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From: DCHAS Secretary <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (17 articles)
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2016 06:35:11 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: A153B5C7-0DF2-492D-B917-F6054D79CC9F**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, November 23, 2016 at 6:34:42 AM
A membership benefit of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas
Table of Contents (17 articles)
PACKAGE EXPLODES IN PHILADELPHIA APARTMENT; 1 INJURED
Tags: us_PA, public, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
SMALL CHEMICAL LEAK AT ALISO CANYON FACILITY ??DISSIPATED QUICKLY,?? SOCALGAS SAYS
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, bromine, natural_gas
1 WORKER HURT IN EXPLOSION AT KANSAS CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: us_KS, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
RIGGIN CLOSURE TO REMAIN UNTIL MONDAY
Tags: us_IN, transportation, release, response, ethanol
BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT HOSPITALIZED AFTER MERCURY SPILL ON CAMPUS
Tags: us_RI, education, release, injury, mercury
EIGHT PEOPLE HOSPITALISED AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK AT MELBOURNE AIRPORT
Tags: Australia, transportation, release, injury, hydrofluoric_acid
FIRE AT EXXONMOBIL REFINERY LEAVES FOUR WORKERS CRITICALLY INJURED IN BATON ROUGE
Tags: us_LA, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
NATURAL GAS LEAK PROMPTS EVACUATION AT N. SPOKANE SAFEWAY
Tags: us_WA, public, release, response, natural_gas
DAMS INCREASE MERCURY EXPOSURE FOR CANADIAN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES
Tags: Canada, public, discovery, environmental, mercury
LESSONS LEARNED DATABASE
Tags: laboratory, release, response, mercury
HOW DO YOU KEEP TRACK OF TONS (LITERALLY) OF POTENTIALLY TOXIC STUFF?
Tags: us_NH, laboratory, discovery, environmental
10 YEARS AFTER MASSIVE BLAST, MASSACHUSETTS NEIGHBORHOOD IS STRONGER THAN EVER
Tags: us_MA, industrial, follow-up, environmental
HAZMAT CREWS RETURN TO ROME WATER TREATMENT PLANT AFTER SECOND CHLORINE LEAK
Tags: us_NY, industrial, release, response, chlorine, water_treatment
CORDON AROUND DANGEROUS CHEMICAL LEAK AT NAPIER PORT
Tags: New_Zealand, transportation, release, response, mek
SOUTH SIDE FIRE BRINGS TO LIGHT METH LAB OPERATION
Tags: us_PA, public, fire, response, clandestine_lab
2 TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER CHLORINE SPILL AT WATER TREATMENT PLANT
Tags: us_NY, industrial, release, injury, chlorine, water_treatment
RIGGIN TO REMAIN CLOSED AFTER ETHANOL TRUCK CRASH
Tags: us_IN, transportation, release, response, ethanol
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PACKAGE EXPLODES IN PHILADELPHIA APARTMENT; 1 INJURED
Tags: us_PA, public, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
PHILADELPHIA (AP) ?? A man was injured in an explosion when he opened a package containing medication for an inhaler in his downtown apartment Tuesday morning, police said.
Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the city??s bomb squad were trying to determine if it was an explosive device or caused by a chemical reaction from the medicine.
The 62-year-old, whose name has not been released, was taken to a hospital with injuries to his hands and chest. and he was in stable condition.
??As far as I know, there were no threats prior to this and no threats since,?? Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said. ??There is a possibility this was just an accidental explosion. We??re not certain at this point whether it was intentional or accidental.??
The package was delivered on Monday and the man opened it in his kitchen of the apartment he shares with a roommate around 4 a.m. Tuesday, Small said.
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SMALL CHEMICAL LEAK AT ALISO CANYON FACILITY ??DISSIPATED QUICKLY,?? SOCALGAS SAYS
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, bromine, natural_gas
A ??small chemical release?? caused by a malfunctioning tool at Southern California Gas Co.??s Aliso Canyon storage facility on Monday prompted the temporary evacuation of six contractors but no injuries were reported, according to state emergency and Gas. Co. officials.
