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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, April 8, 2015 at 7:44:26 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 (11 articles)
CHINA P-XYLENE PLANT EXPLODES FOR SECOND TIME IN LESS THAN TWO YEARS
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, injury, naphtha, resin, xylene
HAZMAT SPILL CLOSES SPENCER'S MAIN STREET
Tags: us_WV, public, release, response, other_chemical
KCMO FIRE CREWS RESCUE TWO WORKERS OVERCOME BY FUMES
Tags: us_MO, public, release, injury, other_chemical, acetone
LEGISLATORS HEAR COMPETING IDEAS FOR REGULATING EXPLOSIVE FERTILIZER AFTER WEST DISASTER
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
CHEMICAL LEAK CLOSES ROADS IN SPENCER
Tags: us_WV, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical
WARWICK CHEMICAL COMPANY TO PLEAD GUILTY TO VIOLATING CLEAN AIR
Tags: us_RI, public, follow-up, environmental, hydrofluoric_acid
POOL CLEANING CHEMICAL CAUSES SCARE IN TEMPE
Tags: us_AZ, transportation, fire, response, pool_chemicals
CHINESE RIOT POLICE CRUSH GRASSLANDS PROTEST OVER CHEMICAL POLLUTION
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, environmental, tear_gas, waste
STUDY SUGGESTS CHEMICAL USED IN BP OIL SPILL CLEANUP CAPABLE OF INJURING PEOPLE AND WILDLIFE
Tags: us_AL, public, discovery, injury, other_chemical
KARELIAN PIE SUPPLIES THREATENED BY CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: Finland, industrial, release, injury, ammonia
DELAWARE FAMILY SICKENED BY PESTICIDE AT RESORT IN U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS
Tags: US_Virgin_Islands, public, release, injury, ag_chems, pesticides
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CHINA P-XYLENE PLANT EXPLODES FOR SECOND TIME IN LESS THAN TWO YEARS
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, injury, naphtha, resin, xylene
The explosion of three naphtha tanks at a plant producing p-xylene in Zhangzhou in China‰??s coastal province of Fujian caused an enormous fire that was put out with the intervention of firefighters from several nearby cities. Soldiers from the People‰??s Liberation Army (PLA) were also called in.
The accident happened on April 6 at a plant operated by Xianglu Tenglong Group, a company that media reports say is owned by unspecified Taiwanese investors. The same facility had already experienced a less serious blast in July 2013.
Television reports from the April 6 explosion showed flames shooting tens of feet into the air. China‰??s state agency Xinhua reports that no one died but 14 people were injured.
Zhangzhou‰??s fire department posted on Weibo‰??the Chinese equivalent of Twitter‰??that 610 firefighters and 122 fire engines from the cities of Zhangzhou, Xiamen, Longyan, and Quanzhou worked together to extinguish the blaze. The fire department also noted that soldiers from PLA‰??s chemical warfare unit participated in firefighting efforts, although the nature of their contribution was not described.
p-Xylene is a highly controversial chemical in China. Large protests have erupted in recent years in the cities of Xiamen, Maoming, Dalian, and Kunming to demand that p-xylene facilities be either shut down or not built at all. Elsewhere in the world the material, used in the production of polyester fiber and resin, is produced without creating a great deal of controversy.
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HAZMAT SPILL CLOSES SPENCER'S MAIN STREET
Tags: us_WV, public, release, response, other_chemical
SPENCER - A hazardous materials situation occurred on Main Street in Spencer this evening, according to reports from the Roane County 911 Center.
Main Street is closed from Market Street to West Virginia 14, the 911 Center said. Traffic is being routed around the area and people are being asked to stay away.
Spencer Mayor Terry Williams said the spilled chemical was believed to be sodium bisulfite around 8 p.m. today.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and a Hazmat team from Columbus, Ohio, have been summoned to the scene. See the entire story Wednesday in the Parkersburg News and Sentinel.
---------------------------------------------
KCMO FIRE CREWS RESCUE TWO WORKERS OVERCOME BY FUMES
Tags: us_MO, public, release, injury, other_chemical, acetone
KANSAS CITY, Mo. ‰?? Firefighters rescued two workers Tuesday who were overcome by chemicals while waterproofing a basement.
