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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, June 1, 2015 at 6:58:40 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 (15 articles)
SMALL FIRE BROKE OUT INSIDE A REACH-IN-HOOD
Tags: us_IL, laboratory, fire, response, gas_cylinders, waste
HOTEL EVACUATED, 13 TREATED FOR CHEMICAL EXPOSURE
Tags: us_IA, public, release, injury, chlorine, cleaners
JURUPA VALLEY: ODOR CAUSES COMMOTION, 6 MINOR INJURIES
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
NAU TOUTS IMPROVEMENT AFTER BIOLAB FINES
Tags: us_AZ, laboratory, follow-up, response
SHELTER IN PLACE ORDER FOR RESIDENTS IN MARYLAND CITY AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_MD, transportation, release, response, sulfuric_acid
CHEMICAL WARMER MISHAP IN UI LAB QUICKLY RESOLVED
Tags: us_IL, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical
SETTLEMENT REACHED IN DISPOSAL OF HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS IN SANTA ROSA
Tags: us_CA, public, follow-up, response, illegal, waste, water_treatment
ONE YEAR AFTER FIRE CITY OF ATHENS, STATE MAKE CHANGES IN AMMONI
Tags: us_TX, industrial, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
GEORGIA COMPANIES ACCUSED OF EXPOSING WORKERS TO CHEMICAL, AMPUTATION DANGERS
Tags: us_GA, industrial, follow-up, response, formaldehyde, plastics
FIRE DEPT MOVES TO MAKE SCHOOLS COMPLY WITH SAFETY NORMS
Tags: India, education, discovery, environmental
NO CHEMICAL SPILL AFTER EXPLOSION IN LIBERTY COUNTY PLANT
Tags: us_GA, industrial, explosion, injury, sodium_hydroxide
POLICE SEARCH FOR WHOEVER CAUSED MILLSTADT HAZMAT SPILL
Tags: us_IL, public, release, response, kerosene
STOCKTON COSTCO REOPENS AFTER FREON LEAK
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, freon
VIDEO: SEVEN PEOPLE REQUIRED MEDICAL ATTENTION AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT SHEFFIELD SUPERMARKET
Tags: United_Kingdom, transportation, release, injury, other_chemical
CHEMICAL EXPLOSION CAUSES EYE INJURY
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, follow-up, injury, other_chemical
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SMALL FIRE BROKE OUT INSIDE A REACH-IN-HOOD
Tags: us_IL, laboratory, fire, response, gas_cylinders, waste
On March 23, 2015 a small fire broke out inside a reach-in-hood while preparing gas cylinders for waste disposal. Nuclear and Waste Management (NWM) personnel were working with a subcontractor to assign tentative hazard classes to waste materials that were located during a legacy waste clean out project. In this phase of work, the cylinders were visually examined, opened to ensure they were at atmospheric pressure, the valves removed, and radiological sampling smears taken to check for radiological contamination and determine the Department of Transportation (DOT) classification and waste acceptance.
While working with the last cylinder, the visual inspection was completed and when the valve was opened it was observed that there were two aerosol puffs and then no evidence of compressed gas being present. The NWM employee then attempted to smear the cylinder, but when the smear paper passed over the opening of the nozzle there was a white flash and flame began to project from the nozzle. The NWM employee then flicked the smear, which had been stuck to his glove with an adhesive backing, from his glove, quickly closed the valve on the cylinder. Simultaneously, the attending Health Physics Technician was handed a fire extinguisher by an outside watch, and extinguished the fire. A 911 call was placed. The Argonne Fire Department responded and verified with a thermal imaging camera that the fire was indeed extinguished. All personnel immediately exited the area, and surveys of the individuals and the surrounding areas indicated no radiological contamination, and there were no!
injuries.
---------------------------------------------
HOTEL EVACUATED, 13 TREATED FOR CHEMICAL EXPOSURE
Tags: us_IA, public, release, injury, chlorine, cleaners
(ABC 6 News) -- UPDATE: Emergency crews have left the hotel. The fire department says they ventilated the hotel this afternoon and the scene is now cleared.
Firefighters say that an employee mixed together two industrial strength cleaning products, on accident, and the mixture created a chlorine-like gas creating respiratory issues for hotel workers.
