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From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (25 articles)
Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2017 06:23:13 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: A3C50A83-C0F7-4814-B758-0190D7561E1B**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, February 17, 2017 at 6:22:55 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 (25 articles)
EMERGENCY DECLARED AFTER PAINT FACTORY FIRE IN GUADALAJARA
Tags: Mexico, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
3 HURT IN SMALL EXPLOSION AT TEK PARK IN UPPER MACUNGIE
Tags: us_PA, laboratory, explosion, injury, dust
CHEMICAL SPILL AT NUFFIELD MEDICAL CENTRE SPARKS EVACUATION
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
STUDENT ACCIDENTLY MAKES EXPLOSIVE CHEMICAL USED IN 7/7, PARIS, & BRUSSELS TERRORIST ATTACKS ' RT UK
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, follow-up, response, explosives
SULPHURIC ACID CLOUD FROM CHEMICAL PLANT ACCIDENT TRIGGERS EVACUATIONS AS 150 RESIDENTS SUFFER BREATHING PROBLEMS
Tags: Germany, industrial, release, response, sulfuric_acid
CHEMICAL SPILL PROMPTS EVACUATIONS IN NATIONAL CITY
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, oxidizer
ALAMEDA: BLOCK REOPENS AFTER HAZMAT RESPONSE
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, unknown_chemical, natural_gas
INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE SAYS PUSH FORWARD WITH HUMAN GENOME EDITING
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental
TOXIC CLEANING CHEMICAL SPARKS EVACUATION OF MOTUEKA TRANSFER STATION
Tags: New_Zealand, industrial, release, response, cleaners, solvent, waste
FIREFIGHTERS DIVE INTO UNKNOWN CHEMICAL THREATS
Tags: us_MO, industrial, discovery, environmental, unknown_chemical
FD: CHEMICALS FROM DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS TRAINING AFFECT 8 KIDS IN FLORENCE
Tags: us_AZ, education, release, response, tear_gas
OFFICIAL PRESSES FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT SMALL CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_WV, public, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical
LEFTOVER CHEMICALS HEIGHTEN THE RISK OF BARREL FIRES AT REFURBISHING FACILITIES
Tags: us_WI, public, follow-up, environmental, flammables, waste
TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT IMPROVE IN WAKE OF ANHYDROUS LEAK OVER STEWARDSON
Tags: us_IL, transportation, follow-up, environmental, ammonia
MINOR HAZMAT SITUATION REPORTED AT SKYLINE HIGH SCHOOL
Tags: us_ID, laboratory, discovery, response, sodium
PEPPER SPRAY FUMES PROMPT EVACUATION OF GARDEN GROVE HOTEL
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, pepper_spray
URANIUM FOUND IN PHOENIX HOUSE, NOT RADIOACTIVE
Tags: us_AZ, public, discovery, response, uranium
HAZMAT-SUITED FIREFIGHTERS CHECK ON SPILL
Tags: Canada, industrial, release, response, bleach, water_treatment
HARVEST CREWS MIGHT BE ALLOWED HAZMAT FUEL EXEMPTIONS
Tags: us_SD, industrial, discovery, response, diesel
HOOSICK FALLS CHEMICAL CONCERNS SPREAD TO AIR
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, response, other_chemical
HAZMAT CREWS CLEAN UNKNOWN CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_TN, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical, ammonia
CITRUS HEIGHTS MAN SUFFERS BURNS IN HONEY OIL LAB EXPLOSION
Tags: us_CA, public, explosion, response, clandestine_lab
HAZARDOUS MATERIAL SPILL CLOSES CORONA ROAD
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, nitric_acid
'OXYGEN DEPRIVATION' AT TUALATIN PLANT SENDS 6 TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_OR, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
HEAVY METALS PLANT FIRE PROMPTS EVACUATION AT ARCONIC TUESDAY
Tags: us_MI, industrial, fire, response, dust, metals
---------------------------------------------
EMERGENCY DECLARED AFTER PAINT FACTORY FIRE IN GUADALAJARA
Tags: Mexico, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
Schools and roads were closed and residents warned against air pollution yesterday afternoon after a paint factory caught fire in the El Rosario neighborhood of Guadalajara.
The Jalisco Environment Secretariat declared an atmospheric emergency within a one-kilometer radius in the municipality's industrial zone at 3:00pm and urged citizens to avoid the contamination.
Among recommendations issued by the Atmospheric Monitoring System were to avoid outdoor activities such as recreation and exercise, keep doors and windows closed and avoid going outdoors without a mask.
