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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, March 9, 2015 at 7:19:56 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 (13 articles)
LESSONS LEARNED DATABASE
Tags: industrial, release, response, acetonitrile
SURPRISES FOUND IN GV HAZMAT SURVEY
Tags: us_OK, transportation, discovery, response, ag_chems, ammonium_nitrate
HUGE FIRE: TRAIN CARRYING CRUDE OIL DERAILS IN CANADA ‰?? RT NEWS
Tags: Canada, transportation, fire, response, petroleum
VILLAGERS ATTACK MAHA CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: India, industrial, discovery, environmental, unknown_chemical
CHEMICAL FACTORY WORKER IN ICU AFTER FIRE INCIDENT
Tags: Singapore, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
CHEMICAL FIRM SEEKS CITY‰??S SUPPORT
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, environmental, solvent
CHEMICAL LEAK AT LEESBURG HS SICKENS WORKERS
Tags: us_FL, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical
LIBERTY INGLES EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_SC, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
WATCH: SCORES OF FIREFIGHTERS TACKLE MAJOR BLAZE AT EAGLESCLIFFE CHEMICAL STORAGE FACILITY
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
WCAX.COM LOCAL VERMONT NEWS, WEATHER AND SPORTS-
Tags: us_VT, transportation, release, response, propane
U OF M'S KOLTHOFF HALL REOPENS AFTER EVACUATION
Tags: us_MN, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical
KAISER EMPLOYEE TREATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, release, injury, formaldehyde, methanol
UPDATE: TRAIN ON FIRE NEAR GALENA
Tags: us_IL, transportation, fire, response, petroleum, propane
---------------------------------------------
LESSONS LEARNED DATABASE
Tags: industrial, release, response, acetonitrile
Statement: Think like the system. Believe system indicators, alarms and trust personnel checks. An alarm is presumed "guilty, until proven innocent."
Discussion: While conducting a material transfer, simultaneous alarms were received by the Plant Shift Superintendents Office and by Purification Facility Operations of a potential spill of acetonitrile (ACN) at the Purification Facility. The transfer was suspended and the Shift Manager immediately secured operations. Confirmation of the spill was made via a door without entering the immediate area of the spill. The material was completely contained within the facility and was initially estimated to be 1 gallon. No personnel were in the spill area when the spill occurred.
Analysis: The primary causes were determined to be high volume in the condensate tank and a restriction in the process exhaust vent. These two causes acted simultaneously by providing enough liquid volume to be displaced into the vent system by the significant back pressure caused by the vent restriction.
Two contributing causes were lack of timely response to alarms and instrument deficiencies leading to unreliable readings. The third contributing cause was the design methodology that did not provide a path for dispensing the condensate to drum.
---------------------------------------------
SURPRISES FOUND IN GV HAZMAT SURVEY
Tags: us_OK, transportation, discovery, response, ag_chems, ammonium_nitrate
Results of a hazardous materials survey last fall charting potentially dangerous substances trucked along Interstate 19 held some surprises for emergency planners looking at the numbers.
Some were amazed at the locations checked, the types of chemicals being transported and the amounts of potentially harmful materials moving through the area, according to John Wisner, program coordinator for Pima County's Office of Emergency Management and its Local Emergency Planning Committee.
The amount of ammonium nitrate being transported according to the two-day snapshot taken Nov. 19 and 20, with help from local volunteers, was one eye-opener for the committee, Wisner said.
Primarily used as a high-nitrogen fertilizer and as explosives in mining, some ammonium nitrate would be expected in these parts due to farming and mining activity. In fertilizer form, ammonium nitrate isn't a huge health hazard, but if mixed with diesel and a spark it could cause a horrific explosion, such as the ones in the Oklahoma City domestic terrorist attack in April 1995, Delhi, India, in 2011 and others.
There's no way to know where the trucks surveyed originated or were headed, Wisner said. The survey only showed that they were on Pima County portions of four highways ‰?? Interstates 10 and 19 and State Routes 77 and 83 ‰?? and what they contained, judging by the placards they displayed.
---------------------------------------------
HUGE FIRE: TRAIN CARRYING CRUDE OIL DERAILS IN CANADA ‰?? RT NEWS
Tags: Canada, transportation, fire, response, petroleum
A train carrying crude oil has derailed in Northern Ontario and burst into flames. This is the fourth derailment in the province since the start of the year.
CN Rail, the owner of the rail network in the eastern Canadian province, said the crash took place at 2:45 am on Saturday. No one was injured.
Three roads near the community of Gogama, where the accident took place, have been sealed off for up to 36 hours.
The $70-billion Canadian National Railway Company suffered its last derailment in nearby Horneypayne just two days earlier, though there was no chemical spillage in that crash.