Up to one cubic feet or about 7 gallons of bromine trifluoride, which is a pungent smelling and hazardous chemical, was released as vapor at the site of a natural gas well that was being inspected as part of a state-mandated comprehensive safety review, SoCalGas spokesman Chris Gilbride said Tuesday.
The chemical, a cutting agent akin to ??chemical scissors,?? was being used to cut an unidentified underground well??s inner tubing that was being removed and replaced as part of the inspection process of 114 natural gas wells at the SoCalGas facility above Porter Ranch. That process was triggered by a massive, nearly four-month natural gas leak that was detected in October of last year, officials said.
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1 WORKER HURT IN EXPLOSION AT KANSAS CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: us_KS, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
NEODESHA, Kan. ?? Federal safety inspectors are investigating an explosion and fire at a southeast Kansas chemical plant that injured one employee.
The explosion occurred about 7 a.m. Tuesday at the Airosol, Inc., plant in Neodesha, a town of about 2,500 residents. It was still not contained early Tuesday afternoon.
A 57-year-old male employee was taken to a hospital with burns. Cassandra Edson, spokeswoman for Wilson County Emergency Management, says his injuries were not considered life-threatening.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says it has begun an investigation.
Several blocks around the plant were evacuated and the town's schools closed for the day. Residents also were asked not to drink city water.
The plant, about 100 miles southeast of Wichita, manufactures and packages aerosol, liquid and other specialty chemicals.
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RIGGIN CLOSURE TO REMAIN UNTIL MONDAY
Tags: us_IN, transportation, release, response, ethanol
MUNCIE, Ind. ?? Riggin road will remain closed though the holiday weekend and into Monday according to John Coutinho, deputy director of Emergency Management in Delaware County. The stretch of East Riggin Road between North Broadway Avenue and the Muncie Bypass has been closed since a tanker truck carrying about 7,000 gallons of ethanol overturned Sunday afternoon leading to ground contamination from the leaking tanker.
Muncie and Hamilton Township firefighters were first on scene at the wreck, with their crews damming the leaking fuel. Fuel that escaped the tanker was vacuumed up later Sunday while the tanker was drained. Due to fuel escaping prior to the damn and seeping into the ground, HAZMAT teams had dug up areas near the field to locate agricultural drain tiles that were siphoning fuel away from the contaminated area.
Environmental Remediation Services will be on scene working to clean up contaminated ground from the accident. Riggin Road will remain closed due to a large hole which has been dug to remove contaminated soil. ERS will continue testing and back-fill the land before re-opening the section of road according, to Coutinho
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BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT HOSPITALIZED AFTER MERCURY SPILL ON CAMPUS
Tags: us_RI, education, release, injury, mercury
PROVIDENCE, R.I. ?? A Brown University student was hospitalized and a hazardous-materials team called in after an undisclosed amount of mercury was spilled on campus.
The university said a student in the Champlin Hall dormitory broke a thermometer and that several beads of mercury spilled out.
The Department of Emergency Management responded to the incident at about 11 p.m. Monday night to assist with hazardous cleanup.
One floor of the dormitory was evacuated while the mess was cleaned up. Students returned by 2 a.m.
The student was taken to a hospital as a precaution.
---------------------------------------------
EIGHT PEOPLE HOSPITALISED AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK AT MELBOURNE AIRPORT
Tags: Australia, transportation, release, injury, hydrofluoric_acid
Eight people have been treated by paramedics after being exposed to hydrofluoric acid at Melbourne Airport.
Emergency services were called to the airport around 9.30am after receiving reports of a ??chemical incident??, Ambulance Victoria Regional Health Commander Jon Byrne has confirmed.
It's understood airport staff working in the cargo area sounded the alarm after noticing damaged boxes containing hydrofluoric acid.
"Two ambulances, an ambulance bus, an ambulance vehicle with extra protective equipment and a health commander were sent to the airport," Mr Byrne said.
Mr Byrne said paramedics treated eight people at the scene.
A person who came in direct contact with the chemicals was taken to The Royal Melbourne Hospital in a stable condition.
