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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, August 19, 2015 at 7:07:02 AM
A membership benefit of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
All article summaries and tags are archived at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__pinboard.in_u-3Adchas&d=BQIFaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=mRnUZuaZUwVgGTQA6EDNsUDRZPIWIKTn2HCbqZdv2Fo&s=RkAaXw2PtYZMYwQP2vfINOIGKF3tO9pLeSooJHR-31k&e=
Table of Contents (10 articles)
WEST VIRGINIA: GUILTY PLEA IN RIVER POLLUTION
Tags: us_NY, industrial, follow-up, response, cleaners
TIANJIN BLASTS: WERE 'HERO' FIREFIGHTERS UNPREPARED?
Tags: China, public, follow-up, death, unknown_chemical
FIRST RAINFALL SINCE TIANJIN EXPLOSION LEAVES CITY COVERED IN MYSTERIOUS WHITE FOAM: SHANGHAIIST
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, response, ammonium_nitrate, cyanide, potassium_nitrate, sodium_cyanide, toxics
CHEMICAL LEAK TURNS WOLF CREEK BLUE; BARBERTON REMOVING CONTAMINANT
Tags: us_OH, industrial, release, response, water_treatment
STATE MEDIA: CHINA FIRM USED CONNECTIONS FOR HAZMAT PERMIT
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, death, unknown_chemical
CHRISTOPHER BARTLEY, FORMER POLICE OFFICER, CHARGED AFTER EXPLOSION AT FEDERAL LAB
Tags: us_MD, public, follow-up, injury, meth_lab
TIANJIN EXPLOSION EXPOSES TOXIC CHEMICALS IN CHINA
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, death, explosives
OFFICIALS REPORT WEEKEND SULFUR DIOXIDE LEAK SO SMALL THAT EVEN CHEMICAL SENSORS DIDN‰??T CATCH IT
Tags: us_IN, public, release, injury, sulfur_dioxide
FIRE RIPS THROUGH TORRINGTON CARPET FACTORY
Tags: us_CT, industrial, fire, response, dust
GETUP GLITTER 'STUNT' SPARKS HAZMAT SCARE
Tags: Australia, public, release, response, dust
---------------------------------------------
WEST VIRGINIA: GUILTY PLEA IN RIVER POLLUTION
Tags: us_NY, industrial, follow-up, response, cleaners
One of the last executives charged in a chemical spill that left 300,000 people without clean tap water for days pleaded guilty to federal pollution violations Tuesday. Dennis Farrell, a former Freedom Industries owner, pleaded guilty in federal court in Charleston, joining the bankrupt company itself and four other former Freedom officials who had already pleaded guilty. The deal calls for a sentence of 30 days to two years in prison, as well as a maximum $200,000 fine. The former company president, Gary Southern, the final and highest-profile executive targeted for the spill, is expected to plead guilty Wednesday. In January 2014, a run-down Freedom tank in Charleston leaked coal-cleaning chemicals into the water supply for nine counties.
---------------------------------------------
TIANJIN BLASTS: WERE 'HERO' FIREFIGHTERS UNPREPARED?
Tags: China, public, follow-up, death, unknown_chemical
Beijing (CNN)Yuan Yuan's grief for her only brother is tinged with anger.
Seventeen-year-old Yuan Hai was the youngest of 50 firefighters killed in the deadly blasts that hit China's port city of Tianjin on August 12. Of the 57 people still missing, 52 are firefighters.
Her posts on Chinese social media after she learned of his death have wrenched millions of hearts.
"Why were you so heartless to leave our dad and mom for me to take care of?" she wrote on a widely shared post on Weibo, China's equivalent to Twitter.
"We didn't expect you to accomplish great things; we only wanted you safe; we wanted you back, we wanted you back. It's too cruel for dad and mom to see you die before them."
Tuesday is the seventh day since the massive explosions, according to tradition a key time to mourn the dead, and thousands in the city took part in memorials.
The nation has revered the firefighters dispatched to the apocalyptic scene as heroes.