---------------------------------------------
VILLAGERS ATTACK MAHA CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: India, industrial, discovery, environmental, unknown_chemical
KOLHAPUR: The office and plant of AVH Chemicals Private Limited Company was attacked and set on fire by villagers on Saturday in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra. They claimed that the tar pitch emanating from the factory is a health hazard.
The villagers, from Chandgad taluka, also burned 10 vehicles belonging to government and company staff and an ambulance, police sources said.
Anger has been brewing in the village ever since the launch of the factory project in 2012. The villagers allege that the production of the material may have carcinogenic effects and that the factory should be closed down.
Santosh Malvikar, a member of the action committee against the Company, said senior officials from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) were on a tour to survey stone quarries in the taluka while ignoring the "bigger issue" of the plant.
"We stopped the MPCB officials at Patane phata, one km away from the AVH site, and asked them about the purpose of the visit. The officials said they were here to survey the stone quarries. When we said how come they could find time to visit quarries and not AVH Company as demanded by us, the officials remained silent," he said.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL FACTORY WORKER IN ICU AFTER FIRE INCIDENT
Tags: Singapore, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
SINGAPORE: A worker at a chemical factory which caught fire on Friday night (Mar 6) is in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH).
An SGH spokesman told Channel NewsAsia three workers were sent to SGH Department of Emergency Medicine following the fire at 21 Tanjong Penjuru.
One worker has been discharged and the other patient remains in hospital but is in stable condition.
In an earlier statement, the Singapore Civil Defence Force said the fire involved contents in the production area of the chemical plants.
Out of the three casualties, one sustained serious burn injuries, another sustained burn injuries and the third was conveyed to the hospital as a precautionary measure.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL FIRM SEEKS CITY‰??S SUPPORT
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, environmental, solvent
HARLINGEN ‰?? A chemical leak from a tank at Valley Solvents & Chemicals‰?? property on Tamm Lane and Highway 107 that mainly contaminated groundwater has dogged the firm nearly 20 years with costly remediation and maintenance requirements.
Now, the City Commission has moved to assist the firm, which seeks relief from the state.
The City Commission is helping by passing an ordinance prohibiting the use of groundwater from under the firm‰??s property for human consumption or drinking, showering or bathing, cooking or for the irrigation of crops for human consumption.
The commission this past week passed the first of two required readings of the proposed ordinance.
The area already is supplied with potable water needs by the North Alamo and East Rio Hondo water supply corporations.
According to the chemical firm, passage of an ordinance will assist it toward efforts to obtain what is called a Municipal Setting Designation (MSD) for the property from the state regulatory agency, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
According to TCEQ‰??s guide for cities, the pur-pose of the MSD law is to provide a less expensive and faster alternative to state environmental regu-lations governing the investigation and cleanup of contaminated ground-water. The statute substi-tutes a municipal ordi-nance or restrictive cove-nant in lieu of TCEQ regu-lations to protect the pub-lic against exposure to contaminated groundwa-ter.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL LEAK AT LEESBURG HS SICKENS WORKERS
Tags: us_FL, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical
LEESBURG --
One cafeteria worker was hospitalized and several classes were evacuated after a chemical leak at Leesburg High School Friday morning.
Firefighters were called to the school and determined a foul odor coming from the warehouse was getting into the school's ventilation system. School officials roped off the cafeteria and sent students in the two closest buildings to the auditorium.
"The fire department did determine the source of the odor was a leak coming from old equipment, (and) we are waiting to see what piece of equipment that leak came from, but we have since been given the all clear and we have returned to our normal procedures," said Sherri Owens, public information officer for Lake County Schools.
---------------------------------------------
LIBERTY INGLES EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_SC, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
IBERTY ‰?? The Ingles grocery store in Liberty was evacuated Friday morning after people in the store reported watering and burning of their eyes, the city fire chief said.
No one was injured in the incident, which Chief Chris Rowland said was caused by a chemical used by the store to clean vegetables.
A Pickens County Hazmat team was called in to respond to the incident, which was reported at 9:22 a.m., Rowland said.
EMS also was dispatched to the store on State 93, but no one needed to be transported.
Rowland didn't know the name of the chemical.
Store officials at the scene were unable to give an immediate comment.
---------------------------------------------
WATCH: SCORES OF FIREFIGHTERS TACKLE MAJOR BLAZE AT EAGLESCLIFFE CHEMICAL STORAGE FACILITY
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
Workers on an industrial estate in Eaglescliffe had to be evacuated after a major fire broke out at a chemical storage facility.
Scores of firefighters from 10 fire appliances fought the blaze at Melbray Chemical Company, on Durham Lane Industrial Park, for two-and-a-half hours.