Firefighters were called in from various communities to help control the blaze, which destroyed nearly half the 7,000-square-meter building.
Authorities evacuated more than 2,000 people from the area and classes were suspended for at least 1,600 students in nearby schools.
There was no one hurt in the fire and firefighters, who fought it for four hours, succeeded in preventing it from spreading to other buildings. Several explosions could be heard while the fire burned as chemical containers varying in size from 20,000 to 200,000 liters blew up.
---------------------------------------------
3 HURT IN SMALL EXPLOSION AT TEK PARK IN UPPER MACUNGIE
Tags: us_PA, laboratory, explosion, injury, dust
UPPER MACUNGIE TWP., Pa. - Emergency crews responded to the report of a small explosion at a technology campus in Lehigh County on Thursday.
First responders were dispatched around 10:10 a.m. to Tek Park in Upper Macungie Township for a small chemical explosion.
Officials on the scene told 69 News that it was an isolated issue with a dust particle that hit the air and ignited in the Cyoptics lab in the rear of the building. Cyoptics works with fiber optics.
Three people were taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries, officials said. A police officer was also taken to a hospital as a precaution.
About seven others involved had to be decontaminated, according to emergency crews.
The building was not evacuated, officials said.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL SPILL AT NUFFIELD MEDICAL CENTRE SPARKS EVACUATION
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
According to reports, chemical fumes 'overwhelmed someone' at its hydrotherapy pool at the orthopaedic centre.
An official statement on the Oxford University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust revealed two staff members are being treated.
Melanie Proudfoot, a spokeswoman for the Headington hospital, said: "We understand the fire service is dealing with an incident at the hydrotherapy pool.
---------------------------------------------
STUDENT ACCIDENTLY MAKES EXPLOSIVE CHEMICAL USED IN 7/7, PARIS, & BRUSSELS TERRORIST ATTACKS ' RT UK
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, follow-up, response, explosives
A university student accidentally created a highly explosive chemical in a college science lab, the same substance used by terrorists in the 7/7 London bombings of 2005 and the Paris massacre of November 2015.
An investigation into the incident, which took place at the University of Bristol last week, confirmed that the unnamed PhD student had 'unintentionally formed' 90g of the chemical triacetone triperoxide, also known as TATP.
The dangerous substance was the by-product of a 'routine procedure,' thought to be another academically relevant experiment.
---------------------------------------------
SULPHURIC ACID CLOUD FROM CHEMICAL PLANT ACCIDENT TRIGGERS EVACUATIONS AS 150 RESIDENTS SUFFER BREATHING PROBLEMS
Tags: Germany, industrial, release, response, sulfuric_acid
Over 150 people have been treated for breathing problems after an accident at a chemical plant sent a cloud of sulfuric acid gas floating over a German city.
Police and firefighters evacuated dozens of people from homes and businesses near to the complex in Oberhausen where the spillage occurred on Thursday morning.
Authorities took to Twitter and Facebook to warn all residents in the metropolis in the old industrial Ruhr region to close all windows and doors and to avoid going outside.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL SPILL PROMPTS EVACUATIONS IN NATIONAL CITY
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, oxidizer
NATIONAL CITY (CNS) - An unplanned chemical reaction at a South Bay cleaning-supplies business sent up a plume of noxious gas into the air Thursday, prompting precautionary evacuations of surrounding homes and workplaces.
An oxidizing agent in a 55-gallon plastic drum began burning behind Prochem Specialty Products in the 100 block of East 18th Street in National City about 8:45 a.m., according to police and fire officials.
Workers at the business tried in vain to halt the out-of-control chemical reaction with extinguishers prior to the arrival of firefighters, city emergency-services Director Frank Parra said.
Police cleared everyone out of homes and businesses on 17th and 18th streets between B Avenue and National City Boulevard and directed people in other neighborhoods to the east, including students and staffers at two schools, to remain indoors until further notice.
By late morning, the unstable chemical compound had "pretty much burned itself out'' and melted the barrel that had contained it, Parra said.
---------------------------------------------
ALAMEDA: BLOCK REOPENS AFTER HAZMAT RESPONSE
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, unknown_chemical, natural_gas
ALAMEDA ' Firefighters have reopened a block after a hazardous materials team response to an apartment building Thursday afternoon, authorities said.
Just before 10:30 a.m., Alameda firefighters received report of a natural-gas release at the building in the 700 block of Central Avenue, Alameda fire Capt. James Colburn said.
When firefighters arrived, they found a small amount of a solid substance they could not immediately identify and reached out to Alameda County Fire Department's hazardous-materials team. Firefighters then evacuated the apartment building.
