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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, December 5, 2014 at 7:13:56 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 (18 articles)
BHOPAL, 30 YEARS LATER
Tags: India, industrial, follow-up, death, ag_chems, pesticides
2 INJURED IN MSU DORM EXPLOSION
Tags: us_MT, education, explosion, injury, flammables
DELEK TO PAY ALMOST $500,000 IN EPA FINES FOR 2008 FATAL EXPLOSI
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, death, unknown_chemical
DECORATING FOR HOLIDAYS TURNS INTO HAZMAT SITUATION
Tags: us_VA, public, discovery, response, radiation
IN BRIEF: CAMP SHERWIN CABIN DESTROYED IN FIRE
Tags: us_PA, public, fire, response, other_chemical
MUGGBEES FIRE SPARKED BY KITCHEN RAGS
Tags: us_OH, public, fire, response, unknown_chemical
MILWAUKEE FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO CHEMICAL SPILL ON ST. PAUL AVE
Tags: us_WI, transportation, release, response, corrosives, sodium_hydroxide
WHY FIREFIGHTERS LET A TRUCKLOAD OF HAZARDOUS WASTE BURN FOR HOURS ON I-81
Tags: us_NY, transportation, fire, response, diesel, dust, pesticides
IS IT DANGEROUS TO SHIP BATTERIES ON PLANES?
Tags: transportation, discovery, environmental, batteries
FIRE CREWS NOT TOLD ABOUT CHEMICAL LEAK AT CHILLICOTHE PAPER PLANT
Tags: us_OH, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
RUTLAND PHARMACY REOPENS AFTER CHEMICAL FIRE
Tags: us_VT, laboratory, fire, response, dust, waste
RETIRED FIRE CHIEF, STEP-SON INJURED IN MT. EPHRAIM FIRE
Tags: us_NJ, public, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
WEST SAC BUILDING EVACUATED AFTER AMMONIA SPILL
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, ammonia
HAZMAT TEAM INVESTIGATES SMOKE PLUME IN CHINO NEIGHBORHOOD
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, pool_chemicals
JFRD: HAZMAT RESPONDS TO FIRE AT WESTSIDE BATTERY PLANT
Tags: us_FL, industrial, explosion, response, batteries
HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO UKIAH COURTHOUSE
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, paints, titanium
CHICAGO FIRE DEPT., PEOPLES GAS INVESTIGATING CAUSE OF HOME EXPLOSION
Tags: us_IL, public, explosion, response, natural_gas
EXPLOSION ROCKS GERMAN CHEMICAL FACTORY
Tags: Germany, industrial, explosion, death, unknown_chemical
---------------------------------------------
BHOPAL, 30 YEARS LATER
Tags: India, industrial, follow-up, death, ag_chems, pesticides
Thirty years ago yesterday, a runaway reaction in a 15,000-gal methyl isocyanide isocyanate storage tank at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, resulted in a massive leak. The vapor, which is denser than air, blanketed an area of about 25 square miles. Hundreds of thousands of people were exposed to the gas and thousands of people died. The incident is widely considered to be the world‰??s worst industrial disaster.
---------------------------------------------
2 INJURED IN MSU DORM EXPLOSION
Tags: us_MT, education, explosion, injury, flammables
An explosion Thursday ripped through a small portion of the third floor of Langford Hall dormitory on the Montana State University campus in Bozeman, injuring two students, officials said.
According to Bozeman Fire Department Battalion Chief John Bos, several walls were damaged in the all-male dorm.
The explosion occurred about 7 p.m.
‰??Both the occupants of the room were injured,‰?? Bos said.
One student was reportedly hospitalized with second-degree burns, and the other refused treatment.
University spokesman Tracy Ellig told The Bozeman Daily Chronicle the student and his roommate were ‰??horsing around‰?? in their room Thursday by spraying an aerosol product used to remove stuck-on chewing gum.
After spraying the flammable chemical around the room, one of the students triggered the explosion with a lighter.
The blast was strong enough to set off the sprinkler system and buckle the cinderblock walls shared by neighboring rooms. Ellig told the Chronicle ‰??it looked like a giant fist punched both walls on either side.‰??
The force of the explosion blew in doors and tore off ceiling tiles.
---------------------------------------------
DELEK TO PAY ALMOST $500,000 IN EPA FINES FOR 2008 FATAL EXPLOSI
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, death, unknown_chemical
TYLER, TX (KLTV) -
Delek Refining will pay the US Government more than half a million dollars in fines due to a 2008 explosion at a Tyler refinery, according to an agreement filed Tuesday in federal court.