It happened at the Westport Presbyterian Church, which fire destroyed more than three years ago.
Firefighters says two men became trapped in a confined space while they were waterproofing concrete and were overcome by the chemical fumes. This is a long narrow space and may be more than 15 feet deep. Firefighters say they tested the atmosphere in that space and detected chemicals, including acetone. Rescues wore air packs and climbed down into the area to hoist the two victims to safety.
‰??I think the challenge is getting down to a chemically charged atmosphere, getting some air on the individual so they don‰??t have to continue to take in all that chemical,‰?? said Battalion Chief James Garrett of the Kansas City Fire Department. ‰??And then strap him up to where we can hoist him up. That‰??s about what it comes up to.‰??
The two men were conscious when firefighters pulled them out. They have been transported to the hospital to determine how exposure to the chemicals may have affected them.
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LEGISLATORS HEAR COMPETING IDEAS FOR REGULATING EXPLOSIVE FERTILIZER AFTER WEST DISASTER
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
Texas legislators Tuesday heard three different bills inspired by the 2013 West fertilizer blast, with three divergent approaches to regulating explosive ammonium nitrate.
The House Committee on Environmental Regulation heard one bill by Rep. Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, that would allow the state fire marshal to set standards for storing the fertilizer. It heard another bill from committee member Rep. Kyle Kacal, R-College Station, that would allow the fire marshal to inspect ammonium nitrate facilities but not to set rules for them.
And a third, by committee member Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin, would require ammonium nitrate facilities to carry liability insurance, in an amount to be determined by the Texas Department of Insurance.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL LEAK CLOSES ROADS IN SPENCER
Tags: us_WV, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical
SPENCER, W.Va. (WSAZ) - A chemical spill Tuesday evening has shut down a major road in downtown Spencer.
Main Street is closed from Market Street to Route 14. This is in the area near the GoMart.
According to dispatchers, a call came in about 6 p.m., saying that a chemical was leaking onto the the road.
Dispatchers cannot say what the chemical is at this time.
The company that owns the truck brought in a crew from Columbus, Ohio, to clean up the spill.
Fire, EMS and members of law enforcement are on the scene. DEP officials were on their way there later that night.
---------------------------------------------
WARWICK CHEMICAL COMPANY TO PLEAD GUILTY TO VIOLATING CLEAN AIR
Tags: us_RI, public, follow-up, environmental, hydrofluoric_acid
According to documents filed on Monday in federal court in Providence, Mann Distribution, LLC, of Warwick, also known as Mann Chemical, LLC, is expected to plead guilty to a federal charge of violating the Clean Air Act.
The company failed to develop and implement a risk management plan to minimize the chance of release of hydrofluoric acid from its Warwick facility, and to protect workers, the community, and emergency and first responders in the event of a release or fire involving the chemical.
At sentencing, the court will be asked to impose a fine of $200,000 and to order the company to serve a term of three years' probation for failing to adhere to Environmental Protection Agency regulations, which require a Risk Management Plan be developed, including a ‰??worst case‰?? response plan.
In addition to penalties, Mann Chemical will be required to issue a public apology.
---------------------------------------------
POOL CLEANING CHEMICAL CAUSES SCARE IN TEMPE
Tags: us_AZ, transportation, fire, response, pool_chemicals
TEMPE, AZ (KPHO/KTVK) - An incident with a pool cleaning chemical led to an emergency hazardous response by the Tempe Fire Medical Rescue Department.It happened on Monday morning on Wilson Street, near 6th Street, in a residential area near Arizona State University.
A five-gallon bucket of Trichlor was in the bed of a pool cleaner's pickup truck when it began smoking and caught on fire, according to Tempe Fire. The man who was driving the truck removed the bucket from his truck and put it in the street.
"That was an extremely risky thing he did," said Assistant Chief Paul Nies with Tempe Fire Medical Rescue. "This was off-gassing very dangerous chemicals chlorine being the least of them. I don't want to go into a chemistry lesson here, but his best option was to (have) just walked away."