The Mason City fire Department says an employee accidentally mixed two industrial strength cleaning chemicals, causing a toxic reaction that sent 13 to the hospital. Fire officials say when mixed the two cleaning solutions caused a chlorine-like vapor to spread throughout the building.
EARLIER REPORT:
According to the Mason City Fire Department, the local Holiday Inn Express was evacuated just a few hours ago after some people mixed together two chemicals that created toxic fumes.
The fire department said six people were sent to the Mercy Medical Center North Iowa to be treated for chemical exposure.
Fire and emergency crews are still at the hotel monitoring situation. Investigation is still on going.
---------------------------------------------
JURUPA VALLEY: ODOR CAUSES COMMOTION, 6 MINOR INJURIES
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
A strange odor caused six minor injuries in the Mira Loma section of Jurupa Valley, say Riverside County Fire Department officials.
The mystery smell was reported at 11:34 p.m. Saturday, May 30, along the 5200 block of Marlatt Street, about a half-mile east of Eitwanda Avenue and Jurupa Road.
Six residents of one house were were taken to the hospital, fire officials said. Two occupants of a nearby house were evaluated by paramedics but declined to go to the hospital.
The source of the smell wasn't determined.
"It was described as a chemical smell," fire department spokeswoman Jennifer Fuhrman said Sunday. "But when (firefighters) got out there, it had dissipated, and they couldn't identify where it came from or what it was."
---------------------------------------------
NAU TOUTS IMPROVEMENT AFTER BIOLAB FINES
Tags: us_AZ, laboratory, follow-up, response
A Northern Arizona University spokesman is emphasizing that the university's practices have improved since a biolab on campus received a $165,000 fine from federal regulators last year due to various safety violations.
Paul Keim‰??s Center for Microbial Genetics and Genomics was fined for failing to maintain accurate inventory records of certain select agents and for biosafety and containment procedures that were inadequate for the risks associated with the select pathogens and toxins the lab was handling.
Keim is a world-renowned pathogen geneticist and expert on biosafety and his lab is one of the largest anthrax labs in the United States.
The NAU fines were detailed in an investigative report published by USA Today that looked into hundreds of ‰??lab mistakes, safety violations and near-miss incidents‰?? that have occurred in biological laboratories across the nation.
---------------------------------------------
SHELTER IN PLACE ORDER FOR RESIDENTS IN MARYLAND CITY AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_MD, transportation, release, response, sulfuric_acid
A shelter in place order has been imposed for residents in Maryland City in the area of Rte. 198 and Whiskey Bottom Road in Maryland Saturday morning.
Officials tell WTOP that the shelter in place order requires people to stay indoors with no air conditioning, as temperatures are supposed to reach 90 degrees in the area today.
According to Anne Arundel County Fire officials, the incident involves sulfuric acid leaking from a trailer there, creating gray smoke along Whiskey Bottom Road. Fire officials are asking about 500 residents of Woodland Manor Drive, Woodland Hills Way, Claymont Street and Marcey Creek Road to shelter in place.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL WARMER MISHAP IN UI LAB QUICKLY RESOLVED
Tags: us_IL, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical
URBANA - What sounded scary in an IlliniAlert text message about an incident at a University of Illinois lab Saturday afternoon was quickly handled by building safety personnel and Urbana firefighters.
Urbana Fire Division Chief Chad Hensch said firefighters were called to the Materials Research Lab, 104 S. Goodwin Ave., U, at 5:28 p.m. when students working in a second-floor lab heard a pop in a furnace device used to heat chemicals.
Hensch said that a beaker, "a tube inside a tube," broke. There were no chemicals released but as a precaution, windows were opened to air out the area. No one was hurt.
The furnace, which he described as being about the size of an Igloo cooler, heats chemicals to 780 degrees.
Initially, it was reported to firefighters that there may have been a gas release. That prompted an IlliniAlert text to be blasted out suggesting that those in the area leave if they could.
