ÁHEMICAL REACTOR AT DELAWARE OIL REFINERY ON FIRE ‰?? RT USA
Tags: us_DE, industrial, fire, response, gasoline, petroleumMATCH LIT AT MANHATTAN SCHOOL EXPLODED A LABORATORY IN RENOVATION
Tags: us_NY, laboratory, follow-up, response, methane
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KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY BUILDING EVACUATED DURING HAZMAT SITUATION
Tags: us_PA, education, release, injury, waste
A Kutztown University building was evacuated during a hazmat situation Sunday afternoon.
Kutztown University Police received a report around 2:45 p.m. from custodians working on a basement floor of Deatrick Hall of fumes that were causing throat irritation and dryness. Police and firefighters responded to the scene and experienced similar symptoms.
Emergency officials and the Berks County Hazmat Team later arrived at the scene.
Most of Deatrick Hall's 300 residents were attending Welcome Week activities on campus at the time, officials said. Around 12 residents inside Deatrick Hall were evacuated and the Hall was closed until it was deemed safe around 6 p.m.
In all, 12 students, three custodians, two police officers and two firefighters were treated for throat irritation and dryness by medics at the scene.
Officials believe the symptoms were caused by a reaction to something in the trash. The hazmat team ventilated the basement of the building and the scene was cleared up by fresh air, officials said. They also removed and emptied dumpsters outside of Deatrick Hall as a precaution.
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LARGE COMMERCIAL LAUNDRY DAMAGED BY FIRE
Tags: us_OR, industrial, fire, response, cleaners
Portland Fire & Rescue responded to a fire in a commercial laundry at 14321 N.E. Whitaker Way early Sunday.
No one was injured in the fire, although additional resources were called in because of the potential for a large fire load due to the number of garments, towels, and chemicals ‰?? including detergents and cleaners ‰?? in such a business.
According to PF&R, initial reports at 6:12 a.m. were that smoke and flames had been seen inside the building and employees had evacuated it. Additional calls came in from neighboring businesses with reports of heavy black smoke coming from the roof.
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Truck crews were able to ventilate the building efficiently by removing the sky lights on the roof of the building.
A PF&R Investigator determined has the fire to be accidental, caused by a laundry bin full of oil soaked rags that had a chemical reaction. This type of fire can occur when a oil soaked towel or rag is slowly heated to its ignition point through oxidation.
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TULSA FIRE DEPARTMENT STOPS CHEMICAL LEAK AT BUSINESS
Tags: us_OK, industrial, release, response, hydrogen_sulfide
TULSA, Oklahoma - Tulsa Fire Department was called out to a large chemical leak west of downtown Tulsa on Sunday evening.
It was located at a business near Charles Page Boulevard and 25th West Avenue.
A cleaning crew noticed an odd smell and saw the fumes of what turned out to be Hydrogen Sulfide. They backed out and once firefighters arrived
Crews were able to stop the leak and the building was ventilated. No one was hurt.
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EXPLOSIONS REPORTED AT U.S. ARMY FACILITY IN JAPAN
Tags: Japan, industrial, explosion, response, gas_cylinders
SAGAMIHARA, Japan, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- No casualties have been reported in a series of explosions that rocked a U.S. Army facility in Sagamihara, Japan.
The blasts occurred past midnight at the Sagami General Depot, a post of the U.S. Army's 35th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion.
Fox News quoted Pentagon spokesman U.S. Navy Commander Bill Urban as saying "base firefighters and first responders are currently fighting the resulting fire to prevent its spread to nearby buildings."
According to the U.S. Army, the 35th CSSB provides "depot operations and provides combat service support throughout the U.S. Army Japan and I Corps (Forward) area of operations."
The incident is under investigation, but Japan's Shingetsu News Agency tweeted that the explosions, which are reported to have occurred at 12:45 a.m. and continued for 10 minutes, may have been caused by an accidental fire in a warehouse filled with oxide cylinders.
It reported the U.S. military calling Japanese firefighters to the scene but putting restrictions on the use of water to douse the flames -- a precaution in fighting certain chemical fires.
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HYDROGEN PEROXIDE CAUSED EXPLOSION: POLICE
Tags: India, public, explosion, death, hydrogen_peroxide, waste
The police have identified that it was hydrogen peroxide, a chemical packed in a plastic container, that caused the explosion, killing a person on Talur Road on Saturday evening.