Twenty-one firefighters from both departments came on the scene Thursday afternoon, continuing their investigation, but as of 2:30 p.m., residents were being permitted to return to homes, and most crews were leaving the scene.
'The hazmat team has decided that the substance is not a threat,' Colburn said. 'They did enough analysis to determine it's not an environmental risk and doesn't pose a health hazard.'
---------------------------------------------
INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE SAYS PUSH FORWARD WITH HUMAN GENOME EDITING
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental
Editing genomes in human germline cells'eggs and sperm'that can be passed on to future generations has been considered off-limits to scientists. But advancements in gene editing are catalyzing a change in the zeitgeist. On Feb. 14, a committee of scientists, doctors, lawyers, and ethicists from ten countries agreed that germline genome editing in humans may be permissible in the future, under a set of stringent conditions outlined in a report from the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.
The 261 page National Academies document gives an expected green light to editing somatic cells'ones that cannot be passed to offspring'to treat disease. It also gives a 'yield' signal to both germline editing and somatic edits used for improving the genes of someone who is not ill.
'Being cautious does not mean prohibition,' says R. Alta Charo, co-chair of the committee and professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. At a public meeting presenting the report she emphasized the need for more basic scientific research before proceeding with in-human trials.
Ethical concerns about editing human genes are decades old, but the rapid rise of the cheap and simple CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology has spurred debates anew. U.S. restrictions currently block federal funding for human germline editing, but scientists can still obtain funding for such work through other means.
---------------------------------------------
TOXIC CLEANING CHEMICAL SPARKS EVACUATION OF MOTUEKA TRANSFER STATION
Tags: New_Zealand, industrial, release, response, cleaners, solvent, waste
A highly toxic cleaning chemical dumped at the Motueka Transfer Station sparked an emergency evacuation after staff fell ill and birds died.
The fire service responded to a suspected chemical spill at the transfer station in Robinson Rd about 10am on Thursday.
They were alerted by two staff who had become ill on site.
Staff receive medical attention after a at the Tasman District Council's transfer station near Motueka.
Motueka Deputy Fire Chief Mike Compton said staff had also seen several dead birds which indicated something might be wrong.
Staff were treated by St John paramedics at the scene.
The entrance to the transfer station was cordoned off while firefighters wearing chemical suits investigated the dump site.
Compton said they found a hazardous chemical in the pit.
"Once they identified it, we isolated it into a sealed unit. It was only a small amount, it was probably about 500mls," Compton said.
"And any product that had been contaminated around it was also put into the unit."
Tasman District Council spokesman Chris Choat said the chemical was a "very strong solvent" used for industrial-grade cleaning. It was most likely dumped on Thursday morning.
"It was just a small amount left in a drum, but it was enough to have an effect," Choat said.
---------------------------------------------
FIREFIGHTERS DIVE INTO UNKNOWN CHEMICAL THREATS
Tags: us_MO, industrial, discovery, environmental, unknown_chemical
When the alarm sounds, firefighters often find themselves battling more than flames.
The large number of warehouses and old commercial buildings in St. Joseph raises questions about what kinds of chemicals are stored inside.
There are more than 500 businesses in Buchanan County that file required reports to the St. Joseph Fire Department every year to let them know that they are storing potentially hazardous chemicals.
On top of that, city officials have estimated that 10 percent of St. Joseph's vacant building stock may contain some unknown stored chemicals. With older buildings, there may be no record of what's inside when firefighters arrive.
'We're going into the unknown most of the time,'said St. Joseph Fire Department Training Officer Bill Lamar. 'It's not until after we get on scene and are trying to fight the fire that we find out what we're actually trying to fight up against.'
---------------------------------------------
FD: CHEMICALS FROM DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS TRAINING AFFECT 8 KIDS IN FLORENCE
Tags: us_AZ, education, release, response, tear_gas
FLORENCE, AZ - Fire officials say eight Florence students have been treated after being exposed to tear gas that blew into the air near their school late Wednesday morning.
According to the Florence Fire Department, the Arizona Department of Corrections was conducting training with a chemical normally used for inmate compliance. The weather caused the chemical to reach the children, who were at Florence K-8 near Pinal Parkway and Butte, causing throat and eye irritation.
According to a release from the Florence Unified School District, the school was immediately put on a "rainy day" schedule so no additional students would go outside as Fire Department personnel responded to assist.
Fire officials initially reported that more than three dozen children had been affected, but district administrators later said only six were being treated for watery eyes and nausea.