---------------------------------------------
SETTLEMENT REACHED IN DISPOSAL OF HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS IN SANTA ROSA
Tags: us_CA, public, follow-up, response, illegal, waste, water_treatment
The City of Santa Rosa and JDS Uniphase have resolved an administrative enforcement case regarding illegal disposal by the high-tech, Santa Rosa company of a hazardous chemical into the City‰??s sanitary sewer system.
The Santa Rosa Fire Department detected the illegal disposal of the chemical used in producing silicon wafers, tetramethylammonium, in the sanitary sewer on March 11, 2014, but the disposal began in August 2010, Assistant Fire Marshal Paul Lowenthal said.
The discovery was referred to the Santa Rosa City Attorney‰??s Office and a Cease and Desist Order was issued on March 13, 2014. JDS Uniphase immediately complied with the order and remains in compliance, Lowenthal said. The chemical was then collected in a temporary holding tank that was shipped offsite for proper disposal, Lowenthal said.
The hazardous disposal from the company‰??s location at 2789 Northpoint Parkway caused no harm to the sanitary sewer system or the Laguna Wastewater Treatment Plant, Lowenthal said.
---------------------------------------------
ONE YEAR AFTER FIRE CITY OF ATHENS, STATE MAKE CHANGES IN AMMONI
Tags: us_TX, industrial, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
The city of Athens passed an ordinance that bans the bulk storage of ammonium nitrate within the city limits. The action was taken following a 2014 fire that evacuated the downtown area. (Source: KLTV Staff)
ATHENS, TX (KLTV) -
A year after a fire in downtown Athens forced the evacuation of a large chunk of the city, changes are seen in the way ammonium nitrate is stored.
The City of Athens passed an ordinance that bans the bulk storage of ammonium nitrate in that city. State lawmakers sent a bill to Governor Greg Abbott that would streamline the reporting process for facilities that have to report amounts of chemicals onsite and would allow for volunteer fire departments to inspect facilities.
One year after the fire in Athens at the East Texas Ag Supply, only an empty lot with a few bricks remains.
Athens Fire Chief John McQueary said following the explosion of an ammonium nitrate facility in West, Texas, the department began to look at the location in downtown Athens.
"What we expected was something early in the morning that would be undetected by the public," he said. "We never expected that to happen at 5:30-5:45 in the afternoon with people getting off work."
---------------------------------------------
GEORGIA COMPANIES ACCUSED OF EXPOSING WORKERS TO CHEMICAL, AMPUTATION DANGERS
Tags: us_GA, industrial, follow-up, response, formaldehyde, plastics
Workers at Panolam Industries in Norcross were exposed to formaldehyde, hot oil pipes and flying chips and sparks, and they worked on assembly lines over or near holes in the floor, according to citations issued this month by OSHA.
In all, OSHA said it found 18 serious violations at the plastics and laminates fabrication company. The agency inspected the plant in November after receiving a complaint. It has proposed penalties of about $80,000.
The Gwinnett County plant is among four Georgia workplaces in OSHA‰??s cross hairs this month.
At Recycling Revolution in Unadilla, OSHA issued citations for 14 repeated and 12 serious violations. ‰??The violations include exposing workers to amputations hazards from machine parts, not establishing procedures to protect workers from accidental machine startup while performing maintenance and services, and failure to provide readily accessible fire extinguishers,‰?? OSHA said in a news release. OSHA has inspected the company four times since 2012 and issued 24 citations. The latest round carry proposed penalties of about $78,000.
---------------------------------------------
FIRE DEPT MOVES TO MAKE SCHOOLS COMPLY WITH SAFETY NORMS
Tags: India, education, discovery, environmental
Nagpur: NMC's fire and emergency services department has urged the deputy director (education) office to ensure that all schools and junior college buildings in city comply with fire safety norms.
At present, the city has around 1700 schools and 338 junior colleges in corporation limits. Only a handful of these followed all fire safety norms, stated a senior fire officer from NMC's fire department. He told TOI that the department had recently sought assistance of deputy director (education) Anil Pardhi in asking all of them to obtain fire safety compliance from the department.
The department would launch a special drive to check schools from next academic session. He said they would send a notice to the schools asking them to follow all fire safety norms or they would ask the education department to close it down.