Two employees died in that explosion and several others were injured.
The agreement shows attorneys representing Delek and the US Environmental Protection Agency agreed to a $475,000 fine, plus interest, as a civil penalty for ‰?? alleged violations‰?? surrounding a November 2008 pipe rupture and fire at the Delek refinery on East Commerce Street in Tyler.
That paperwork shows Delek ‰??does not admit any fact or liability arising out of the allegations in the complaint.‰??
The original complaint filed in September by the United States Environmental Protection Agency alleges a corroded pipe was the cause of the explosion, and that hazardous chemicals were released into the air during that explosion and subsequent fire.
---------------------------------------------
DECORATING FOR HOLIDAYS TURNS INTO HAZMAT SITUATION
Tags: us_VA, public, discovery, response, radiation
NORFOLK -- Victoria walker and her husband were getting ready to string the lights on their house for the holidays. But instead, their night ended with a hazmat team and quite a scare. Just hours before, Walker stopped by an estate sale and found an old tool box, that belonged to a Navy Chief.
"I was expecting some old rusty tools that he would be like this is awesome, because that's what he likes," said Walker.
But once she and her husband opened it, they knew something wasn't right.
‰??We're like uh oh, this is not good. This is bad.‰??
Inside they found three glowing samples of radioactive material used for calibration.
"When you tilted it you could actually see inside where it said radioactive poison dispose of by burial," said Walker.
They called the non emergency line to report it and firefighters were sent out. But at one point, the firefighters gave them the wrong reading, making them think they had come in contact with dangerous amounts of radiation. Once they tested it again, Walker says they realized the amount wouldn't have been enough to hurt them.
---------------------------------------------
IN BRIEF: CAMP SHERWIN CABIN DESTROYED IN FIRE
Tags: us_PA, public, fire, response, other_chemical
LAKE CITY -- Fire officials said a blaze suspected of being set off accidentally leveled a modern cabin at the YMCA of Greater Erie's Camp Sherwin early Wednesday. Fire officials believe the fire was started by a chemical reaction from rags used in lacquering during work being done in the cabin.
Crews from six area volunteer fire departments were sent to the camp, 8596 West Lake Road, at 4:11 a.m. Wednesday and arrived to find the cabin fully involved in fire. No one was in the cabin and the camp was closed for the season, officials said.
There were no injuries in the fire. Firefighters remained on the scene until 6:20 a.m.
The cabin was 2 years old and was rented for recreational use, said Tammy Roche, vice president of financial development, membership and marketing for the camp.
---------------------------------------------
MUGGBEES FIRE SPARKED BY KITCHEN RAGS
Tags: us_OH, public, fire, response, unknown_chemical
A Florence bar and grill caught fire Wednesday morning after a chemical reaction from a pile of kitchen rags.
No one was in Muggbees, located at 8405 U.S. 42, when the fire broke out at about 7 a.m., according to Florence Assistant Fire Chief Scott Knoll.
Knoll said either someone from a neighboring business or a parent dropping off a child at a nearby daycare spotted the fire and called police.
Firefighters contained the blaze to the kitchen, where it caused "minor damage," Knoll said.
"They got very lucky that somebody spotted it when they did," he said.
---------------------------------------------
MILWAUKEE FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO CHEMICAL SPILL ON ST. PAUL AVE
Tags: us_WI, transportation, release, response, corrosives, sodium_hydroxide
Milwaukee -
The Milwaukee Fire Department is responding to a chemical spill on the 2100 block of St. Paul Ave. that happened around 10:30 a.m. We're told a tanker truck carrying 275 gallons of Sodium Hydroxide is leaking. The fluid is corrosive, but freezes at 50 degrees.
Milwaukee firefighters left the scene of the chemical spill around 1:00 p.m. A private environmental contractor stayed at the scene of the spill to clean up.
---------------------------------------------
WHY FIREFIGHTERS LET A TRUCKLOAD OF HAZARDOUS WASTE BURN FOR HOURS ON I-81
Tags: us_NY, transportation, fire, response, diesel, dust, pesticides
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- When the call came in for a tractor-trailer fire on I-81 just
after midnight Wednesday, the LaFayette fire chief asked for nine tankers full
of water.
The tankers lined up at the scene in short order. But water, it turned out, was the enemy of safety at this fire.