---------------------------------------------
FIRST RAINFALL SINCE TIANJIN EXPLOSION LEAVES CITY COVERED IN MYSTERIOUS WHITE FOAM: SHANGHAIIST
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, response, ammonium_nitrate, cyanide, potassium_nitrate, sodium_cyanide, toxics
The first rainfall to wash over Tianjin since a series of blasts struck a warehouse in the Binhai district last week has sparked a new wave of concern as an unidentified white foam has appeared on the streets.
Some who made contact with it are reporting a burning sensation on their face and lips, while others are reporting a stinging sensation on their arms. Some have said they experienced an itchy sensation, according to a NetEase News report.
Meteorological experts said Monday that rainfall would no longer pose direct danger to people's health, according to a CCTV News report.
However, authorities had expressed concern that the downpour, aside from hampering rescue efforts, would spread harmful substances across the city, after around 700 tons of sodium cyanide‰??a toxic chemical that creates a combustable substance when it meets with water‰??was found at the blast site.
Officials today said that at least 40 types of dangerous chemicals were detected at the blast zone, including 800 tons of ammonium nitrate and 500 tons of potassium nitrate, the Guardian reports.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL LEAK TURNS WOLF CREEK BLUE; BARBERTON REMOVING CONTAMINANT
Tags: us_OH, industrial, release, response, water_treatment
NORTON: A chemical leak at Barberton‰??s water treatment plant off Summit Road turned Wolf Creek a turquoise color Tuesday.
The leaking chemical was aluminum sulfate, Ohio EPA spokesperson Linda Oros said. A coagulant, it is traditionally used to remove organic material from drinking water by binding it together and sinking it to the bottom for collection.
Norton officials temporarily closed Summit Road at the Barber Road intersection Tuesday morning after a citizen noticed the creek was ‰??baby blue.‰??
Barberton Director of Utilities Jim Stender said the leak ‰??is not an alarm situation‰?? and the material is inorganic and ‰??less harmful than shampoo.‰??
Oros said there were no signs of dead fish, but that the pH of the creek had fallen to an acidic 4.2 (neutral is pH 7) so there was some concern that level might stress fish. Dissolved oxygen levels were good, she added.
It is not known how much coagulant got into the creek, she said.
---------------------------------------------
STATE MEDIA: CHINA FIRM USED CONNECTIONS FOR HAZMAT PERMIT
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, death, unknown_chemical
The son of a former police chief is one of two silent owners of the warehouse for hazardous materials in Tianjin where explosions killed at least 114 people, and used his connections to help obtain licenses despite safety violations, Chinese state media reported Wednesday.
The other owner is a former executive at a state-owned chemical company who also used his connections to smooth the way for approval for the facility, the official Xinhua News Agency said in a lengthy report on the warehouse company Ruihai International Logistics.
The report supports the common perception that well-connected private Chinese companies use personal relationships with people in the government to override rules, a practice that can lead to disastrous consequences.
It also shed light on the murky ownership structure at Ruihai, which had been the focus of rampant rumors of potential high-level connections and cover-up since the Aug. 12 blasts, which also left 64 people missing and 674 hospitalized.
---------------------------------------------
CHRISTOPHER BARTLEY, FORMER POLICE OFFICER, CHARGED AFTER EXPLOSION AT FEDERAL LAB
Tags: us_MD, public, follow-up, injury, meth_lab
WASHINGTON ‰?? A former federal police officer was charged with trying to make methamphetamine in a federal laboratory that exploded last month, injuring the ex-officer.
Christopher Bartley was charged Monday in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, with a single count of attempting to manufacture methamphetamine.
The explosion occurred July 18 on the campus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland, about 15 miles north of the nation's capital.
Bartley was a lieutenant and supervisor with the institute's police force, said institute spokeswoman Gail Porter. He resigned his position a day after the explosion, Porter said. He was treated at a hospital for injuries he suffered in the blast. No one else was hurt.
