Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, July 27, 2015 at 7:32:20 AM
A membership benefit of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
All article summaries and tags are archived at
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Table of Contents (16 articles)
LONG-TERM EFFECTS BEING INVESTIGATED AFTER CHEMICAL PLANT FIRE
Tags: us_PA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ag_chems, runoff
FIVE FEARED DEAD AFTER FUEL-TANKER FIRE IN NIGERIAN TOWN
Tags: Nigeria, transportation, explosion, death, unknown_chemical
CHEMICAL MIX-UP COSTING GOLF COURSE THOUSANDS
Tags: us_PA, public, discovery, environmental, ag_chems, pesticides
NATION'S FIRST CHEMICAL-FREE POOL OPENS TO THE PUBLIC
Tags: us_MN, public, discovery, environmental
GAS EXPLOSION HITS WATER TREATMENT PLANT IN JOS
Tags: Nigeria, industrial, explosion, death, water_treatment
HWY 17 CLOSED AT BRUCE MINES. TOWN PARTIALLY EVACUATED (NOW OPEN)
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, ammonia
HAZMAT TEAM CALLED TO CHEMICAL SPILL IN DE FOREST
Tags: us_WI, transportation, release, injury, hydrochloric_acid
INDUSTRIAL ENGINEER DIES AFTER FALL IN LABORATORY FREEZER
Tags: us_UT, laboratory, discovery, death, unknown_chemical
CHEMICAL SPILL AT DUPO HIGH SCHOOL
Tags: us_IL, laboratory, release, response, cyanide
THREE PERTH AIRPORT WORKERS TREATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT CARGO TERMINAL
Tags: Australia, transportation, release, response, formaldehyde
ALL-CLEAR GIVEN AFTER CHEMICAL SCARE IN MIDDLEBORO
Tags: us_MA, industrial, release, response, cleaners
BUILT UP GAS LIKELY CAUSED MYSTERIOUS R.I. BEACH EXPLOSION
Tags: us_RI, public, follow-up, injury, hydrogen
RIVERSIDE: BOTCHED THEFT CREATES HUGE HAZMAT SPILL
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, hydraulic_fluid
HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO AMMONIA LEAK AT LACONIA BUSINESS
Tags: us_NH, public, release, response, ammonia
EXPLOSION AT MEDICAL POT DISPENSARY INJURES 2
Tags: us_NM, industrial, explosion, injury, butane, drugs
COLORADO COLLEGE CAMPUS REOPENS AFTER NON-HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL INCIDENT
Tags: us_CO, laboratory, release, response, antifreeze, ethylene_glycol
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LONG-TERM EFFECTS BEING INVESTIGATED AFTER CHEMICAL PLANT FIRE
Tags: us_PA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ag_chems, runoff
HANOVER, Pa. (AP) – Wildlife authorities are trying to determine if there are any long-term effects to a central Pennsylvania creek from runoff contamination from a chemical plant fire last month.
The (Hanover) Evening Sun (<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__bit.ly_1LMf0to&d=BQIFaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=cO4CzKUftj59RMUAbDRcUMkP8HZWnrqIL5XtpGuhBBU&s=ootBrlDm6-1msQMEaKgfzio5ztmn3EhoTuKqeJxmSGw&e=
">https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__bit.ly_1LMf0to&d=BQIFaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=cO4CzKUftj59RMUAbDRcUMkP8HZWnrqIL5XtpGuhBBU&s=ootBrlDm6-1msQMEaKgfzio5ztmn3EhoTuKqeJxmSGw&e=
</a> ) reports that the state Fish and Boat Commission was surveying the main stem and south branch of the Conewago Creek last week.
Officials hope to determine if life has returned to normal after the June fire at the Miller Chemical and Fertilizer plant, which killed thousands of fish and prompted closure of the creek to swimming, boating and fishing for almost a month.
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FIVE FEARED DEAD AFTER FUEL-TANKER FIRE IN NIGERIAN TOWN
Tags: Nigeria, transportation, explosion, death, unknown_chemical
Officials say two killed -locals say more -after fuel-tanker catches fire in Nigeria’s north-central Niger State
LAGOS, Nigeria – At least five people were reportedly killed late Friday — and several houses burnt down — when a fuel-tanker caught fire in a commercial district of the town of Kagara in Nigeria’s north-central Niger State.