The truck was loaded full of a pesticide called bifenthrin, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. There were 40 50-gallon drums of the toxic chemical that's most commonly used to kill fire ants.
In the truck, the pesticide was powder. Like that, it's not a lasting threat to the environment. But as water from the fire hoses mixed with the burning powder, the pesticide would become a liquid. The water would have carried the ant killer and diesel fuel to nearby streams where it could have been lethal to fish and other aquatic life.
So instead of dousing the blaze, firefighters watched it burn for more than eight hours, said Kevin Wisely, Commissioner of Emergency Management for Onondaga County.
"The safest thing to do was let it burn off," Wisely said.
---------------------------------------------
IS IT DANGEROUS TO SHIP BATTERIES ON PLANES?
Tags: transportation, discovery, environmental, batteries
Dramatic U.S. government test results raise new concern that bulk shipments of rechargeable lithium batteries carried as cargo on passenger planes are susceptible to fires or explosions that could destroy the airliners. Yet U.S. and international officials have been slow to adopt safety restrictions that might affect the powerful industries that depend on the batteries and the airlines that profit from shipping them. The batteries are used in products ranging from cellphones and laptops to hybrid cars.
Shipments of rechargeable batteries on passenger planes are supposed to be limited to no more than a handful in a single box, under safety standards set by the U.N.'s International Civil Aviation Organization and adopted by the U.S. and other nations. But a loophole permits shippers to pack many small boxes into one shipment and get around the rules. Tens of thousands of the batteries may be packed into pallets or containers and loaded into the cargo holds of wide-body passenger planes.
---------------------------------------------
FIRE CREWS NOT TOLD ABOUT CHEMICAL LEAK AT CHILLICOTHE PAPER PLANT
Tags: us_OH, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency says it was likely that people within a 1-mile radius of a Chillicothe paper plant might have experienced nausea, sore throats or watery eyes after a chemical compound leaked from the site on Oct. 31.
The leak from the Glatfelter paper plant sent a foul smell wafting throughout central Ohio that day, drifting as far north as Franklin County‰??s eastern suburbs.
This week, EPA officials said that plant employees failed to notify the local fire department or local emergency management agency of the leak ‰?? something required under federal laws designed to protect people from industrial chemicals.
The plant did notify the EPA, as is required, EPA spokeswoman Heather Lauer said. The agency has yet to cite Pennsylvania-based Glatfelter or issue any notices of violations, she said.
---------------------------------------------
RUTLAND PHARMACY REOPENS AFTER CHEMICAL FIRE
Tags: us_VT, laboratory, fire, response, dust, waste
The cause of a fire at Wilcox pharmacy in Rutland is still unknown, but the Stratton Road business reopened less than a day after an apparent chemical combustion forced employees and customers to evacuate the building.
Rutland firefighters and the state Hazardous Materials Response Team were called to the pharmacy about 4:20 p.m. Monday when a waste bin in the lab containing roughly 60 varieties of medications and chemicals ignited.
Emergency crews spent Monday evening making sure the two employees exposed to the smoke from the blaze were OK and disposing of the partially burnt bin.
City firefighters said Monday night they were hoping to sort through a log of powders and pills placed in the bin to figure out what triggered the blaze.
But by Tuesday afternoon, Fire Chief Robert Schlachter said firefighters still hadn‰??t deduced the origin of the fire and probably wouldn‰??t be able to.
---------------------------------------------
RETIRED FIRE CHIEF, STEP-SON INJURED IN MT. EPHRAIM FIRE
Tags: us_NJ, public, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
MT. EPHRAIM, N.J. (WPVI) -- A retired Camden City fire chief and his step-son were both injured in a house fire in Mt. Ephraim, New Jersey.
Firefighters were called to the 100 block of Third Avenue in Mt. Ephraim at 9:55 a.m. Wednesday.
The home is owned by retired Camden City Fire Chief Joseph Marini. He suffered from smoke inhalation and is listed in stable condition.
Marini's stepson, Matt, however, was taken to the Temple University Hospital Burn Center where he is listed in critical condition.
Action News says Matt was doing work in the basement when a fire ignited. He was burned badly and Marini tried to help but the flames moved too fast.
Marini was able to escape but when firefighters arrived they had to pull Matt to safety.
Crews declared the fire under control at 10:20 a.m.
According to Camden County Chief Fire Marshal Paul Sandrock, the cause of the fire appears to be accidental but remains under investigation.
