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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, May 13, 2016 at 8:08:16 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=DQIFaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=oZ6qIqHp55fN_oMuw7q2IDYKoiod3IewoFJrHFuqduc&s=IJVaLN3FeHWNf3U0sFV9WdwmS6IT3HPFpHWVTsFeqsM&e=
Table of Contents (12 articles)
HAZMAT TEAM CONTAINED LEAKY SHIPPING CONTAINER
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical, corrosives
COMMENTARY: HOW A GAG ORDER, CLOSED DOORS AND HUSH MONEY FURTHER TWIST TRANSPARENCY PLEDGE AT U OF L
Tags: us_KY, laboratory, follow-up, environmental
100 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN EVACUATED AFTER A 'CHEMICAL INCIDENT' IN LONDON
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, injury, ammonia
WEST TEXAS FERTILIZER BLAST: 'CRIMINAL ACT' RULING DEEPENS MYSTERY
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, death, ammonium_nitrate, illegal
AVON FIRE MARSHAL: OILY RAGS SPONTANEOUSLY IGNITED, SPARKING FIRE AT DERRIN HOUSE
Tags: us_CT, public, fire, response, petroleum, waste
OXNARD"S DEL NORTE SOLID WASTE AND RECYCLING FACILITY REOPENS AFTER SMALL CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, waste
EVACUATION AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK AT STOCKHOLM LAB
Tags: Sweden, laboratory, release, response, toluene
ARKAY REOPENS AFTER FIRE INJURES 2
Tags: us_NC, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
TURNER CALLS FOR TOUGHER OVERSIGHT OF HAZMAT FACILITIES
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, response, unknown_chemical
PARTIAL LIST OF WHAT WAS BURNING IN WAREHOUSE FIRE RELEASED
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, response, other_chemical
RED CHEMICALS FROM SPRING BRANCH FIRE FLUSHED FROM CREEKS, BAYOUS
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, petroleum, runoff
INVESTIGATORS: 2013 WEST FERTILIZER PLANT BLAST A 'CRIMINAL ACT'
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, environmental, ag_chems, explosives, illegal
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HAZMAT TEAM CONTAINED LEAKY SHIPPING CONTAINER
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical, corrosives
WILMINGTON, CA - Firefighters contained a corrosive substance that leaked from a shipping container at Terminal Island on Thursday.
The leak was reported at 3:20 p.m. at Berth 406 near Navy Way, according to Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
A hazardous materials crew entered the container and took samples of the unknown substance, which was slowly leaking from drums on pallets inside a 40-foot container, Scott said.
The crew contained and stopped the leak then wrapped the container so it could be m
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COMMENTARY: HOW A GAG ORDER, CLOSED DOORS AND HUSH MONEY FURTHER TWIST TRANSPARENCY PLEDGE AT U OF L
Tags: us_KY, laboratory, follow-up, environmental
Insider Louisville recently obtained an email exchange between University of Louisville paralegal Carcyle D. Barrett and former Biosafety Committee member Art Williams. It begins with notification of a lawsuit by two laid-off employees of the university"s biological safety program " whistleblower Karen Brinkley and her boss, Carol Whetstone " and urges parties who "may have relevant information" not to discuss the claims with "anyone other than the University"s inside or outside counsel."
But similar claims were publicized long before the suit was filed. In December of 2014, Williams vacated the Biosafety Committee after 13 years as he decried violations of National Institutes of Health guidelines, incident reporting delays, retaliation, no-bid contracts and potential conflicts of interest.
As former director of the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District and as a former state environmental commissioner, he routinely partnered with the press to educate the public on vital concerns. Consequently Williams, a soft-spoken scientist with a law degree, bristled when he read, "This memorandum should be treated as attorney-client privileged and confidential, and its contents should not be shared with others."
His reply doesn"t resonate as that of a client: "You may not appreciate how anxiety producing and disturbing it is suddenly, with no notice, to receive what purports to be a gag order ?| with no legal authority behind it. It makes me very angry " and further disappointed [that] U of L ?| would seek to prevent me from even consulting my own counsel ?|"
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100 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN EVACUATED AFTER A 'CHEMICAL INCIDENT' IN LONDON
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, injury, ammonia
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) rushed the crowds of people from their workplace, along London Wall, after a fridge leaked ammonia.