Authorities who responded to the explosion found pseudoephedrine, Epsom salt and other materials associated with the manufacture of meth. Police have said the chemical reaction that led to the explosion may have been caused by the manufacture of drugs.
No attorney is listed for Bartley in online court records, and a working telephone number for him could not immediately be located.
The building where the explosion occurred remains closed, but it will be available for experiments as needed, Burton said.
---------------------------------------------
TIANJIN EXPLOSION EXPOSES TOXIC CHEMICALS IN CHINA
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, death, explosives
(CNN)Apocalyptic scenes of the smoldering aftermath of successive explosions in Tianjin have once again illustrated the dangers of Chinese industry.
Lax safety procedures and oversight have been blamed for the blasts, which have killed more than 100 people and sent toxic fumes into the air, threatening even greater devastation.
President Xi Jinping has urged authorities to learn from the "extremely profound" lessons from the accident.
The State Council is rolling out a nationwide inspection of all businesses using dangerous chemicals and explosives. Meanwhile, China's public security minister says those found to be responsible for the Tianjin disaster "will be punished severely," according to state news agency Xinhua.
The problem is China has seen and heard it all before, and the accidents keep coming, though figures from the Bureau of Statistics suggest that the rate of lethal accidents is falling.
---------------------------------------------
OFFICIALS REPORT WEEKEND SULFUR DIOXIDE LEAK SO SMALL THAT EVEN CHEMICAL SENSORS DIDN‰??T CATCH IT
Tags: us_IN, public, release, injury, sulfur_dioxide
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) ‰?? 20 people were taken to Terre Haute Regional Hospital‰??s Emergency Department Saturday evening following a chemical leak on the south side of Terre Haute.
On Monday morning, safety officers from Hydrite Chemical Co. met to discuss the incident.
While no one wants 20 people going to the hospital, the fire department did say that things could have been much worse. Of those 20 only six were admitted and five were quickly released.
The last patient was released on Monday.
The Terre Haute Fire Department did identify the gas as sulfur dioxide which is a heavy gas that makes it difficult to breathe, especially for those with COPD or asthma. The department‰??s hazmat director told News 10 that the leak was small, and at first, Hydrite wasn‰??t aware of the leak because it was so small.
---------------------------------------------
FIRE RIPS THROUGH TORRINGTON CARPET FACTORY
Tags: us_CT, industrial, fire, response, dust
A three-alarm fire tore through a carpeting factory in Torrington on Sunday night and investigators are trying to determine what started it.
The water flow alarm went off at the Alliance Carpet factory, at 180 Church Street around 8:20 p.m. on Sunday and neighbors reported a strange chemical smell, in addition to the smoke.
Firefighters who responded to the scene saw smoke coming from the building and activated a third alarm because of the size of the building.
About six employees in the building at the time got themselves out and no one was injured, according to Torrington Fire Chief Gary Brunoli.
Crews brought large bails of foam outside to extinguish them.
This was not the first time the building has caught fire. There have been several fires there in the past.
Some have been cases of arson, officials said, but most of the fires there have been accidental and all signs point to that being the cause again last night.
When the company grinds foam rubber used to make its carpets, it's easy to start a fire in the process, officials said.
---------------------------------------------
GETUP GLITTER 'STUNT' SPARKS HAZMAT SCARE
Tags: Australia, public, release, response, dust
All that glitters is not gold - just ask Craig Laundy.
Staff for the less-than-impressed federal Liberal MP were forced to call in a cavalcade of emergency services units on Monday after receiving letters containing what they thought was suspicious powder.
Turned out it was merely glitter.
The envelopes, sent to the MP's western Sydney electorate office, were from activist group Getup campaigning for marriage equality.
They had posted the sparkly substances on Friday to all coalition MPs they considered were blocking a free vote on same-sex marriage.
But it led to six police cars, six fire trucks and a hazmat unit being called out to Mr Laundy's office.
---------------------------------------------
Ralph Stuart
secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Secretary
Division of Chemical Health and Safety
American Chemical Society
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