The other seven patients were taken to The Northern Hospital in stable conditions.
---------------------------------------------
FIRE AT EXXONMOBIL REFINERY LEAVES FOUR WORKERS CRITICALLY INJURED IN BATON ROUGE
Tags: us_LA, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
Four workers were injured in a fire at the ExxonMobil refinery Tuesday and taken to a Baton Rouge hospital's burn unit.
The patients were all in critical condition, Meghan Parrish, a spokeswoman with Baton Rouge General Medical Center, said about two hours after the fire.
Curt Monte, a spokesman for the Baton Rouge Fire Department, said EMS and fire trucks responded to the facility around 4 p.m. after a fire was reported inside the plant. It was extinguished by Exxon's internal fire team, he said.
Mark Northcutt, the plant manager, said the team quickly put out the fire, which he described as occurring inside an "operating unit" in an isolated area. Neither Northcutt nor Monte said they knew the cause of the fire.
"We really don't know at this point," said Northcutt, adding that the facility will start an investigation.
---------------------------------------------
NATURAL GAS LEAK PROMPTS EVACUATION AT N. SPOKANE SAFEWAY
Tags: us_WA, public, release, response, natural_gas
SPOKANE, Wash. ?? The Spokane Fire Department said a natural gas leak prompted evacuations on Tuesday morning at a Safeway store in Spokane.
According to officials, around 5:47 a.m. they were dispatched to the Safeway grocery store located on 933 East Mission Avenue for a gas leak.
Employees of the store reported smelling gas and called authorities. Crews were able to evacuate about 40 people that were in the store at the time. They shut off the gas supply and began ventilating the building.
Crews worked with Avista to systematically check the structure to pinpoint the location of the gas source. They discovered a leaking joint in one of the supply lines to the heating system. The line was isolated and a private contractor will be brought in for repairs, fire officials said.
---------------------------------------------
DAMS INCREASE MERCURY EXPOSURE FOR CANADIAN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES
Tags: Canada, public, discovery, environmental, mercury
Canada has 22 hydropower dam projects under consideration, part of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A new study suggests this development will substantially increase the exposure to neurotoxic methylmercury of indigenous people living nearby (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2016, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b04447).
Mercury occurs naturally in soil and is deposited from the air through fossil fuel emissions, especially burning coal. Damming floods the soil, mobilizing organic carbon that feeds microbes that can then convert elemental mercury into more toxic methylmercury. Methylmercury bioaccumulates in food webs, exposing people who eat local birds, fish, and other marine animals to higher levels of the neurotoxin. All currently proposed Canadian dams are within 100 km of indigenous communities, which rely on these foods.
Local Inuit and others have protested the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project in Labrador because of these concerns. Harvard University scientists Elsie M. Sunderland, Ryan S. D. Calder, and colleagues built a model to predict methylmercury accumulation in the river above the dam and in the estuary downstream. Then they estimated the increased mercury exposure for wildlife and local residents, relying on data from earlier studies and baseline methylmercury measurements from hair samples of 571 Inuit in the area, about 20% of the total Inuit population in the region.
---------------------------------------------
LESSONS LEARNED DATABASE
Tags: laboratory, release, response, mercury
Discussion: During a mercury amalgamation experiment, an unexpected temperature increase occurred. As part of the testing, two one-gallon (greater than 5% full) cans were loaded under a hood with radioactive elemental mercury sludge, sulfur, and milling balls. As a spill prevention measure, each can was placed in two zip lock bags and an outer airtight polymer bag prior to placing on a paint shaker for an expected 2 hour test duration. The experiment was designed to replicate an amalgamation experiment that was performed by Y-12 Development in the 1990s.
After a sulfur smell was detected 40 minutes into the run, the shaker was turned off and the Waste Engineer and Radcon Technician paused the experiment and left the trailer. A HEPA ventilation unit continued to run. After approximately 15 minutes, the workers re-entered the trailer and the Radcon Technician checked the outer bag of the cans for contamination. There was no radioactive contamination detected but the workers noticed that one of the inner plastic bags had melted from heat on one of the cans. This can was pulled off the shaker and placed in a ventilation hood.