Police immediately closed Durham Lane from the A66 to Allens West and the junction of Chaldron‰??s Way while staff were evacuated from the numerous firms on the estate, including Tetley‰??s and the Butterwick.
---------------------------------------------
WCAX.COM LOCAL VERMONT NEWS, WEATHER AND SPORTS-
Tags: us_VT, transportation, release, response, propane
ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. -
After 10 p.m. Thursday night, a train derailed in Essex Junction.
"There were sparks coming from one of the tanker cars," Essex Police Lt. Robert Kissinger said.
There were 53 cars, 15 carrying liquefied propane. But all it took for the ensuing traffic headache near the Five Corners intersection was just one of those cars to derail. New England Central Railroad says a failure of a wheel bearing that heated up is to blame.
"I didn't even know about it until I got here, actually. And when we came, I had to go around the other way," said Shane Houle, who owns A.J.'s Kitchen.
At A.J.'s Kitchen, they say the morning chaos was actually pretty good for business. Workers and curious residents stopped in at the restaurant.
"It kind of helped us out a little bit," Houle said.
Overall, it was a minor, low-speed incident with no injuries and no material release. New England Central Railroad says the train was traveling at just 4 mph and the train's emergency systems worked as they should.
---------------------------------------------
U OF M'S KOLTHOFF HALL REOPENS AFTER EVACUATION
Tags: us_MN, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical
MINNEAPOLIS - A building on the U of M campus is open again after it was shut down and evacuated Thursday morning due to reports of a strong chemical odor.
The U of M issued an alert after someone reported that odor on the 6th floor of Kolthoff Hall, 225 Pleasant Street Southeast. Crews from the Minneapolis Fire Department and the U of M Police Department responded to the scene to investigate and try to locate the source of the odor.
Students and staff were advised to stay away from the scene. Smith Hall, which is adjacent to Holthoff Hall, was evacuated as well.
First responders measured negative readings on all monitors, and the buildings were reopened shortly after 8:30 a.m. A Minneapolis Fire official tells KARE 11 that it appears a building ventilation fan was turned off, a class was burning sugar water in a pressurized classroom and someone opened the door, letting fumes escape.
Kolthoff Hall is listed on the U of M website as a science building that houses labs and classrooms.
---------------------------------------------
KAISER EMPLOYEE TREATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, release, injury, formaldehyde, methanol
A male employee at Kaiser Permanente Irvine Medical Center was treated at the hospital's emergency Thursday evening after accidentally spilling a chemical onto the floor and himself, authorities said.
The Orange County Fire Authority received a call at 6:30 p.m. about the spillage in the pathology lab where the employee worked, Capt. Steve Concialdi said.
The employee spilled the liquid chemical, Formalin, on himself and immediately showered and sought treatment in the emergency room. The chemical is a formaldehyde solution that contains a small amount of methanol. It's used for preservation of specimens in a lab setting. Contact with it can cause skin burns and blistering.
The hospital called a private hazardous materials team to clean up the spill. The Orange County Health Care Agency and California Division of Occupational Safety and Health were notified by the hospital.
The employee was listed in moderate condition, Concialdi said. CalOSHA is investigating the incident, he said.
---------------------------------------------
UPDATE: TRAIN ON FIRE NEAR GALENA
Tags: us_IL, transportation, fire, response, petroleum, propane
JO DAVIESS COUNTY -- Several fire crews and a Hazardous Material Team are on the scene of a train derailment southwest of Galena.
It happened late Thursday afternoon. So far there have been no reports of injuries or evacuations in this remote area near Ferry Landing. A huge cloud of smoke could be seen over Northwest Illinois.
The fire has driven rescue crews back at least a mile from the site. Crews from East Dubuque and Southern Wisconsin have been called in to assist crews from the Galena and JoDaviess County area.
More details as our crew on the scene has them.
t least six cars of a train carrying crude oil are on their sides and one is on fire near Galena Junction.
UPDATE -- Two cars involved in the train derailment are still burning. City officials say they have never had a disaster of this magnitude in their area. A spokesman from BNSF says they do not know where the train was traveling to when it derailed. It forced city officials to ask residents to evacuate within a mile radius of the derailment, because it happened near a propane tank. Firefighters from Wisconsin and Iowa responded to the derailment, but since the cars contained crude oil, all they can do is monitor the fire since it's too dangerous to try putting it out.
No injuries have been reported at this time.
The BNSF hazmat team will be investigating throughout the night and should have an update Friday morning.
---------------------------------------------
Ralph Stuart
secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Secretary
Division of Chemical Health and Safety
American Chemical Society
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