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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, March 14, 2016 at 6:21:54 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=wFLhUwCRo9S_kFBW4tSqCT4AV-on9cnD2zL2UxslCPA&s=w5BaPz5GfpSJoccn0gKBZAq58OzV-XzsmBjVNmKhINk&e=
Table of Contents (11 articles)
HOTEL EVACUATED AFTER POSSIBLE HAZMAT INCIDENT
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
8 KILLED IN CHEMICAL ACCIDENT AT THAI BANK'S HEADQUARTERS
Tags: Thailand, public, release, death, fire_extinguisher, oxygen
HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO AUBURN ORTHOPEDIC FACILITY
Tags: us_WA, public, release, response, nitrogen
WORKER BURNED BY CHEMICALS AT COSMETICS LAB, COPS SAY
Tags: us_NJ, laboratory, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
ACCIDENTAL RELEASE PREVENTION REQUIREMENTS: RISK MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS UNDER THE CLEAN AIR ACT
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO AMMONIA LEAK IN LANCASTER COUNTY
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, ammonia
AUTHORITIES CLEAR HAZARDOUS MATERIALS FROM PHOENIX BUSINESS
Tags: us_AZ, industrial, discovery, response, unknown_chemical
CONGRESSMAN GENE GREEN CALLS FOR OSHA INVESTIGATION INTO FIRE AT PETROBRAS" PASADENA REFINERY
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, injury, hydrogen
CHEMICAL TRUCK CRASHES INTO WICKEPIN HOME, NARROWLY MISSES OCCUPANT
Tags: Australia, transportation, discovery, response, unknown_chemical
WATER COMPANY SEEKS DELAY IN CHEMICAL SPILL TRIAL
Tags: us_WV, public, follow-up, response, other_chemical
WORKER COLLAPSES, 2 OTHERS SICKENED BY HANOVER TWP. PLANT CHEMICAL VAPOR
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
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HOTEL EVACUATED AFTER POSSIBLE HAZMAT INCIDENT
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
WALNUT CREEK - All but one of the occupants of a hotel in Walnut Creek returned to their rooms Saturday night after a possible hazardous materials incident, officials with the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District said.
One person was taken to a hospital after someone called fire officials at 8:57 p.m. to report six people were having difficulty breathing and their eyes and throats were burning at the Holiday Inn Express at 2730 N. Main St., near Interstate Highway 680.
The other five were treated outside the hotel, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Fire Marshal Robert Marshall said.
More than 100 people were evacuated from the hotel.
The six who suffered symptoms told firefighters of a pepper-like odor in one of the hallways.
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8 KILLED IN CHEMICAL ACCIDENT AT THAI BANK'S HEADQUARTERS
Tags: Thailand, public, release, death, fire_extinguisher, oxygen
BANGKOK (AP) " Eight people died at the headquarters of one of Thailand's largest banks when workers accidentally triggered the release of fire extinguishing chemicals during an upgrade of the building's safety system, officials said Monday.
Seven other people were injured in the accident, which occurred Sunday night in the basement of the Siam Commercial Bank's headquarters in Bangkok.
The bank said in a statement that an initial investigation found that the accident was caused by "negligence on the part of our contractors hired to improve fire protection in the building."
Workers were upgrading a fire extinguishing system in a document archive room in the bank's basement when the accident occurred, causing the release of Pyrogen aerosol, officials said. They did not elaborate.
Police were investigating the accident and the bank said it would release more information after a meeting of its board members Monday.
Pyrogen is a chemical fire retardant normally intended to deprive fire of oxygen and is typically used in places where extinguishing a fire with water would damage documents or equipment.
Pyrogen's website says the dense aerosol is "most effective in unoccupied areas such as data rooms, machinery and engine spaces" and other storage areas. It says people should avoid exposure to Pyrogen and any "accidental exposure to the aerosol should be limited to five minutes."
The bank identified those who died as a security guard and seven contractors.