The Waste Engineer then decided to resume the testing of the second can, which was not hot to the touch. He intended to shake the can in 10-minute increments followed by a temperature check to ensure it did not overheat. About 8 minutes into this run the shaker was stopped because the outer bag exhibited expansion and the plastic bags started to smolder. The workers stopped the paint shaker, left the trailer and notified PSS, who notified the fire department and other management.
The Y-12 Fire Department responded and performed a visual inspection of the can and area. They gave the all clear--no smoke and no fire were seen. The facility was left in a stable condition and posted to prohibit entry pending development and execution of a re-entry plan.
The work team investigation identified that work was performed outside the authorized work control system and the test plan was not followed as written. The testing was re-started even though there was an unexpected temperature increase during the first run.
Mercury Sludge Different Than Pure Elemental Mercury -
The presence of water in the mercury sludge was not recognized as a significant variant from the original test protocol that used pure elemental mercury. When heating occurred, the water fraction vaporized and caused the expansion in the outer bag.
---------------------------------------------
HOW DO YOU KEEP TRACK OF TONS (LITERALLY) OF POTENTIALLY TOXIC STUFF?
Tags: us_NH, laboratory, discovery, environmental
Keeping track of inventory is the worst part of any business. Now imagine that the inventory might be explosive, flammable, radioactive or corrosive ?? and is surrounded by college students.
This is the situation at UNH, which like all research universities has hundreds of people handling toxic materials of all sorts, both for classes and for research projects. Happily, the school has developed a system for keeping track of it all that is so good that it has been sold to a couple of biotech firms as well as two dozen other schools and pays for itself.
The system, known as CEMS ?? for chemical environmental management system ?? was born from turmoil. It was created after the EPA found violations of the school??s chemical inventory and safety practices in 1997. UNH paid a fine of $49,000 but, as part of the settlement, also agreed to set up an information system to keep track of the use and storage of chemicals, taking advantage of the newish technology still known as the World Wide Web.
The interface and user experience ?? developed to keep tabs on which maybe nasty stuff is stored where ?? has proven useful for everything from keeping track of employee training to helping researchers share materials (not just chemicals but equipment, even fume hoods) so they don??t have to buy, or throw out, as much. There are now 9,048 active accounts on CEMS, just at UNH.
??Over time, based on needs of UNH Environmental Health and Safety department, and of other schools, CEMS has just kind of grown and grown, feature-wise,?? said Phil Collins, lead developer for the system.
---------------------------------------------
10 YEARS AFTER MASSIVE BLAST, MASSACHUSETTS NEIGHBORHOOD IS STRONGER THAN EVER
Tags: us_MA, industrial, follow-up, environmental
DANVERS, Mass. ?? You have to know where to look to find evidence that a massive explosion at an ink and paint plant ripped apart a Massachusetts riverside neighborhood the day before Thanksgiving 10 years ago.
The more than 20 homes that were destroyed in that Nov. 22, 2006, blast have been rebuilt and many of the neighbors have moved back into new homes. A new boat yard occupies the site of the explosion, where the CAI Inc. and Arnel Co. factory was destroyed, and new commercial buildings line the street where old ones had been blown apart. A large settlement and improved safety regulations and protocols also came in the wake of the explosion.
+9
An aerial view of the neighborhood as it looks today in 2016, 10 years after the explosion.
Photo By Ken Yuszkus | The Beverly, Massachusetts Salem News
Still, the blast changed forever the lives of those who lived through what former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney termed ??a Thanksgiving miracle in Danvers,?? because ?? despite the widespread destruction ?? no one was killed.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT CREWS RETURN TO ROME WATER TREATMENT PLANT AFTER SECOND CHLORINE LEAK
Tags: us_NY, industrial, release, response, chlorine, water_treatment
LEE, ONEIDA COUNTY ?? A second chlorine leak at the City of Rome's water treatment plant has Stokes Lee Center Road near Route 26 shut down Monday morning.