A bomb squad was called to the scene to help evaluate the situation.
Firefighters on the scene said that Trichlor can be very explosive, but they do not know why the bucket started smoking.
---------------------------------------------
CHINESE RIOT POLICE CRUSH GRASSLANDS PROTEST OVER CHEMICAL POLLUTION
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, environmental, tear_gas, waste
BEIJING ‰?? Riot police have crushed a three-week-long protest against toxic waste from a chemical refinery complex in China‰??s Inner Mongolia region, according to local villagers and the government.
It was the latest in a series of demonstrations about pollution on the country‰??s northern grasslands.
A protester named Geegee, posting on social media, said one demonstrator died in a hospital, 100 were injured by baton-wielding officers and 50 were arrested over the weekend. The government announced Monday that it was closing the chemical complex.
‰??Rubber bullets are being shot at protesters, and high-pressure water guns and tear gas are also being used,‰?? Geegee told the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC), an exile group advocating for the rights of the region‰??s ethnic Mongol minority. Many ethnic Mongols use only one name.
‰??We are not terrorists, we are not separatists, we are only doing this for the sake of this land!‰?? she posted Monday. ‰??Is that a crime?‰??
---------------------------------------------
STUDY SUGGESTS CHEMICAL USED IN BP OIL SPILL CLEANUP CAPABLE OF INJURING PEOPLE AND WILDLIFE
Tags: us_AL, public, discovery, injury, other_chemical
But the BP oil disaster also took another, slower toll. Thousands of men and women who had helped clean up the spill gradually became ill. Lungs began to burn. Skin began to blister.
Nearly five years after the worst offshore spill in U.S. history, a new study by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham suggests that an oil dispersant widely used during the cleanup of the BP disaster is capable of causing damage to humans and marine animals alike.
In the study, published in PLOS ONE on April 2, scientists focused their attention on a dispersant called Corexit EC9500A.
Nearly two million gallons of Corexit were sprayed atop the oil spill to help break down the petroleum. But in their study, the UAB scientists found that the dispersant can seriously damage epithelial cells, such as those in the lungs of humans or the gills of marine animals.
‰??The evidence that Corexit causes structural and functional abnormalities in airway tissue includes dispersant-induced cell detachment, edema, contraction in cell diameter and increased permeability,‰?? Prof. Veena Antony, M.D., the paper‰??s senior author, said in a UAB news release.
---------------------------------------------
KARELIAN PIE SUPPLIES THREATENED BY CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: Finland, industrial, release, injury, ammonia
A chemical leak at a bakery plant in Lappeenranta sent ten workers to hospital on Easter Monday‰??and could now threaten supplies of Karelian pies in Finnish grocery stores.
Police are now investigating the leak and Tukes, the Finnish chemicals safety agency, is demanding an explanation from plant owner Fazer. The company will be expected to explain how an appliance malfunction allowed ammonia to leak, causing breathing problems for several employees at the factory.
Tukes usually inspects production facilities after serious accidents, and has to give the go-ahead before production can resume. When contacted by Yle, PĚ?ivi Rantakoski of Tukes was not certain whether the plant was part of her remit‰??and therefore whether Tukes would have to grant a permit to re-start production.
"It depends on the amount of ammonia," said Rantakoski. "If the amount in use there is small, then the permit (to re-start production) can be granted by the fire and rescue services. If there‰??s more of it, then Tukes is the permit-granting authority."
---------------------------------------------
DELAWARE FAMILY SICKENED BY PESTICIDE AT RESORT IN U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS
Tags: US_Virgin_Islands, public, release, injury, ag_chems, pesticides
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A Delaware family is back home and in the hospital after getting sick while on vacation, and they're blaming a chemical used in their hotel room in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Environmental Protection Agency suspects Steve Esmond, his wife Dr. Theresa Devine, and their two teenage boys were poisoned by the powerful pesticide methyl bromide.
The two boys, Sean and Ryan, are currently in critical condition at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Their parents are at another hospital in stable condition.
Methyl bromide is a fumigant used to treat for mold, insects and rodents. It's believed a room at the Sirenusa Resort where the family was staying in the US Virgin Islands was treated with it.
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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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