---------------------------------------------
NO CHEMICAL SPILL AFTER EXPLOSION IN LIBERTY COUNTY PLANT
Tags: us_GA, industrial, explosion, injury, sodium_hydroxide
An explosion at a Liberty County manufacturing facility resulted in the evacuation of a portion on the SNF Holding Company (Chemtall Inc.) plant in Riceboro just before noon Friday.
‰??A minor explosion‰?? occurred when the lid of a tank containing sodium hydroxide, a caustic material used in one of the products made by SNF blew off according to Chris Gannon, general counsel for SNF.
‰??We are still investigating,‰?? Gannon said Friday afternoon. ‰??The production line where this is located was shut down at the time. Personnel were cleaning the lines that feed the tank. It appears that a valve became clogged and it caused air pressure to build up in the tank and the lid blew off which is a safety mechanism that activates when air pressure builds up.‰??
While the lid that blew off was launched into the air and ended up crashing through the roof of an adjacent building there was however no fire, or spill or release of any on the sodium hydroxide Gannon said.
The only injury occurred when a worker in the area who was startled by the explosion turned to leave the work space and twisted a knee.
Gannon added that the production line will remain idle until an investigation into the incident is complete and any steps needed to prevent it from happening again have been taken.
---------------------------------------------
POLICE SEARCH FOR WHOEVER CAUSED MILLSTADT HAZMAT SPILL
Tags: us_IL, public, release, response, kerosene
Police in Millstadt are looking for answers after someone spilled kerosene Thursday afternoon all over a road in the village.
They‰??d like to know who spilled the fuel, how it happened and whether the mess was an accident or intentional.
The bulk of the spill was on a 40-yard stretch on M And O Station Road in a residential neighborhood. It happened sometime around 4 p.m.
Police and fire trucks blocked the road there for about five hours while the St. Clair County Hazardous Materials response team cleaned up the mess.
---------------------------------------------
STOCKTON COSTCO REOPENS AFTER FREON LEAK
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, freon
STOCKTON, Calif. (KCRA) ‰??Customers at a Costco store in Stockton were evacuated from the building Friday due to a situation involving 1,000 pounds of leaking Freon.
The leaking gas wasn't toxic, and the store reopened by 3 p.m. No one was hurt, but shoppers and warehouse workers were asked to leave as crews capped the leak and cleaned up during the noon hour, officials at the scene told KCRA 3.
The Stockton Fire Department learned of the leak about 10:30 a.m., at the warehouse at 1616 E. Hammer Lane, near West Lane.
---------------------------------------------
VIDEO: SEVEN PEOPLE REQUIRED MEDICAL ATTENTION AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT SHEFFIELD SUPERMARKET
Tags: United_Kingdom, transportation, release, injury, other_chemical
Seven people required medical attention after a chemical spill at a Sheffield supermarket.
Emergency services attended the scene of the chemical spill at Asda supermarket car park on Chaucer Road in Parson Cross.
Emergency services attend the ASDA Superstore at Chaucer Road following a chemical spill
The chemical spill which was confirmed to be Sodium Selenite can be potentially harmful in large doses.
Police are appealling for any information about a white flatbed truck which they believe was in the car park a short time before officers were called.
Officers believe that the truck was carrying barrels that may contain the same chemical that was found in the car park and would like to hear from the driver or anyone who may have seen the vehicle.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL EXPLOSION CAUSES EYE INJURY
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, follow-up, injury, other_chemical
ANSI-approved safety glasses‰??and other personal protective equipment specified in the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)‰??are essential whenever working with hazardous materials. SOPs also indicate other precautions that must be followed to ensure safety, such as performing work with energetic or explosive materials behind a fume hood sash or blast shield. Download a printer-friendly PDF.
What happened?
A graduate student researcher was working at a laboratory bench synthesizing approximately one gram of diazonium perchlorate crystals. The student was transferring synthesized perchlorate using a metal spatula when the material exploded, sending porcelain fragments into his face. The fragments shattered the lenses of his eyeglasses and lacerated his left cornea.
A researcher in an adjacent room assisted the student to the eyewash and called campus police. The student was taken to the hospital where he underwent surgery on his eye, and treatment for several facial lacerations. He was released from the hospital that same evening.
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