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From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (8 articles)
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 07:19:19 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: FEAB33E4-A0E7-4E0F-80D0-A790EC5D1A57**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, October 10, 2014 at 7:19:04 AM
A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas
Table of Contents (8 articles)
VIEWPOINTS: CALIFORNIA IS LEADING THE WAY ON OIL REFINERY SAFETY
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, response
SCHOOL EVACUATION PLAN WORKED AFTER HAZMAT INCIDENT
Tags: us_GA, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical
CHEMICAL SPILL CAUSES EVACUATIONS AT GRCC
Tags: us_MI, laboratory, release, response, other_chemical
CHEMICAL LEAKS INTO MONTCO STORMWATER BASIN
Tags: us_PA, public, release, environmental, bleach
COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVICE
Tags: us_HI, industrial, follow-up, death, fireworks, waste
UPDATE: DMT DRUG LAB FOUND INSIDE APPLETON HOME
Tags: us_WI, laboratory, discovery, response, drugs
GROUP PUSHES FOR MORE CHEMICAL DISCLOSURE AT FRACKING SITES
Tags: us_OH, public, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical
LOS ALAMOS LAB?S SAFETY LAPSES FAULTED FOR RADIOACTIVE LEAK
Tags: us_NM, industrial, release, response, radiation, waste
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VIEWPOINTS: CALIFORNIA IS LEADING THE WAY ON OIL REFINERY SAFETY
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, response
California is poised for a major breakthrough in making its oil refineries much safer for workers and the public. If these changes are adopted ? which will require the ongoing commitment of the governor and state regulators ? California will lead the nation in preventing tragic accidents that kill workers and endanger nearby residents.
As head of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, the independent federal agency that investigates major chemical and refining accidents, I applaud the proposed regulations released Sept. 9 by the state Department of Industrial Relations. I was in California recently to attend a conference on the regulations, which promise to be a new way of conducting refinery operations and a national model.
The proposed rules would completely revamp and modernize the code for what is called ?process safety management? in refineries. They require employers to prevent and eliminate to the greatest extent feasible health and safety risks to employees. As our board has repeatedly noted, most of the current rules tend to encourage paperwork, but don?t actually reduce risk.
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SCHOOL EVACUATION PLAN WORKED AFTER HAZMAT INCIDENT
Tags: us_GA, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical
SANDY SPRINGS, GA -- Sandy Springs fire officials said the evacuation plan at Ridgeview Charter School worked flawlessly -- which may have kept down the number of kids who got sick.
Several students were transported to a local hospital after the hazardous materials situation at Ridgeview Charter School on South Trimble Road in Sandy Springs on Thursday afternoon.
In all, Sandy Springs Fire Department Deputy Chief Mark Duke says 13 students were affected on the second floor of the school. He says they all had itchy eyes, runny nose, scratchy throats and had difficulty breathing with chest pains. A crew from the Atlanta Hazmat squad was on the scene, examining the second floor of the school building and taking samples of the air for a suspected hazardous material.
Nothing was found on the monitors, Duke said. It's not yet known what irritant was in the air.
Hundreds of other students were taken by a long caravan of buses to a nearby elementary school, where they were reunited with anxious parents.
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CHEMICAL SPILL CAUSES EVACUATIONS AT GRCC
Tags: us_MI, laboratory, release, response, other_chemical
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) ? A chemical spill at Grand Rapids Community College?s Calkins Science Center caused one floor of the building to be evacuated and some classes to be canceled, according to GRCC.
The ethyl bromoacetate spill occurred Thursday on the science center?s fifth floor, according to the school. All classrooms on the floor were evacuated.
The school reported no injuries in the incident.
Classes scheduled to take place Thursday afternoon and evening on the fifth floor have been canceled, according to GRCC.
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CHEMICAL LEAKS INTO MONTCO STORMWATER BASIN
Tags: us_PA, public, release, environmental, bleach
POTTSTOWN About 100 gallons of sodium hypochlorite leaked into a Schuylkill storage basin from the Limerick Generating Station, Exelon Corp. announced Wednesday.
The chemical is commonly found in household bleach and swimming pool cleaners. At the Limerick nuclear plant, it is used to purify the water that goes into one of the cooling towers, said Neil Sheehan, a public affairs officer with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
In a news release Wednesday, Exelon said the leak had been stopped and the amount released "did not present an environmental risk."
The state Department of Environmental Protection found "no evidence of discharge into the river," and said the chemical would be cleaned out of the storm-water basin. A notice of violation will be issued, said DEP spokeswoman Lynda Rebarchak.