The fire service responded to the incident by sending two fire engines, two fire and rescue units as well as specialist chemical response units, including scientific support vehicles and officers.
Workers were evacuated for their own safety after the leak, and two women were treated at the scene by the London Ambulance Service (LAS) after they came into contact with the substance.
A spokesman for the LFB said: "It was a chemical leak in an office block of ammonia leaking from a fridge from an office on the third floor.
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WEST TEXAS FERTILIZER BLAST: 'CRIMINAL ACT' RULING DEEPENS MYSTERY
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, death, ammonium_nitrate, illegal
Federal investigators opened a captivating new chapter in a deadly West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion when they announced that someone deliberately set the fire that sparked it.
But, as with many mysteries, the revelation raises more urgent questions.
Who did it? How? Why? And how do authorities know it was arson?
Anyone wanting answers to those questions immediately will have to wait. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says it is still investigating the April 17, 2013, blast at a West Fertilizer Co. plant, which killed 15 people " including a dozen emergency workers " injured 260 and leveled 120 houses, two schools and a nursing home.
The fire was reported about 20 minutes before the detonation, which was fueled by the plant's massive stockpile of ammonium nitrate.
Related: Deadly West, Texas, Fertilizer Plant Explosion Was 'Criminal Act': Feds
The partial destruction of the city of 2,800 people " marked by a crater 90 feet wide and 10 feet deep "was largely lost in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing, which occurred two days earlier, as the nation remained gripped over the hunt for the killers.
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AVON FIRE MARSHAL: OILY RAGS SPONTANEOUSLY IGNITED, SPARKING FIRE AT DERRIN HOUSE
Tags: us_CT, public, fire, response, petroleum, waste
AVON " The fire that badly damaged the historic Derrin House on Wednesday started when oily rags that had been thrown in a garbage can spontaneously ignited, the town fire marshal said Thursday.
The fire marshal, James DiPace, said members of the Avon Historical Society were working in the house Tuesday and threw oily rags they used in a garbage can rather than laying them out separately to dry. DiPace said a chemical reaction from the oils caused the rags to catch fire, which then spread to other parts of the house.
"It was just improper disposal of oily rags. It was an accident," DiPace said.
He said he commonly advises people who plan on putting an oil-based stain on woodwork to dry out rags used for cleanup separately before throwing them away.
The extent of the damage to the house has not been fully determined. DiPace said there is extensive fire damage to one room while other areas sustained heat and smoke damage.
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OXNARD"S DEL NORTE SOLID WASTE AND RECYCLING FACILITY REOPENS AFTER SMALL CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, waste
A small chemical spill Thursday temporarily shut Oxnard's Del Norte Regional Recycling and Transfer Station.
No one was injured, Oxnard Fire Chief Bryan Brice said.
The building at 111 S. Del Norte Blvd. was evacuated as a safety precaution as hazardous material teams investigated. It later reopened.
The staff at the facility, which handles trash and recycling services, did a "great job getting the area isolated and everybody safe and accounted for," Brice said.
The substance was apparently brought in with a load of recyclables or waste.
The plant accepts recycled materials and trash dropped off by customers as well as loads hauled in by the city's sanitation fleet.
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EVACUATION AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK AT STOCKHOLM LAB
Tags: Sweden, laboratory, release, response, toluene
UPDATED: Five hundred people were escorted from a building near the Karolinska Institute following a chemical leak.
Eleven people were cared for by ambulance staff after experiencing dizziness and facial numbness, said police.
The affected premises in Solna municipality in Stockholm county house both the Karolinska Institute and the Royal Institute of Technology as well as several privately-owned companies, wrote Aftonbladet.
The Swedish tabloid reported that the leak was believed to have started on the seventh floor of the building in a laboratory area used by a biochemical company which also is located in the building.
"There has been a discharge of gas in this room. It is probably the chemical toluene. In concentrated form it constitutes a fire and explosion hazard," police spokesperson Sven-Erik Olsson told the newspaper.
Police and emergency services examined the building, which was cordoned off between 1pm and 3pm.