Bangkok's Erawan medical emergency center said five people died at the site of the accident and three died later at a hospital. It said the apparent cause of death was suffocation from insufficient oxygen, but that the official cause would not be known until autopsies are performed.
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HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO AUBURN ORTHOPEDIC FACILITY
Tags: us_WA, public, release, response, nitrogen
alley Regional Fire Authority firefighters responded to a report of explosive sounds and an unknown gas venting from the Cascade Orthopedic Center early Saturday morning, but a hazmat team found conditions to be safe.
The call was reported at 2:41 a.m. When crews arrived they found no damage to the building, at 122 3rd St. NE, but saw a plume of gas venting from the roof area. A regional hazardous materials team was dispatched to investigate the gas and streets were blocked off around the building, located near the MultiCare Auburn Medical Center.
Hazardous materials specialists from Kent Fire RFA and South King Fire entered the building to conduct air monitoring and found conditions to be safe. The gas was determined to be nitrogen, used for cooling a medical imaging machine.
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WORKER BURNED BY CHEMICALS AT COSMETICS LAB, COPS SAY
Tags: us_NJ, laboratory, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
SADDLE BROOK " A worker suffered facial burns after a chemical reaction went awry at a Saddle Brook cosmetics laboratory Friday night, the police chief said.
The worker was mixing chemicals "for some type of fragrance mix" at 9 p.m. at Chemaid Laboratories on Mayhill Street when a chemical reaction led to a fire, Saddle Brook Police Chief Robert Kugler said in an e-mail.
In addition to facial burns, the worker suffered hand burns after the chemicals reacted with one another, resulting in a "flash flame," the chief said.
The short-lived fire was immediately extinguished, he said, and Saddle Brook's police and fire units responded to the incident. The worker was transported to the hospital by Saddle Brook EMS, he said.
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ACCIDENTAL RELEASE PREVENTION REQUIREMENTS: RISK MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS UNDER THE CLEAN AIR ACT
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in response to Executive Order 13650, is proposing to amend its Risk Management Program regulations. The proposed revisions include several changes to the accident prevention program requirements including an additional analysis of safer technology and alternatives for the process hazard analysis for some Program 3 processes, third-party audits and incident investigation root cause analysis for Program 2 and Program 3 processes, enhancements to the emergency preparedness requirements, increased public availability of chemical hazard information, and several other changes to certain regulatory definitions and data elements submitted in risk management plans. These proposed amendments seek to improve chemical process safety, assist local emergency authorities in planning for and responding to accidents, and improve public awareness of chemical hazards at regulated sources.
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HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO AMMONIA LEAK IN LANCASTER COUNTY
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, ammonia
Emergency crews on Thursday night continued to respond to a report of an ammonia leak at a refrigeration company in Lancaster County.
According to dispatch reports, hazardous material crews were dispatched to Agrifrost, 156 W. Harrisburg Ave., in Elizabethtown.
There has been no injuries reported. Residents in the area have been told to stay in their homes. Rheems Elementary School is near the location of the incident.
---------------------------------------------
AUTHORITIES CLEAR HAZARDOUS MATERIALS FROM PHOENIX BUSINESS
Tags: us_AZ, industrial, discovery, response, unknown_chemical
PHOENIX - Phoenix police and firefighters acted on a judge's orders Friday morning to clear a business near downtown of hazardous materials.
Just after 9:17 a.m. Phoenix police alerted media that city officials were serving a "planned hazardous material abatement warrant" at Papago Plating Company, Inc. near 24th and Washington streets.
Authorities said the business failed to comply with city, state and federal regulations for storing hazardous chemicals. The warrant alleges a public health risk.
A police spokesman tells 12 News previous attempts to bring the business into compliance were unsuccessful.
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CONGRESSMAN GENE GREEN CALLS FOR OSHA INVESTIGATION INTO FIRE AT PETROBRAS" PASADENA REFINERY
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, injury, hydrogen
Texas Congressman Gene Green is calling on officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to conduct a formal investigation into an explosion at a Pasadena refinery that sent one worker to the hospital to be treated for burns.