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COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVICE
Tags: us_HI, industrial, follow-up, death, fireworks, waste
ONOLULU (CN) - Litigation over a fatal 2011 fireworks explosion in Hawaii belongs in federal court because of an underlying government contract, attorneys told the 9th Circuit on Tuesday.
The April 8, 2011, explosion at Waikele Self Storage in Waipahu, Hawaii, near Honolulu, occurred as Donaldson Enterprises workers took a break from dismantling 1-inch firework tubes known as "Sky Festivals."
The storage facility contained three imported fireworks shipments seized in Honolulu by federal law enforcement over a three-year period, according to a report by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. Donaldson was disposing of the shipments pursuant to a subcontract from VSE Corp. of Alexandria, Va.
VSE handles the storage for "large amounts of government-seized property, such as counterfeit goods, livestock, and in this case, illegal fireworks," the Chemical Safety Board said.
Donaldson had military-ordnance background and gave an attractive bid, but VSE "was unaware that ... the company had no experience with fireworks disposal," a CSB official said, according to the statement.
When Donaldson found that some fireworks were exploding rather than burning with diesel fuel, it had employees open up the aerial shells, extract the black powder and keep all the materials in boxes.
Regulators said the combination of large amounts of explosive materials inside boxes increased the explosion hazard by more than 450 times.
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UPDATE: DMT DRUG LAB FOUND INSIDE APPLETON HOME
Tags: us_WI, laboratory, discovery, response, drugs
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) ? Authorities in the Fox Valley say they uncovered a drug lab inside an Appleton home, but the possible drug is something you may not know about.
It all started as a marijuana investigation at 1120 E. Sylvan Ave. on Tuesday night. The Lake Winnebago Area Metro Enforcement Group drug unit, armed with a search warrant, entered the home looking for marijuana.
After finding a quarter-pound of pot, they also found chemicals used in the production of DMT.
?We found what we believe or are alleging was a DMT lab. We did not anticipate finding a lab at that location. So we wound up ? sort of surprised at what we found,? Brad Dunlap, Director of the Winnebago Area MEG Unit, told FOX 11.
Investigators wearing Hazmat suits cleared the house of items they believe were used to make dimethyltryptamine (DMT). It?s a hallucinogenic drug people generally smoke or inject, and is rare in Northeast Wisconsin.
?The manufacture or process involves some chemicals that have the potential for explosion and or fire and that?s why we had Hazmat and fire crews out there,? said Dunlap.
The suspect, an Appleton man who lives at the residence, was in the driveway when officers arrived, however Dunlap says they did not arrest him. Authorities say first, they need to confirm what they believe they found.
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GROUP PUSHES FOR MORE CHEMICAL DISCLOSURE AT FRACKING SITES
Tags: us_OH, public, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical
Disclosing chemical information before oil and gas companies break ground on a fracking site could better prepare emergency response teams for the worst fires, a Cleveland-based environmental and consumer organization contended today.
Based on their study of a Monroe County well pad fire in June, the nonprofit Ohio Citizen Action Education Fund came up with recommendations for state government to clarify chemical disclosure laws for oil and gas companies working in Ohio.
Oil and gas companies report the chemicals used on fracking sites to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, but they can be exempt from reporting hazardous chemicals to the State Emergency Response Commission and emergency planners and fire departments local to their well pads.
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LOS ALAMOS LAB?S SAFETY LAPSES FAULTED FOR RADIOACTIVE LEAK
Tags: us_NM, industrial, release, response, radiation, waste
A radioactive material leak that affected 22 workers and closed the US?s only permanent nuclear waste repository was likely the result of a failure to follow safety procedures.
The US Department of Energy?s (DOE) Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) generates large volumes of transuranic waste ? mostly contaminated items like clothing and tools. Since January 2012, the lab has shipped more than 3700m3 of such waste to a DOE facility in New Mexico, for eventual permanent disposal.
However, a barrel containing transuranic waste from the lab ruptured at the nuclear waste repository on 14 February, contaminating the facility and exposing personnel to radiation, according to a report from the DOE?s Office of Inspector General (OIG). Operations were immediately suspended at the facility and the event reportedly led to the reassignment of four LANL employees.
The drum in question was processed at LANL and is known to have contained nitrate salts and organic material, which the DOE has said are likely to have been contributing factors in the release.
The repository?s closure is expected to last two years and the financial implications are estimated from the tens of millions of dollars to more than half a billion dollars. The closure will slow remediation at numerous DOE sites by delaying permanent waste disposal, the OIG said.
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