“Five people died, including two children. Rescue workers have, however, since managed to put out the fire,” Adamu Umaru, a resident of the town close to the where the incident took place, told AA.
Nigeria’s official relief agency, meanwhile, confirmed the fire but said only two people had died.
“Two children… died in the inferno. They were locked up in the shops and so died there, while four people were treated for injuries,” Slaku Lugard, coordinator for Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency in central Nigeria, told Anadolu Agency.
Lugard added that 22 shops and “several” homes had been damaged in Kagara — a town in Niger State’s Rafi local government area — by the fire.
And on Saturday morning, a chemical explosion at a water-treatment plant in the central Nigerian town of Jos reportedly killed five people, according to a police spokesman.
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CHEMICAL MIX-UP COSTING GOLF COURSE THOUSANDS
Tags: us_PA, public, discovery, environmental, ag_chems, pesticides
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – A local golf course is losing a lot of green because of a major mistake on its greens.
Members of the Blue Ridge Golf Course received a letter in June informing them the course will be closed for more than two months because the chemicals used to treat the greens killed the grass.
Instead of birdies and eagles, all you’ll see are geese on the fairways at the Harrisburg course.
“It’s been a ghost town around here,” Blue Ridge’s head golf professional Jeffrey Breiner said.
Course workers say they are tired. “It’s been a tough couple of months to come to work because we want to be here. We want to be busy interacting with the golfers,” Breiner said. “It’s just taken a toll on everybody. It’s just not the same without anybody here.”
Earlier this summer, chemicals were sprayed to protect the grass as part of routine course maintenance. However, the very next day, the chemical company called saying it was a bad batch and told employees not to use it, but by that time, it was too late.
“You can’t hide the mess,” Breiner said.
The chemical company mixed the spray with an industrial herbicide by accident. It’s used to control weeds, but instead it killed a lot of the grass.
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NATION'S FIRST CHEMICAL-FREE POOL OPENS TO THE PUBLIC
Tags: us_MN, public, discovery, environmental
MINNEAPOLIS, July 25 (UPI) -- The nation's first naturally-filtered, chemical-free public pool opened Friday in Minneapolis.
The Webber Natural Swimming Pool boasts an organic filtration system which pumps pool water through a system of biological filters -- including 7,000 aquatic plants. The result of a four-year project and $6 million in funding, the pool features a traditional
shallow and deep end as well as a deeper section with a jumping platform and lap lanes.
The pool has a capacity of up to 500 people and is capable of holding over 500,000 gallons of water. The natural filtration system -- which filters water through plants and gravel -- pumps through all of the pool's liquid contents every 12 hours.
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GAS EXPLOSION HITS WATER TREATMENT PLANT IN JOS
Tags: Nigeria, industrial, explosion, death, water_treatment
A chemical explosion which occurred at the Lamingo Dam treatment plant of the Plateau State Water Board on Saturday in Jos has claimed the lives of no fewer than five people and 50 others injured.
He said a number of persons had been injured in the explosion and were presently receiving treatment at the Plateau Specialist Hospital.
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. “Water from the public mains is safe for consumption and is not affected in anyway”.
Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong sympathized with the families of the eight victims and wished the 101 survivors who were being treated in the hospital a speedy recovery, according to the statement.
Government said some of the victims have been discharged.
A source at the Water Board disclosed that the incident followed a chlorine burst at the plant.
“We thought it was an attack from terrorists and so I opened the door to our room and started running”. I eventually survived, but my friend, Ifeoma, who ran towards the water treatment plant from where the gas exploded, did not survive. He commended the state
government for promising to pay the medical bills of those hospitalised.
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HWY 17 CLOSED AT BRUCE MINES. TOWN PARTIALLY EVACUATED (NOW OPEN)
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, ammonia
About a quarter of the people living in Bruce Mines have been evacuated from their homes at this point, reports Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Sargeant Michael Mayville.