‰??Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical commonly used in bleaching, dyeing, and in paints, among other uses. However, its oxidation capacity is high and it explodes when it comes into contact with metal,‰?? Vijay Dambal, Additional Superintendent of Police, told The Hindu . He added that the chemical was manufactured in Pune in Maharashtra.
Yerriswamy, a rag picker, died after the plastic container he reportedly found in a bush and tried to open the lid using an axe-blade exploded. The high intensity explosion blew off his legs and hands. Leaves in a couple of trees in the vicinity have withered because of the heat following the explosion.
According to Maremma, the victim‰??s wife, Yerriswamy, had returned home with the blue plastic container and wanted to empty the content to sell the container as scrap, when the explosion occurred.
Mr. Dambal said that three teams had been formed under the supervision of Suresh, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Ballari Rural, and Prasad Gokhle, Circle Inspector of Police, to find who had kept the container and for what reason. ‰??The team will be primarily enquiring with the jeans washing units, paints factories in the city to ascertain whether their chemical stocks were intact or some containers were missing. The team would also verify from where they procured the chemical,‰?? he said.
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STATE: CAR WASH CHEMICAL DANGEROUS TO WORKERS
Tags: us_WA, industrial, discovery, death, cleaners, hydrofluoric_acid
TUMWATER, Wash. (AP) - A chemical commonly used at commercial car and truck washes can be dangerous to workers, according to new research by the Washington Department of Labor and Industries.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report Friday based on research from the agency, which looked at workers' compensation injury reports from 2001 to 2013. It found 48 workers suffered burns from hydrofluoric-acid-based car wash products, and one, a 38-year-old man, died after ingesting some - though it wasn't clear if the ingestion was intentional.
Hydrofluoric acid is often used in car wash products to brighten aluminum and break down road grime. The workers injured typically suffered burns to their hands, head or eyes, sometimes because they had holes in their gloves or failed to wear them at all. Seven needed to be hospitalized, three suffered third-degree burns, and two needed surgery, including skin grafts.
"Hydrofluoric acid is insidiously toxic at the low concentrations used in vehicle washing," Carolyn Whitaker, one of the researchers, said in a news release. "Initially, when it touches the skin there may be little or no pain. That means workers are often unaware of the burn until later and typically delay getting treatment."
That's what happened to one of the badly burned workers. He splashed his left leg while transferring a cleaning solution between containers, didn't wash the substance off and continued to work for about 90 minutes - with his pants and shoe soaked - before he noticed the burning sensation, the report said.
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FIRE AT CHEMICAL PLANT IN LA PORTE
Tags: us_TX, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
Firefighters battled a blaze Saturday morning at a chemical plant in La Porte.
The fire broke out about 5 a.m. in a warehouse at South Coast Terminals in the 10900 block of Strang, said Kristin Gauthier, La Porte Emergency Management Coordinator.
Gauthier said no injuries were reported and no chemicals burned. She said firefighters quickly got the upper hand on the flames and contained the fire to an area inside the warehouse.
Investigators are trying to determine what sparked the blaze.
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ONE KILLED IN EXPLOSION AT CHINA CHEMICAL SITE
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, death, unknown_chemical
BEIJING ‰?? A fatal explosion at a chemical factory in eastern China on Saturday night has jangled nerves a little more than a week after a series of blasts killed more than 120 people at a chemical storage facility about 200 miles away, Chinese news media reported.
The explosion on Saturday, which tore through a chemical plant in Zibo, in Shandong Province, killed one person and injured at least nine others, according to the official Xinhua news agency. A microblog post by the Zibo Public Security Bureau late Saturday said the fire had been ‰??basically controlled‰?? and that the injured had been taken to a hospital. The explosion was caused when canisters containing a chemical used to produce nylon burst, the Shandong Fire Control Department said on its official microblog.
The blast heightened concerns about China‰??s growing chemical industry and what many say are lax regulations that can endanger residents. It follows two explosions at a chemical warehouse on Aug. 12 in the port city of Tianjin that killed at least 121 people, injured over 700 and left 54 still missing.
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NITRIC ACID EXPOSURE SENDS 3 TO ALBUQUERQUE HOSPITAL
Tags: us_NM, industrial, release, injury, nitric_acid
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) ‰?? Three people were sent to an Albuquerque hospital Friday after being exposed to Nitric acid.
It happened in the 10000 block of Research Road SE at the semi-conductor manufacturing plant.
