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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, 29 Apr 2015 07:12:15 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: A5699D2E-5C31-43F7-BB9F-42654FD2804E**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, April 29, 2015 at 7:12:00 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)
WARWICK COMPANY TO PLEAD GUILTY TO CLEAN AIR ACT VIOLATION
Tags: us_RI, industrial, discovery, response, hydrofluoric_acid
CHEMICAL RELEASE FORCES EVACUATIONS IN WILLISTON
Tags: us_VT, industrial, release, injury, repellent, waste
JURY AWARDS $10.9 MILLION TO BENSENVILLE MAN BURNED IN EXPLOSION
Tags: us_IL, public, follow-up, injury, flammables
ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC AND LAND-GRANT UNIVERSITIES ANNOUNCES CREATION OF TASK FORCE ON LABORATORY SAFETY
Tags: laboratory, discovery, response
EMPLOYEES EVACUATED, CHEMICAL SPILL CONTAINED AFTER LEAK AT DUPONT ZYTEL PLANT
Tags: us_VA, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
HAZMAT SITUATION REPORTED AT PORT EVERGLADES
Tags: us_FL, industrial, release, response, liquid_oxygen
FOUR HOSPITALIZED AFTER HAZMAT INCIDENT
Tags: us_VA, public, release, injury, ammonia
CHEMICAL SPILL AT DALLAS LOVE FIELD SICKENS A DOZEN
Tags: us_TX, public, release, injury, other_chemical
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WARWICK COMPANY TO PLEAD GUILTY TO CLEAN AIR ACT VIOLATION
Tags: us_RI, industrial, discovery, response, hydrofluoric_acid
A Warwick company is expected to plead guilty to violating the federal Clean Air Act.
According to the office of U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha, Monday court filings indicate Mann Distribution LLC ‰?? also known as Mann Chemical LLC ‰?? will acknowledge it failed to create and implement a risk management plan to minimize the chance of hydrofluoric acid being released from its facility and ‰??protect workers, the community, and emergency and first responders in the event of a release or fire involving the chemical.‰??
Neronha‰??s office indicates that at sentencing, the court will be asked to impose a fine of $200,000 and a probationary term of three years for the company. Mann Chemical will also be asked to issue a public apology.
According to the U.S. Attorney, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations require a risk management plan ‰?? including a ‰??worst case‰?? response plan ‰?? be developed for facilities storing more than 1,000 pounds of hydrofluoric acid, which is used primarily for industrial purposes and can cause skin burns, tissue damage and respiratory problems.
Neronha‰??s office indicates that a June 2009 EPA inspection determined that Mann Chemical failed to meet the risk plan requirements which storing 92 drums of hydrofluoric acid ‰?? each weighing 500 pounds, for a total of 46,000 pounds ‰?? in a concentration of 70 percent.
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CHEMICAL RELEASE FORCES EVACUATIONS IN WILLISTON
Tags: us_VT, industrial, release, injury, repellent, waste
WILLISTON, Vt. -
The end of Avenue C in Williston was shut down for the afternoon Tuesday as state and local emergency responders worked to contain a hazmat situation.
Around noon, fire officials said they got the call about a chemical release at the Chittenden Solid Waste District recycling building. They shut all the doors and killed the power to the building to contain the situation.
"We went ahead and closed down the adjacent facilities and made sure that people were away from any possible exposure from being downwind," Williston Fire Chief Ken Morton said.
Officials with the plant said the culprit was fumes from bear repellent in an aerosol can that exploded on the conveyer belt where Casella employees sort through the recyclables. Twenty-five people were affected and 12 were taken to the hospital.
"Symptoms were headache, eye-watering, nausea, and in a couple cases vomiting," Morton said.
Fire officials say in the time it took to set up, most of employees started feeling better. About 40-50 people work at the plant and everyone was evacuated for the afternoon.
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JURY AWARDS $10.9 MILLION TO BENSENVILLE MAN BURNED IN EXPLOSION
Tags: us_IL, public, follow-up, injury, flammables
Bensenville man who was severely burned in a household explosion while he applied a concrete sealant to his basement floor has won a $10.9 million verdict against the product's manufacturer.
A Cook County jury returned the verdict last week against Euclid Chemical Co., which makes the Crystal Clear VOC sealer that Andrzej Plizga was using when the explosion occurred after vapors from the product were ignited by a gas-fired water heater. The Ohio-based company is a unit of RPM International. A representative for Euclid Chemical did not respond to a request for comment.
His attorneys argued the product was too flammable for indoor use and that the labeling inadequately warned of the dangers or how to avoid them.
"We are here today because unfortunately this was not an isolated incident," attorney Matt Passen said at a news conference Tuesday at the Chicago office of Passen Law Group, which represented Plizga. "This is a public safety hazard that many consumers are generally unaware of."