"People in homes in a one kilometre radius around the arena were evacuated after ammonia was detected in the area," Mayville told SooToday. "OPP is on the scene for public safety. The Ministry of the Environment has also been called in."
The arena is located at the juncture of Highways 638 and 17 and Highway 17 remains closed at this time.
At aproximately 8:20 p.m. Ontario Provincial Police recieved a call from the arena manager in Bruce Mines to report ammonia leaking from the stack at the arena
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HAZMAT TEAM CALLED TO CHEMICAL SPILL IN DE FOREST
Tags: us_WI, transportation, release, injury, hydrochloric_acid
MADISON, Wis.----A chemical spill early Friday morning in De Forest sent one person to the hospital, according to a release from the City of Madison Fire Department.
The Madison Fire Department said around 1:30 a.m. an employee at Waltco Package Delivery Service in De Forest call 911 saying his co-worker was exposed to some sort of gas.
Authorities say The De Forest Fire Department called the Hazardous Incident Team (HIT) at 2:15 a.m. to assist after it was determined that muriatic acid was leaking from the back of a delivery truck behind the warehouse.
They estimate about 3 gallons of liquid leaked onto the floor of the truck and the ground outside.
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INDUSTRIAL ENGINEER DIES AFTER FALL IN LABORATORY FREEZER
Tags: us_UT, laboratory, discovery, death, unknown_chemical
An employee of a Salt Lake City medical laboratory has died after falling about 15 feet inside a two-story freezer, officials said Friday.
The man, whose name has not yet been released, fell Thursday while performing maintenance at the ARUP Laboratories facility at the University of Utah Research Park.
The man was conscious and sitting in a wheelchair when paramedics arrived at the facility, Salt Lake City fire spokesman Jasen Asay said. He had a back and ankle injury and possible hypothermia.
The man later died at a hospital. Asay did not have details about how his condition had changed or whether injuries or the cold might have led to his death.
Asay said the man had been in the freezer for at least 15 minutes before co-workers found him and carried him outside.
Dean Li, president and CEO of ARUP, said the worker was an industrial engineer who had been with the company about nine years.
He told the Deseret News that officials were still investigating why the worker fell.
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CHEMICAL SPILL AT DUPO HIGH SCHOOL
Tags: us_IL, laboratory, release, response, cyanide
DUPO, IL (KTVI) – A St. Clair County hazmat crew was called to Dupo High School Friday night after a potentially dangerous chemical spill.
A teacher conducting inventory in the school science lab accidentally knocked over a bottle of potassium cyanide. The chemical can be dangerous to inhale if it interacts with other chemicals.
Residents in nearby homes were told to stay inside their homes and a few businesses had to be evacuated.
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THREE PERTH AIRPORT WORKERS TREATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT CARGO TERMINAL
Tags: Australia, transportation, release, response, formaldehyde
Three workers at Perth Airport were exposed to the chemical formaldehyde last night after a spill at a Qantas cargo terminal, the airline has confirmed.
Emergency services said the workers in bay eight at terminal four were exposed to about 10 litres of formaldehyde that spilt from a container within an aircraft at around midnight last night.
Formaldehyde is a chemical used in building materials, industrial disinfectant and as a preservative in mortuaries and medical laboratories.
The workers had to be quarantined in a tent while tests were undertaken to determine the chemical.
Seven emergency crews, police and chemical response teams attended the spill.
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ALL-CLEAR GIVEN AFTER CHEMICAL SCARE IN MIDDLEBORO
Tags: us_MA, industrial, release, response, cleaners
MIDDLEBORO, Mass. (WHDH) -
Residents in a Middleboro neighborhood have been given the all-clear and are allowed to leave their homes following a chemical scare at a nearby maintenance building, Thursday night.
A worker mixing four chemicals triggered a hazardous materials response.
As a result, nearby residents were told to turn off their air conditioners and stay in their homes.
A large plume of chemicals spread inside the A & W Maintenance building on Pine Street after the worker mixed the chemicals at around 2 p.m.
When the owner's son returned to the building at 7 p.m. he found the plume.