---------------------------------------------
WEST SAC BUILDING EVACUATED AFTER AMMONIA SPILL
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, ammonia
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif (KCRA) ‰??Crews had to deal with an ammonia leak in the production building of Nor Cal Beverages on Wednesday.
Some sort of break took place in the piping or equipment, said Rick Martinez, the chief of the West Sacramento Fire Department. There were risks associated with flammability and breathing hazards, but no injuries were reported.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT TEAM INVESTIGATES SMOKE PLUME IN CHINO NEIGHBORHOOD
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, pool_chemicals
CHINO (CBSLA.com) ‰?? Residents in an area of San Bernardino County Wednesday were ordered to shelter in place after a plume of gaseous smoke was reported.
Chino Valley Fire officials received a call at 7:39 a.m. and responded to the 11500 block of Yorba Avenue.
A HazMat team discovered a small quantity of an unknown substance in a field behind a home.
‰??We know that it is off-gassing and it is buried in an open field,‰?? Massiel Ladron De Guevara, of the Chino Valley Fire Dept., said. ‰??Our HazMat team is in the process of going in and determining what that substance is.‰??
The California Highway Patrol later said the plume was caused by buried pool chemicals that reacted with the rain.
A shelter in place order was issued for the area between Phillips Boulevard and Francis Avenue and Yorba and Norton avenues, but that order was lifted around 12 p.m.
---------------------------------------------
JFRD: HAZMAT RESPONDS TO FIRE AT WESTSIDE BATTERY PLANT
Tags: us_FL, industrial, explosion, response, batteries
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ‰?? The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department responded Wednesday night to a fire at the Saft Batteries plant off New World Avenue and Cecil Commerce Center Parkway on the Westside.
Light smoke was showing upon arrival and firefighters received reports of explosions inside the plant, located at 13575 Waterworks Street.
No injuries are reported, as the employees were outside when JFRD arrived.
A specialty fire system inside the building extinguished the fire.
The Hazmat team responded to the scene to assist JFRD.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO UKIAH COURTHOUSE
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, paints, titanium
A hazardous situation unfolded near the Mendocino County Courthouse Tuesday morning as sealant recently applied to the roof of the building began to wash off.
Wayne Briley, director of the Redwood Empire Hazardous Incident Team (REHIT), said the City of Ukiah's Public Works Department called him at 8 a.m. Tuesday Dec. 2 after a milky white substance was seen heading toward the storm drains.
"The only thing that should be going down the drain is rainwater, so it was a pretty easy call," said Briley, explaining that roofers had put a white coating on the roof of the building last week, then a spray foam was to be applied afterward.
"One of three things happened: did they not put it on correctly, did it not get enough time to dry, or did the product fail?" Briley said, guessing that the situation will lead to a lawsuit. "Either way, roofing material is not supposed to wash away in the rain."
Briley said the chemical in the material of most concern was titanium dioxide, which he said is a carcinogen and officials did not want it reaching the creeks.
---------------------------------------------
CHICAGO FIRE DEPT., PEOPLES GAS INVESTIGATING CAUSE OF HOME EXPLOSION
Tags: us_IL, public, explosion, response, natural_gas
No deaths or injuries are reported in a two-alarm fire and Level 1 Hazmat following a natural gas explosion on Chicago‰??s Far South Side.
The Chicago Fire Department tells WGN that at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, they received calls that there was a smell of gas in the area of 2100 block of West 107th Street, which is on the border of Morgan Park and Beverly.
Peoples Gas and the city water department were doing work in an area nearby and also called the fire department.
The fire department evacuated the area. Within the next hour, a home in the area exploded.
---------------------------------------------
EXPLOSION ROCKS GERMAN CHEMICAL FACTORY
Tags: Germany, industrial, explosion, death, unknown_chemical
ERLIN (AP) ‰?? Police say one person has been killed and another four seriously injured after a furnace apparently exploded in a factory in eastern Germany.
Authorities told the dpa news agency Monday that some 30 people were at work at the time of the evening explosion at the chemical plant in Pirna, near Dresden.
More than 100 emergency personnel responded to help put out the fire and rescue the employees.
All houses within 100 meters (109 yards) of the factory were evacuated and others in the area were told to keep their doors and windows closed.
The cause of the explosion was under investigation.
---------------------------------------------
Ralph Stuart
secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Secretary
Division of Chemical Health and Safety
American Chemical Society
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