICANT' COAL SLURRY SPILL BLACKENS KANAWHA COUNTY CREEK
Tags: us_WV, industrial, release, environmental, other_chemical
1 INJURED, 1 MISSING AT SW PA. GAS WELL FIRE
Tags: us_PA, industrial, explosion, injury, methane
3 HOSPITALIZED AFTER HAZMAT INCIDENT AT NEW ENGLAND GAS IN FALL RIVER
Tags: us_MA, public, release, injury, halon
TRUCKING COMPANY COULD FACE FINES FOR ACID SPILL IN WEST TULSA
Tags: us_OK, transportation, release, response, sulfuric_acid
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GROUP TO FILE COMPLAINT AGAINST CAL/OSHA OVER STAFFING LEVELS
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-worker-safety-20140211,0,4087573,print.story
Tags: us_CA, other, follow-up, environmental
SACRAMENTO ? The health and safety of California workers are being threatened because of an inadequate number of state workplace inspectors, a new report says.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a nonprofit whistle-blower group in Washington, says it plans Tuesday to file a formal complaint with the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration, contending that California's version of the agency no longer meets minimum standards.
The complaint is based on a new report analyzing staffing at the California Division of Occupational Safety & Health, known as Cal/OSHA, that found that the state has fewer workplace inspectors than a quarter-century ago.
At the end of 2013, California had 170 inspectors, said the report written by a former Cal-OSHA employee. That's down 8% from 1989 totals, when the state had far fewer workers, and 11% less than in 2011, when Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown replaced Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
As a result, California has just one inspector for every 109,000 workers, compared with a ratio of 1 to 66,000 in states where the federal government is responsible for job site safety.
But the state disputes the report's estimate of 170 inspectors. Christine Baker, director of the California Department of Industrial Relations, which oversees the safety agency, said the state has 182 inspectors and is adding 41 more after July 1 as part of a restructuring.
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SHED FIRE RESULTS IN DISCOVERY OF 'SHAKE AND BAKE' METH LAB
http://www.wafb.com/story/24691949/shed-fire-results-in-discovery-of-shake-and-bake-meth-lab-arrest
Tags: us_LA, public, fire, response, meth_lab
PIERRE PART, LA (WAFB) -
Authorities said a man on probation following a conviction of operating a meth lab has been arrested again for allegedly operating a meth lab after a shed caught fire Friday.
The Assumption Parish Sheriff's Office reported Kevin Pintado, 36, of Pierre Part, was arrested Monday on a charge of operation or creation of a clandestine laboratory. Pintado reportedly lived in the shed, which was next door to a family home.
Deputies said Pierre Part Fire and Rescue was called out to a reported shed fire around 4:30 a.m. Friday. Investigators added the pre-cursors of a "shake and bake lab" were found inside. They emphasized the fire was not the result of an explosion while meth was being "cooked."
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ADRIFT AT SEA: FIRE-HIT TANKER IN NORTH ASIA SHOWS FLAWS IN SAFE-HAVEN RULES
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-tankerrefuge-20140211,0,2182237.story
Tags: Japan, transportation, follow-up, environmental, acrylonitrile
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A fire-ravaged ship loaded with hazardous chemicals has become a maritime football in the north Pacific, with Japan and South Korea unwilling to give it refuge even though they risk a wider environmental disaster if it sinks.
The plight of the Maritime Maisie, a chemical tanker which has spent seven weeks being towed in waters between the two Asian neighbors, highlights the lack of global consensus on designating ports as safe-havens for ships in distress.
The two countries are worried about the risk of a spill or environmental pollution at port, sources said.
The tanker, a 44,000 deadweight-ton vessel the size of nearly two football fields, collided with another ship nine nautical miles off Busan, South Korea, on December 29, said Ying Jinghua, fleet director of MSI Ship Management, which manages the tanker's day-to-day operation, and other shipping sources.
The accident caused a fire when a cargo tank holding the chemical acrylonitrile ruptured. The ship, owned by Aurora Tankers, part of Singapore's IMC Group, was carrying 29,337 metric tons of acrylonitrile, used to make plastics and synthetic rubber, and other chemicals, Ying and the sources said.
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W.VA. TO TEST WATER IN HOMES FOR SPILLED CHEMICAL
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/science/article/W-Va-to-test-water-in-homes-for-spilled-chemical-5225568.php
Tags: us_WV, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) ? A taxpayer-funded research team will immediately start testing 10 homes for the chemical that spilled into the water supply for 300,000 West Virginians.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin announced the project Tuesday. The initial study could start Wednesday and take three weeks.
Dr. Andrew Whelton and Jeffrey Rosen of Corona Environmental Consulting will lead the independent team.
Whelton says a larger study would follow involving homes "up in the thousands."
Experts will also examine the baseline created before a water-use ban was lifted weeks ago. Researchers will study the odor threshold for the chemical in water.
After the Jan. 9 spill, officials have tested at a water treatment plant, schools and elsewhere across nine counties.
The initial project cost is $650,000. Tomblin is asking for potentially millions more in federal money.
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FIRE IS OUT AT SAVANNAH OCEAN TERMINAL WAREHOUSE; AIR CONDITIONS ACCEPTABLE
http://www.blufftontoday.com/bluffton-news/2014-02-10/fire-out-savannah-ocean-terminal-warehouse-air-conditions-acceptable#.UvqmNmJdWE0
Tags: us_GA, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
As of 1 p.m. Sunday the fire at the Georgia Ports Authority Ocean Terminal that sent a plume of thick, black smoke over the city of Savannah nearly all of Saturday had been completely extinguished.