The Albuquerque Fire Department says the three victims suffered burns but were they are expected to be OK.
AFD says the cause of the exposure is unknown at this time. The building was evacuated and will be closed for the rest of the day.
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CHEMICAL SPILLS AT RIVER ROAD, ST. FRANCIS
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, response, flammables, toluene
Hazardous material teams contained a chemical spill after a container of flammable liquid fell off of a trailer on Friday afternoon.
At 3:46 p.m., the Amarillo Fire Department responded to reports of a hazardous chemical spill on St. Francis Avenue, just east of River Road.
Upon arrival, the first crew found a 300 gallon container of liquid had fallen onto the side of the roadway. The liquid was running downhill and had traveled about 100 feet.
Firefighters determined that the liquid was an emulsifier used at oil fields and contained a highly flammable chemical known as toluene. About 150 gallons of the chemical had leaked out.
A hazardous material team was called out and quickly created a dam to stop forward progress of the chemical. The team also created a 150-foot perimeter around the spill, closing two westbound lanes near the intersection of St. Francis Avenue and River Road.
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ELEVEN INDICTED FOR HAZMAT EXPLOSION IN CALIFORNIA: LAND LINE MAGAZINE
Tags: us_CA, transportation, follow-up, injury, waste
Nine individuals and two companies in California were indicted on Wednesday, Aug. 19, for numerous charges ranging from conspiracy to dispose of hazardous waste to causing great bodily injury or death by emitting an air contaminant, according to U.S. Department of Transportation‰??s Office of Inspector General.
Green Compass Environmental Solutions LLC (Green Compass), Santa Clara Waster Water Company (SCWWC) and nine SCWWC officials and employees were investigated after an explosion of a vacuum cargo tank trailer containing hazardous waste last November. More than 1,000 gallons of chemicals spilled, caused a fire and resulted in several explosions.
People within one mile of SCWWC were evacuated and those within a three-mile radius were given shelter-in-place orders. Highway 126 and an elementary were also shut down. Dozens were treated for possible exposure. Two SCWWC employees and three firefighters were hurt. The firefighters who were hurt went on disability leave as a result.
Investigators found that SCWWC stored more hazardous materials than it was permitted. SCWWC officials tried to hide the excess material by relocating it to an off-site, unsecured truck just before an inspection. Hazardous materials were also disposed of through a wastewater pipeline to the city‰??s sewage plant and by trailers to a landfill.
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ÁHEMICAL REACTOR AT DELAWARE OIL REFINERY ON FIRE ‰?? RT USA
Tags: us_DE, industrial, fire, response, gasoline, petroleumA chemical reactor at an oil refinery in Delaware is on fire, billowing black smoke into the sky that can be seen from several miles away, local news reports. Rescuers are on the scene at the Delaware City Refining Company in New Castle County.
The fire, which began at 1 p.m. local time, was under control by 3:17 p.m., WPVI reported.
PBF Energy has confirmed a fire inside a catalytic cracker, which is used to convert crude oil into gasoline and other refined products. The refinery experienced ‰??an operational incident that resulted in flaring‰?? at about 12 p.m., the company said.
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MATCH LIT AT MANHATTAN SCHOOL EXPLODED A LABORATORY IN RENOVATION
Tags: us_NY, laboratory, follow-up, response, methane
The renovated laboratory was hailed as state of the art. One teacher even said it would be a ‰??crown jewel‰?? of the campus shared by several high schools in Marble Hill, its unveiling so eagerly anticipated that, one mother said, paper had been put up over windows to keep students from peeking inside.
‰??This lab was like a new Mercedes,‰?? said Danny Steiner, a teacher at Bronx Theatre High School, one of the schools that share space once occupied solely by John F. Kennedy High School.
On Thursday, a construction crew spent hours installing a gas line for the lab when one of the workers lit a Bunsen burner to determine whether it was working, officials said.
The worker did not know the room had filled with gas fumes, officials said, and when he struck a match, it set off a blast that destroyed the lab and damaged the building badly enough that students will not be able to return to the campus when the school year begins on Sept. 9.
The damage forced school officials to find new places to house the 3,000 students who attend the seven separate schools on the campus in Marble Hill, a section of Manhattan that is on the mainland, bordering the Bronx. It is unclear how long they will be displaced.
The explosion blew out the walls of the sixth-floor lab, and shot debris as up to 200 feet away.
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