---------------------------------------------
OFFICIAL PRESSES FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT SMALL CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_WV, public, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) ' A Kanawha County official is demanding more details about a small spill along the Kanawha River that apparently involved the same primary chemical that caused a water crisis in the area three years ago.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail (http://bit.ly/2kRRUeF">http://bit.ly/2kRRUeF ) reports County Commission President Kent Carper wrote a strongly worded letter Monday to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection regarding a small spill at a coal preparation facility last week.
State health officials have not given any indication that the local Cedar Grove drinking water supply had been contaminated or that the MCHM chemical had reached the river.
There also was no concern about potential contamination of West Virginia American Water's main Kanawha Valley water intake, since it is located on the Elk River, upstream from the Elk's intersection with the Kanawha.
---------------------------------------------
LEFTOVER CHEMICALS HEIGHTEN THE RISK OF BARREL FIRES AT REFURBISHING FACILITIES
Tags: us_WI, public, follow-up, environmental, flammables, waste
Firefighters knew immediately it wasn't a routine assignment the night of Sept. 20, 2005, when they were called to Kitzinger Cooperage.
'When you get the call that flames are coming through the roof and that it's Kitzinger Cooperage, it takes you up a few notches,' said Frank Lockwood, who recently retired as chief of the St. Francis Fire Department.
Kitzinger was in the business of refurbishing and recycling steel drums. Many of its customers were companies with flammable products such as paint, chemicals and oil.
---------------------------------------------
TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT IMPROVE IN WAKE OF ANHYDROUS LEAK OVER STEWARDSON
Tags: us_IL, transportation, follow-up, environmental, ammonia
Feb. 13--After 19 tons of potentially deadly anhydrous ammonia were released into the atmosphere over Stewardson in April, local emergency agencies and others began looking at ways to improve their response to such an emergency.
Stewardson Fire Chief Troy Agney said Jones Trucking Service in Stewardson donated three Level A hazmat suits and four practice hazmat suits to his department in the wake of the accident, which spurred the evacuation of 200 people from their homes and sent 20 to the hospital for treatment. There were no fatalities.
"It was a generous gift," Agney said of the new suits. "And we're very thankful for that."
A Jones transport truck was offloading about 20.5 tons of anhydrous ammonia at 5:30 a.m. on April 5 when a malfunction resulted in the release of about 19 tons of the compound that's used as fertilizer. Contact with it can cause watery eyes, runny noses and potentially crippling, or even fatal, respiratory issues. Those whose skin comes in contact with the gas risk caustic burns.
HSHS St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital in Effingham treated the 20 people affected by the release. After a few hours, the vapor had blown outside of town and evacuated residents were told they could return home.
---------------------------------------------
MINOR HAZMAT SITUATION REPORTED AT SKYLINE HIGH SCHOOL
Tags: us_ID, laboratory, discovery, response, sodium
IDAHO FALLS ' The Idaho Falls Fire Department was called to Skyline High School Wednesday morning for a report of a HAZMAT situation.
Sodium metal was exposed to the air in a science chemical storage area, according to Idaho Falls Battalion Chief Paul Radford.
'The chemical can react when it comes in contact with the air,' Radford tells EastIdahoNews.com. 'The situation was minor and is now contained.'
Idaho Falls School District 91 spokeswoman Margaret Wimborne says students in the area were temporarily evacuated to the commons area as a precautionary measure.
There were no reports of injuries or anybody feeling sick.
---------------------------------------------
PEPPER SPRAY FUMES PROMPT EVACUATION OF GARDEN GROVE HOTEL
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, pepper_spray
GARDEN GROVE ' Pepper spray fumes caused the evacuation of one floor of the Candlewood Suites in Garden Grove on Wednesday night, authorities said.
There was a report of a 'strange odor that overwhelmed' someone at the hotel at Garden Grove Boulevard and Haster Street at around 9:20 p.m., Garden Grove Fire Capt. Thanh Nguyen said.
Hazmat teams were called to the scene and 22 people were asked to leave rooms on the third floor while they investigated. After searching, hazmat workers discovered that a guest had sprayed pepper spray in their room, Nguyen said. Police officers were investigating why the spray was used.
The fumes spread and some people had been exposed when the smell was first reported but no one needed medical treatment, Nguyen said.
Firefighters were still ventilating the building at about 11:30 p.m., but guests were expected to be let back in soon after.
---------------------------------------------
URANIUM FOUND IN PHOENIX HOUSE, NOT RADIOACTIVE
Tags: us_AZ, public, discovery, response, uranium
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -
Hazmat crews say they found no detectable levels of radiation at a Phoenix retirement community Monday after a woman discovered uranium in a lead case.
