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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: Wed, 4 Mar 2015 07:19:18 -0500
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 0F872685-38CD-4284-A476-561A73421A81**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, March 4, 2015 at 7:19:01 AM
A membership benefit 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)
CHLORINE LEAK
Tags: us_KY, industrial, release, response, chlorine, water_treatment
EPA: CLEARCREEK TWP. CHEMICAL FIRE CLEANUP SIZE, COSTS INCREASING
Tags: us_OH, public, follow-up, response, unknown_chemical, various_chemicals
FISKVILLE FIRE TRAINING FACILITY CLOSED AFTER BANNED CHEMICAL FOUND IN DAM WATER
Tags: Australia, industrial, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
CHEMICAL SCARE AT HALLS OF SCOTLAND PLANT IN PRESTWICK
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, release, response, ammonia
COMPANY FINED $89K FOR DANGEROUS CHEMICAL SPILL IN WALLINGFORD
Tags: us_CT, transportation, follow-up, response, flammables, tetrahydrofuran
CARPET-CLEANING PRODUCT BLAMED FOR KILLING CAT, BIRD IN LAKEWOOD HOME
Tags: us_WA, public, release, death, cleaners, dust
DEADLY BACTERIA RELEASE SPARKS CONCERN AT LOUISIANA LAB
Tags: us_LA, laboratory, discovery, environmental
CAUSTIC ODOR BRINGS HAZMAT CREW TO DAYTON APT.
Tags: us_OH, public, release, injury, pepper_spray
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CHLORINE LEAK
Tags: us_KY, industrial, release, response, chlorine, water_treatment
Owensboro firefighters dressed in HazMat suits prepare Tuesday morning to enter a portion of Owensboro Municipal Utilities' William Cavin Water Treatment Plant on Kentucky 144 near the Elmer Smith Station. Owensboro Fire Department's hazardous materials team along with other emergency personnel were called to the treatment plant in response to a small chlorine leak in a 1-ton cylinder that had just been delivered to the plant from Henderson. OMU workers detected the leak after noticing discoloration on one of the cylinder's safety plugs. Fire department personnel covered the plug with a special kit and the cylinder was returned to the supplier, according to Kevin Frizzell, OMU director of production. OMU operates two water treatment plants ‰?? the Cavin plant and Plant A on East Fourth Street near Daviess County Middle School. Photo by Jenny Sevcik, Messenger-Inquirer/jsevcik**At_Symbol_Here**messenger-inquirer.com, 691.7294
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EPA: CLEARCREEK TWP. CHEMICAL FIRE CLEANUP SIZE, COSTS INCREASING
Tags: us_OH, public, follow-up, response, unknown_chemical, various_chemicals
CLEARCREEK TOWNSHIP, Ohio ‰??Work to clean up the site of a chemical fire in Clearcreek Township continues, and the cost is rising.
Four agencies were at a dentist‰??s home in Springboro Friday, trying to figure out why he had dozens of containers of unknown chemicals inside his house.
The fire at the Jacamar Court home on Feb. 4 damaged or destroyed dozens of containers of various chemicals.
The Environmental Protection Agency was called in to help with cleanup due to the chemicals involved, including anisole, ethyl 4-(dimethylamino)benzoate, benzopinacol, ethylenediamine, oxygen, mercury and acetylene.
Not all the containers have labels, the EPA said previously.
In a report released Monday, the EPA said even more chemical containers have been found on the property. More than 600 have been removed so far, the EPA said.
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FISKVILLE FIRE TRAINING FACILITY CLOSED AFTER BANNED CHEMICAL FOUND IN DAM WATER
Tags: Australia, industrial, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
he controversial Fiskville firefighter training facility in regional Victoria has been closed indefinitely, after a banned chemical was found in four dams used to store water for training exercises.
Water storage tanks at the Country Fire Authority facility were found to contain perfluorooctane sulfonate, a manmade pollutant that was in firefighting foams used until 2007 but which began to be phased out because of concerns about health effects and the inability of the substance to break down in the environment.
The closure of the Fiskville site follows the release of a comprehensive study earlier this year which found firefighters who worked there between 1971 and 1999 had a higher incidence of skin, testicular and brain cancers because of exposure to chemicals and recycled firewater.
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CHEMICAL SCARE AT HALLS OF SCOTLAND PLANT IN PRESTWICK
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, release, response, ammonia
A meat factory in South Ayrshire was evacuated after an ammonia leak.
Fire crews attended the incident at the Halls of Scotland food processing plant in Prestwick at 04:40 after staff had raised the alarm.