Stokes Elementary School was also closed, prior to the entire Rome City School District closing due to weather conditions.
Rome mayor Jackie Izzo tells NewsChannel 2 around 5:30 Saturday evening 30 pounds of chlorine leaked inside the new water treatment facility. Crews were on the scene then, and have been monitoring the situation for two days now.
Izzo stressed to NewsChannel 2 Monday morning that no chlorine has leaked into the water supply, the there is no danger to the city's water. She says a chlorine tank leaked on Saturday, and a safety valve leaked Monday morning. She says the leak has been contained to the building, but it is possible area residents may smell chlorine in the air as building is ventilated.
Emergency and Hazmat personnel were on the scene well into Sunday, and Monday morning Hazmat crews from Utica and Rome were called in again for another leak - according to Oneida County Emergency Services.
---------------------------------------------
CORDON AROUND DANGEROUS CHEMICAL LEAK AT NAPIER PORT
Tags: New_Zealand, transportation, release, response, mek
A hazmat team has set up a 100m cordon around a shipping container at Napier Port that was leaking a hazardous chemical.
Hazmat truck
The chemical is methyl ethyl ketone, otherwise known as butanone.
Butanone is a common solvent, used in items such as whiteboard pens and in the manufacture of plastics.
Port of Napier communications advisor Breanna Cullen said the chemical is flammable and considered hazardous.
Four fire crews including a hazmat unit were called to the scene just after 10am.
---------------------------------------------
SOUTH SIDE FIRE BRINGS TO LIGHT METH LAB OPERATION
Tags: us_PA, public, fire, response, clandestine_lab
A South Williamsport couple remains in prison this morning after fire department officials responded to a basement fire in a house Saturday that turned out to be a residence serving as a laboratory manufacturing methamphetamine.
Michael E. Harris, 37, and Courtney P. Long, 29, of 534 Childs Drive, a street that dead-ends near the Little League complex, were arraigned before District Judge Jon Kemp on multiple charges filed by state police and jailed in Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $200,000 each, South Williamsport Police Chief Robert Hetner said Sunday evening.
Firefighters responded to the cellar fire about 7 p.m. and in the process of dealing with putting the fire out noticed what they suspected could be chemicals that could be used to manufacture the drug.
---------------------------------------------
2 TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER CHLORINE SPILL AT WATER TREATMENT PLANT
Tags: us_NY, industrial, release, injury, chlorine, water_treatment
LEE ?? Two workers were taken to a local hospital Saturday after a "significant" amount of chlorine spilled at the Rome City Water Treatment Plant in the town of Lee, officials said.
Oneida County Emergency Services Director Kevin Revere said between 150 and 200 pounds of chlorine spilled both inside and outside the facility, and that crews would be working throughout the night to clean up the chemical.
"Much less can really hurt somebody so we take every precaution possible," Revere said.
"The thing about hazmat situations is they're very methodical," he added later. "They want to take their time so they don't make a bad situation worse."
The two people taken to the hospital were taken as a precaution, he added, and not due to any specific injuries. The spill won't affect drinking water in the city of Rome or neighboring wells, he said.
---------------------------------------------
RIGGIN TO REMAIN CLOSED AFTER ETHANOL TRUCK CRASH
Tags: us_IN, transportation, release, response, ethanol
MUNCIE, Ind. ?? An overturned tanker truck carrying about 7,000 gallons of ethanol resulted in Riggin Road being closed to traffic between the Muncie Bypass and Broadway throughout Sunday and into Monday.
The truck rolled over in an accident early Sunday, leaving it on its back with one of the three tanks damaged and leaking the flammable liquid when HazMat crews arrived around 6:30 a.m., according to John Coutinho, deputy director of Emergency Management, on the scene Sunday.
Muncie and Hamilton Township firefighters were the first on scene, with their crews damming the leaking fuel. Fuel that escaped the tanker was vacuumed up Sunday morning while the tanker was drained.
By 1 p.m., the last of the three tanks were being drilled and emptied out before the truck could be turned back over and removed. Emergency responders estimated Riggin Road would remain closed another hour to hour and a half.
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