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BUILT UP GAS LIKELY CAUSED MYSTERIOUS R.I. BEACH EXPLOSION
Tags: us_RI, public, follow-up, injury, hydrogen
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A mysterious blast on a Rhode Island beach likely was caused by the combustion of hydrogen gas buildup because of a corroded copper cable under the sand, investigators announced Friday.
Officials have spent nearly two weeks trying to figure out what happened on July 11 at Salty Brine Beach in Narragansett, when witnesses heard a large boom and a woman from Connecticut was sent flying through the air into a jetty. Police almost immediately
ruled out an explosive device or intentional act, but scientists were stumped about what could have caused the blast.
Janet Coit, director of the state Department of Environmental Management, said Friday that scientists at the University of Rhode Island had pinpointed it to hydrogen built up by the corrosion of an abandoned copper cable that previously was used by the U.S.
Coast Guard and runs under the sand.
Coit said scientists took core samples of the beach, and the sand where the blast occurred had unusually high levels of hydrogen.
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RIVERSIDE: BOTCHED THEFT CREATES HUGE HAZMAT SPILL
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, hydraulic_fluid
A bungled metal theft accidentally spilled hundreds of gallons of hydraulic fluid at a Riverside recycling center, city fire officials say.
The mess was reported at 8:45 a.m. Thursday, July 23, along the 2900 block of Sixth Street.
"The now-closed metal recycling center has been victim to several theft attempts over the past few years, according to the site manager," Capt. Tim Odebralski said in a written statement.
At the center of the overnight leak is a metal-shearing machine that cuts scrap metal into manageable-sized pieces. The device has a cooling system that includes a gasoline engine and two radiators.
Last week, someone stole the larger of the two radiators, workers reported. An attempt to steal the remaining radiator went badly, causing the leak.
"Perpetrators disconnected the large hydraulic lines, which were fed by (a) 500-gallon hydraulic reservoir, spilling its entire contents onto the dirt lot surrounding the machine," according to the statement. "Due to the size of the second radiator, the...suspects
were unable to remove it completely from (its) frame."
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HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO AMMONIA LEAK AT LACONIA BUSINESS
Tags: us_NH, public, release, response, ammonia
LACONIA, N.H. —A business and a residence in Laconia were evacuated early Thursday morning due to an ammonia leak, officials said.
Crews were called to Laconia Ice Company on Blaisdell Avenue shortly after midnight.
A hazmat team was brought in to deal with the situation.
No one was hurt.
Officials said the leak was from a pressure valve on a tank holding up to 1,200 gallons of produc
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EXPLOSION AT MEDICAL POT DISPENSARY INJURES 2
Tags: us_NM, industrial, explosion, injury, butane, drugs
Two people have been hospitalized with serious burns after an explosion and fire Thursday at a medical marijuana dispensary in central Santa Fe, firefighters said.
Battalion Chief Carl Crook said the blaze apparently resulted from a process in which butane is used to extract THC from cannabis. The incident occurred at 4:30 p.m. at NewMexiCann Natural Medicine off San Mateo Road.
“Somehow they used butane and there was an explosion,” Crook said. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the psychoactive compound responsible for most of the marijuana plant’s effects. To make marijuana products edible or topical, the chemical has to be extracted
from the plant with heat.
Crook said the two victims suffered third-degree burns but walked on their own out of the building, which sustained no structural damage.
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COLORADO COLLEGE CAMPUS REOPENS AFTER NON-HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL INCIDENT
Tags: us_CO, laboratory, release, response, antifreeze, ethylene_glycol
Ethylene glycol, a non-hazardous and non-corrosive material, was to blame for the evacuation of a Colorado College science building Thursday morning, according to Leslie Weddell, a CC spokeswoman.
Olin Hall, at 1030 N. Nevada Ave., between Unitah Avenue and Cache la Poudre Street, was evacuated around 8:30 a.m., while Colorado Springs Fire Department hazmat crews responded to reports of a possible chemical spill. Emergency vehicles blocked traffic in
the area as well.
The area was cleared and the building reopened about mid-morning, Weddell said.
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