Firefighters in specialist atmospheric suits closed off a valve before returning to the building to identify and isolate a second leak.
After ventilation of the factory, employees were able to return shortly before noon. No-one was injured.
Incident commander Lawson Elliot said ammonia levels inside the building had remained high after the first valve was closed.
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COMPANY FINED $89K FOR DANGEROUS CHEMICAL SPILL IN WALLINGFORD
Tags: us_CT, transportation, follow-up, response, flammables, tetrahydrofuran
A nationwide shipping company is facing up to $89,000 in fines after failing to protect its workers from a dangerous chemical spill and potential explosion in Wallingford last October, according to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration.
Authorities said employees of R+L Carriers Shared Services LLC were using a forklift to move barrels of highly flammable tetrahydrofuran on Oct. 6, 2014 when a 55-gallon drum was punctured. The barrel began leaking through a truck bed and onto the floor, according to OSHA.
Employees roped off the area and tried to mop up the spill but had no guidance, no training and no equipment to protect them, OSHA said, asserting that the spill exposed them to chemical, fire and explosion hazards.
OSHA also said the forklift was not being used properly.
R+L Carriers was cited for two repeat violations and four serious violations, indicating employees faced potentially life-threatening situations that could have been prevented by proper oversight. The repeat violations stem from prior incidents at the company‰??s Chicago terminal.
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CARPET-CLEANING PRODUCT BLAMED FOR KILLING CAT, BIRD IN LAKEWOOD HOME
Tags: us_WA, public, release, death, cleaners, dust
Investigators blame a carpet-cleaning product for the deaths of two pets in Lakewood after a man reported a suspicious odor coming from his home Saturday.
He told firefighters just before 11 a.m. that he returned to his house in the 8600 block of Moreland Avenue Southwest and found his cat and bird dead. He also said he smelled a strange odor, according to a West Pierce Fire & Rescue news release.
After initial tests were unable to pinpoint the cause, Pierce County and Joint Base Lewis-McChord hazardous material teams were brought in along with a support team from Camp Murray and the state Department of Ecology.
West Pierce spokeswoman Hallie McCurdy said they determined a powdered carpet cleaner the homeowner purchased was the cause. The small size of the home might have been a factor, she said.
Until the Pierce County Health Department investigates further, which McCurdy expected to be Monday, she said the owner would not be able to safely return to the home.
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DEADLY BACTERIA RELEASE SPARKS CONCERN AT LOUISIANA LAB
Tags: us_LA, laboratory, discovery, environmental
A dangerous, often deadly, type of bacteria that lives in soil and water has been released from a high-security laboratory at the Tulane National Primate Research Center in Louisiana. Officials say there is no risk to the public. Yet despite weeks of investigation by multiple federal and state agencies, the cause of the release and the extent of the contamination remain unknown, according to interviews and records obtained by USA TODAY.
The incident has raised concerns that bacteria from the lab may have contaminated the facility's grounds and though initial, limited tests didn't detect it, some officials are pressing behind the scenes for more action, records show. The safety breach at Tulane's massive lab complex 35 miles north of New Orleans is the latest in a recent series of significant biosafety accidents at some of the most prestigious laboratories in the country where research is performed on bacteria and viruses that are classified as potential bioterror agents.
"The fact that they can't identify how this release occurred is very concerning," said Richard Ebright, a biosafety expert from Rutgers University in New Jersey, who testified before Congress last summer in the wake of lab incidents at federal agencies involving anthrax, smallpox and a deadly strain of avian influenza.
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CAUSTIC ODOR BRINGS HAZMAT CREW TO DAYTON APT.
Tags: us_OH, public, release, injury, pepper_spray
A strange, caustic odor evacuated an apartment building tonight, but it turned out not to be anything hazardous.
A hazmat team was called around 9:15 p.m. to the 3700 block of Kings Highway to investigate the odor.
‰??It was pretty caustic,‰?? said District Chief James Rose of the Dayton Fire Department.
A couple dozen people were temporarily forced out of their apartments, but were allowed back inside around 10:15 p.m.
Rose said there was some sort of chemical, similar to pepper spray, that had been emitted in the building, but that he wasn‰??t able to confirm the exact substance.
Separately, a resident in poor health slipped on the ice and suffered a medical issue outside after crews were called to the apartment building. She is the only person taken to a local hospital by the fire department, Rose said.
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Ralph Stuart
secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Secretary
Division of Chemical Health and Safety
American Chemical Society
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