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According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, gas-fired water heaters were involved in an average of 900 household fires, 60 injuries and 10 deaths annually for 2010 to 2012.
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ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC AND LAND-GRANT UNIVERSITIES ANNOUNCES CREATION OF TASK FORCE ON LABORATORY SAFETY
Tags: laboratory, discovery, response
APLU today announced it has formed the Task Force on Laboratory Safety, which will provide research universities with recommendations and guidance on the most appropriate strategies to enhance a culture of laboratory safety. The task force, which APLU created in coordination with the Association of American Universities (AAU), American Chemical Society (ACS), and Council on Government Relations (COGR), is comprised of senior research officers and environmental and health safety experts.
‰??This is an essential matter to address,‰?? Dr. Taylor Eighmy of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, chair of the task force, and Dr. Mark McLellan of Utah State University, co-chair of the task force, said in a joint statement. ‰??The culture around lab and studio safety is integral to the responsible conduct of research and scholarly excellence. We are fortunate to have such a dedicated task force and support from APLU, AAU, COGR, and ACS. It will be important for us to listen and learn and bring forward recommendations for implementation. We are excited to work together to help lead this effort.‰??
Recent and ongoing efforts by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Board, the American Chemical Society, and the National Academies reflect both concern and focus on the absence of a lab safety culture in universities and colleges. The necessity for institutions to keep their faculty, staff, students, and visitors safe during teaching and research activities is critical for their growth, success, and long-term sustainability. Significant events in recent years, including the death of a laboratory research assistant and a lab explosion that severely injured a graduate student has raised awareness and highlights the need for a national solution.
The task force will address the needs that academic institutions have to: 1) understand practical steps in implementing a ‰??culture of safety‰?? in their laboratories; 2) document their commitment to laboratory safety excellence in order to benchmark against leading practice; 3) document their compliance with national, state, and institutional laboratory policies; 4) showcase their dedication to preventing and managing injury of individuals performing laboratory activities; and 5) limit the liability of college and university leadership by meeting established standards of excellence, including implementing mechanisms to document an institution‰??s commitment to developing and preserving a culture of safety and compliance.
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EMPLOYEES EVACUATED, CHEMICAL SPILL CONTAINED AFTER LEAK AT DUPONT ZYTEL PLANT
Tags: us_VA, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
CHESTERFIELD, Va. (WRIC) ‰?? Fire crews and authorities responded to a chemical leak at the Richmond Zytel Plant Monday. More than 100 employees were evacuated and 20 were transported to the hospital.
Around 10:45 Monday morning, both Chesterfield and Richmond crews responded to the scene, located in the 5400 block of Jefferson Davis Highway.
Fire officials tell 8News that the incident was a ‰??release of liquid heating fluid that vaporizes at high temperatures‰?? as the result of a leak as workers were doing maintenance on Monday. The spill has since been contained.
More than 100 employees were evacuated from buildings near the location of the leak. In total, 20 employees were transported to the hospital for treatment. Two firefighters were also taken to the hospital.
12 employees of the plant were evaluated on scene for possible exposure.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT SITUATION REPORTED AT PORT EVERGLADES
Tags: us_FL, industrial, release, response, liquid_oxygen
Broward Sheriff's Fire Rescue was responding to a Hazmat situation at Port Everglades Monday.
The incident was reported in the 4600 block of McIntosh Road. Officials said liquid oxygen was leaking from a container.
The immediate area was evacuated and traffic was re-routed.
Officials said the Hazmat team was cooling the leaking 5,000 gallon tank, and no injuries were reported.
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FOUR HOSPITALIZED AFTER HAZMAT INCIDENT
Tags: us_VA, public, release, injury, ammonia
HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) -- Harrisonburg rescue crews responded to a Hazmat situation at a downtown poultry plant Monday morning.
At about 9:15 a.m. crews were dispatched to the situation at Shenandoah Processing on North Liberty Street.
Emergency personnel say four people were taken to Sentara RMH Medical Center.
They say crews were working on fixing a pipe when the incident happened. Crews say they were draining lines and some vapors got into a work area.
It was later determined that there was a small ammonia leak.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL SPILL AT DALLAS LOVE FIELD SICKENS A DOZEN
Tags: us_TX, public, release, injury, other_chemical
As many as a dozen people reported feeling ill after a chemical spill at a Dallas Love Field communications office.
Dallas Fire-Rescue's Jason Evans told NBC 5 that a 60-gallon container of industrial strength cleaning fluid spilled.
Vapors from the chemical got into the air conditioning unit and spread through the building.
Evans said between 10 and 12 people reported feeling ill and were being evaluated at the scene.
Jose Torres, an employee with the airport's media relations office, said the communication office was evacuated due to the spill.
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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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