One of the individuals affected by the incident was Sci Life Lab safety officer, Erik Malm.
"It's OK now, it was something chemical," he told news agency TT. "There was a strong chemical smell on a couple of floors, but we haven't been able to locate a source," he added.
Police later said that there was no longer any risk of explosion and no suspicion of any criminal activity.
"An unknown person had spilled or thrown the substance in a bin. A cleaner had then brought the substance into the room," confirmed police spokesperson Albin NĖ?verberg to TT.
---------------------------------------------
ARKAY REOPENS AFTER FIRE INJURES 2
Tags: us_NC, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
rkay Packaging employees went back to work Wednesday less than 24 hours after a fire broke out at the company"s Botetourt County manufacturing facility.
Company spokeswoman Ruth Rugoff said about 75 employees returned for the plant"s second shift at 2 p.m.
"There"s been no delay in our productivity, in doing the work we need to do," Rugoff said.
Firefighters found heavy smoke coming from the facility in the EastPark Commerce Center when they arrived Tuesday about 5:30 p.m. A fire alarm was sounded and the building had been evacuated before crews arrived.
Botetourt County Fire and EMS Battalion Chief Andrew Moore said investigators later determined a press machine in the building caught on fire, injuring two employees who were working nearby.
"Some chemical came in contact with a heat source around the machine, and that"s how we think the fire got started," Moore said.
Officials initially reported that the employees were exposed to hazardous chemicals because two chemicals that were kept close to the machine ignited. Moore on Wednesday said those employees were not exposed to the chemicals, but were injured by the fire alone. They were taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital and later moved to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
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TURNER CALLS FOR TOUGHER OVERSIGHT OF HAZMAT FACILITIES
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, response, unknown_chemical
Mayor Sylvester Turner called Wednesday for the city to conduct more regular building inspections, including those that store hazardous materials, saying that eight years had elapsed since the fire department last examined the Spring Branch warehouse that erupted in flames last week, spewing chemicals more than 2 miles downstream in a nearby creek.
Turner added that the city should implement more stringent reporting requirements for companies that store potentially dangerous materials and impose harsher penalties on those who fail to report accurately.
Officials have yet to determine whether Custom Packaging and Filling Company, home to last Thursday's fire, violated any city ordinances by not obtaining a hazardous material certificate of occupancy.So far officials have compiled only a partial list of chemicals stored at the facility.
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PARTIAL LIST OF WHAT WAS BURNING IN WAREHOUSE FIRE RELEASED
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, response, other_chemical
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Nearly a week after fire ripped through Custom Packaging and Filling plant in Houston's Spring Branch neighborhood, we finally have some idea of what exactly was burning.
The city made available a Material Safety Data Sheet of the chemicals stored on the site. However, it is not a complete list because the company never reported to the state what they stored. In addition, city officials also don't know the amount of each chemical on site, because there is no proper paper trail.
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RED CHEMICALS FROM SPRING BRANCH FIRE FLUSHED FROM CREEKS, BAYOUS
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, petroleum, runoff
SPRING BRANCH, Texas - The Environmental Protection Agency is using extra water from fire hydrants to help flush out what's left of red chemicals that darkened the Spring Branch Creek after last week"s deadly warehouse fire.
The EPA said roughly 3 miles of the creek were turned red by the chemicals.
Since Thursday, crews have been gathering samples from the water to determine what the chemicals are and to pump out the mess.
According to the EPA, there is also boom to prevent oil in the water from continuing to flow downstream. EPA officials said 100,000 gallons of oil and oily water have been collected.
The cleanup and the flushing are expected to last until the end of the week.
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INVESTIGATORS: 2013 WEST FERTILIZER PLANT BLAST A 'CRIMINAL ACT'
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, environmental, ag_chems, explosives, illegal
WEST, Texas - A deadly 2013 fertilizer plant blast in West, Texas was a criminal act, investigators said Wednesday.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives made the stunning announcement during a press conference Wednesday afternoon. The ATF said the initial fire which caused the blast was "incendiary," meaning it was set.
"We have eliminated all reasonable accidental and natural causes," said special agent Robert Elder. "This was a criminal act."
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