Savannah Fire & Emergency Services firefighters worked the blaze for more than 24 hours after it erupted at the terminal's Warehouse No. 3 just west of the Talmadge Bridge just after 11 a.m. Saturday. Most of the fire had been put out by 8 a.m. Sunday, Keller said, but firefighters continued to work some hot spots for some of the morning.
"It's completely out now," said Savannah Fire spokesman Mark Keller early Sunday afternoon. "We're keeping units there just in case anything were to come back up, but we don't expect that at this point.
"We're back to good, old Savannah."
The fire claimed about 100,000 square feet of the 226,0000-square-foot warehouse that housed about 1,800 tons of crude rubber, said Robert Morris, Georgia Ports Authority spokesman. Officials credited a fire wall and the actions of Savannah Fire, the Garden City Fire Department, the Georgia Air National Guard's 165th Airlift Wing, and the Colonial Group with limiting the spread of the fire.
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FIRE AT OIL FACILITY IN VENTURA COUNTY SERIOUSLY INJURES WOMAN
http://www.kclu.org/2014/02/10/fire-at-oil-facility-in-ventura-county-seriously-injures-woman/
Tags: us_CA, public, fire, injury, gasoline
A woman has been seriously injured in a fire at an oil facility on the Rincon, in Ventura County.
Captain Mike Lindbery, with the Ventura County Fire Department, says the woman was working on a small gasoline powered engine when there was a spill. There was a fire which ignited the 56 year old woman?s pants, seriously burning her.
She was flown by helicopter from the facility on the 7400 block of the Pacific Coast Highway to a hospital.
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EXPLOSION AT N.H. BALL BEARINGS PLANT INJURED 15
http://www.news-press.com/usatoday/article/5373225
Tags: us_NH, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
PETERBOROUGH, N.H. (AP) - An explosion rocked a small-town ball bearings plant on Monday, sending at least 15 people to the hospital, but a company spokeswoman said none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening.
The blast occurred shortly after 3:30 p.m. and blew out windows on the building's ground floor, Peterborough Fire Department spokesman Eric Bowman said. There was no fire, and a hazardous-materials team was investigating.
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'SIGNIFICANT' COAL SLURRY SPILL BLACKENS KANAWHA COUNTY CREEK
http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201402110032
Tags: us_WV, industrial, release, environmental, other_chemical
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- More than 100,000 gallons of coal slurry poured into an eastern Kanawha County stream Tuesday in what officials were calling a "significant spill" from a Patriot Coal processing facility.
Emergency officials and environmental inspectors said that roughly six miles of Fields Creek had been blackened and that a smaller amount of the slurry made it into the Kanawha River near Chesapeake.
"There has been a significant environmental impact," said Harold Ward, acting director of the state Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Mining and Reclamation.
The incident occurred at Patriot Coal's Kanawha Eagle operation, Ward said.
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1 INJURED, 1 MISSING AT SW PA. GAS WELL FIRE
http://www.hsconnect.com/page/content.detail/id/455639/1-injured--1-missing-at-SW-Pa--gas-well-fire.html?isap=1&nav=5046
Tags: us_PA, industrial, explosion, injury, methane
DILLINER, Pa. (AP) ? One worker has been injured and another is missing after a natural gas well explosion and fire in southwestern Pennsylvania, within miles of the West Virginia border.
Chevron spokesman Trip Oliver says the fire was reported at about 6:45 a.m. at the Lanco 7H well in Dunkard Township, near Bobtown. That's about 50 miles south of Pittsburgh. Oliver says one person is reported hospitalized and another is currently unaccounted for.
Oliver says Chevron personnel immediately responded to the fire and called in assistance from Wild Well Control.
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3 HOSPITALIZED AFTER HAZMAT INCIDENT AT NEW ENGLAND GAS IN FALL RIVER
http://www.heraldnews.com/article/20140210/NEWS/140219488/1994/NEWS
Tags: us_MA, public, release, injury, halon
FALL RIVER ? An accidental activation of a fire extinguishing system at New England Gas Company resulted in three people being transported to local hospitals with breathing difficulties on Monday.
More than a dozen Fall River firefighters and paramedics responded at 11:41 a.m. to what initially was a report of an accidental explosion at New England Gas Company's facility at 120 Charles St., fire Capt. Neil Furtado said.
The first responders determined that an employee had apparently hit an emergency button in a computer control room that released the facility's Halon fire extinguishing system. Three employees suffered dizziness and shortness of breath. They were transported to local hospitals after being evaluated at the scene, Furtado said.
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TRUCKING COMPANY COULD FACE FINES FOR ACID SPILL IN WEST TULSA
http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story/Trucking-company-could-face-fines-for-acid-spill/LYFQBTRkmECwpDC2OZr8aw.cspx
Tags: us_OK, transportation, release, response, sulfuric_acid
TULSA, Okla. - Traffic is moving again on Highway 75 northbound in west Tulsa after a tanker truck spilled sulfuric acid just north of Southwest Boulevard during rush hour Monday morning.
Crews spent hours cleaning up. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol both responded to the scene, as did Berryhill Fire Department and Tulsa Hazmat crews.
"The top manhole was closed but it wasn't secure," said Trooper Robert Deitrick with OHP.
He said someone driving by noticed the acid spilling from the truck and called 911. The truck driver noticed it too.
"The driver, as he's making a turn, saw the product coming out in his mirror, he stopped the truck immediately. It's a normal spout that's used to onload and off-load, and it just wasn't secure, the driver should've rechecked it, but it just didn't happen," said Deitrick.
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