On Saturday (March 5), emergency crews at Pasadena Refining Systems Inc. (PRSI) were dispatched after flames broke at the Hydrogen Desulphurization Unit at the plant, located at 111 Red Bluff Rd. Heavy black smoke from the explosion caused portions of the Houston Ship Channel to be closed down for roughly three hours while U.S. Coast Guard hazmat teams investigated for any possible chemical release in the air or any impact on the ship channel. The Washburn tunnel also had to be closed until the flames were under control.
"The fire was contained and the facility managers have reported that the plant is in safe condition. This incident, however, is the latest in a series of accidents at the PRSI plant that have resulted in injuries to facility workers," Congressman Green wrote in a letter to Assistant Secretary of Labor David Michaels on March 10.
An investigation by OSHA officials uncovered 24 violations at PRSI which resulted in fines totaling $100,000 for initial penalties. The plant was again fined again in 2012 for an earlier fire in December 2011, Green pointed out in his letter.
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CHEMICAL TRUCK CRASHES INTO WICKEPIN HOME, NARROWLY MISSES OCCUPANT
Tags: Australia, transportation, discovery, response, unknown_chemical
A truck towing a trailer laden with chemicals has crashed into the front bedroom of a house in Wickepin, about 240 kilometres south-east of Perth, narrowly missing the occupant who was in another room.
The chemicals did not leak from their containers but the 43-year-old truck driver became trapped in the cab after it became wedged under the eve of the roof of the house.
He was freed by emergency service workers and taken to Narrogin hospital with minor injuries.
A woman who lives in the house was in the lounge room when the truck slammed into her bedroom. She was not injured.
Police said the driver lost control of the truck as he was travelling down Pingelly Road about 9.30pm on Friday.
The truck crossed two sets of railway tracks, a small ditch and a road before hitting the home and causing approximately $40,000 damage.
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WATER COMPANY SEEKS DELAY IN CHEMICAL SPILL TRIAL
Tags: us_WV, public, follow-up, response, other_chemical
West Virginia American Water Co. is asking a federal judge to delay the trial in a class-action lawsuit over the company"s role in the crisis that followed the January 2014 chemical spill that contaminated drinking water supplies for hundreds of thousands of residents and businesses across the region.
Water company lawyers are asking U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. to postpone the trial for 60 days, from its current starting date of July 12 until Sept. 12.
In a court filing on Thursday, West Virginia American told the judge they need more time to complete depositions of potential witnesses in the case. Lawyers for Kanawha Valley residents and businesses who brought the case, as well as for defendant Eastman Chemical, said Friday that they agree generally with the need for a trial delay.
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WORKER COLLAPSES, 2 OTHERS SICKENED BY HANOVER TWP. PLANT CHEMICAL VAPOR
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
One worker collapsed and two others were sickened by a chemical vapor Friday night at a food and perfume processing plant in Hanover Township, Northampton County, officials said.
Paramedics and firefighters rushed to Unger & Co. at 110 N. Commerce Way at 3 p.m. after the first worker had trouble breathing, passed out and hit his head, Hanover Township Manager Jay Finnigan said.
"It was discovered that they had a situation where there was a chemical interaction that caused respiratory distress," said Finnigan, who also is the township's deputy emergency coordinator.
A hazardous materials emergency was declared, he said, and 20 workers were evacuated from part of the Unger plant.
County, state and federal officials joined local emergency workers at the plant and worked with Unger officials to track down and repair the equipment malfunction that produced the chemical vapor, Finnigan said.
The emergency was declared over about 6 p.m., he said.
The worker who hit his head and the two other men who inhaled the vapor were taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg for treatment.
Hanover Township, East Allen and Nancy Run fire companies were on the scene, as were local ambulances and representatives of county Emergency Management Services, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Finnigan said he did not know which chemical or chemicals were involved in the incident. Residents downwind of the plant reported smelling the odor, but no one else was injured, he said.
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