It happened at the Beatitudes Campus at 16th and Glendale avenues around 7:30 p.m.
According to firefighters, a woman was cleaning out the garage of her deceased father-in-law's retirement home when she found a lead case that had uranium inside, according to Phoenix Fire Department spokesperson Reda Bigler.
The father-in-law was a long-time chemist.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT-SUITED FIREFIGHTERS CHECK ON SPILL
Tags: Canada, industrial, release, response, bleach, water_treatment
Barrie Fire and Emergency Services were called to the scene of a sodium hydrochloride spill in a storage building at the Bradford Street Wastewater Treatment Plant.
500 litres of the liquid, which is basically bleach but about seven per cent stronger than household bleach, spilled but was contained in the storage building.
Firefighters got the call at 3:41 p.m. Tuesday.
They donned Level A hazmat suits to enter the spill area to ensure it was contained and then used absorbal to help with clean up operations.
"Level A is the highest level of hazmat suit that we have but it is just precautionary," said Samantha Hoffmann, Barrie's Public Fire and Life Safety Officer.
---------------------------------------------
HARVEST CREWS MIGHT BE ALLOWED HAZMAT FUEL EXEMPTIONS
Tags: us_SD, industrial, discovery, response, diesel
PIERRE | A legislative panel gave its support Tuesday to an exemption for employees of custom harvesters to allow them to haul up to 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel without needing a hazardous materials endorsement.
The House Transportation Committee voted 10-0 to endorse House Bill 1124, submitted by Rep. Lana Greenfield, R-Doland.
Custom harvesters usually have their own combines and work freelance to harvest crops for farmers ' usually for the same farm each harvest season. Machines have increased in size, and fuel isn't readily available in some parts of rural South Dakota, Greenfield said. She added that harvesting could finish faster with the exemption.
Bruce Nelson, a harvester from Clark, said crews use 'a lot of foreign help' who aren't eligible for hazmat endorsements. He said Kansas has approved it and North Dakota is proceeding toward it.
---------------------------------------------
HOOSICK FALLS CHEMICAL CONCERNS SPREAD TO AIR
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, response, other_chemical
HOOSICK FALLS - There are more chemicals people in Hoosick Falls have to worry about. Honeywell found volatile organic compounds or VOCs while looking for sources of PFOA contamination.
Thirty-nine homes in the John Street area are being monitored for these VOC vapors. NewsChannel 13 knew about this contamination last week, but Tuesday night is the first time residents will get to ask experts questions about the dangerous chemicals.
If it's not the water, it could be the air in your house making you sick in Hoosick Falls.
Just as Vonda Grogan of First Street thought her PFOA nightmare was winding down, she got a call about VOCs from her brother.
"He called me up last night. He told me 'So we got more problems.' I said, 'What do you mean?' He said, 'Well I got a letter saying they're going to be doing more work and they're going to have to take care of some issues.' He said, 'I don't know what they mean,'" explained Grogan.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT CREWS CLEAN UNKNOWN CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_TN, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical, ammonia
MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) -
Emergency crews quickly sprang into action to clean up a chemical spill in Whitehaven.
Just before 1 a.m., a truck spilled an unknown chemical near a construction site near the intersection of Alcy Road and Elvis Presley Boulevard.
Though emergency crews said the chemical was not dangerous and posed no immediate threat to people in the area, the chemical gave off a strong smell of ammonia.
Hazmat crews worked carefully to clean up the substance and put it into blue barrels. Memphis Fire Department blocked the intersection as hazmat teams took the barrels from the area.
---------------------------------------------
CITRUS HEIGHTS MAN SUFFERS BURNS IN HONEY OIL LAB EXPLOSION
Tags: us_CA, public, explosion, response, clandestine_lab
A Citrus Heights man suffered burns Tuesday afternoon in what police said was an explosion of a honey-oil lab at a residence.
Citrus Heights police received several calls about 2:50 p.m. reporting smoke coming from a duplex in the 5800 block of Sperry Drive. As officers were responding to the home, the sole occupant of the duplex ran outside suffering from burns sustained in a fire that resulted from a small chemical explosion, according to a Police Department news release.
During the investigation, officers determined that the occupant, 49-year-old David Aaron Jantz, was attempting a chemical solvent extraction of butane to manufacture hash oil from marijuana, police said.
---------------------------------------------
HAZARDOUS MATERIAL SPILL CLOSES CORONA ROAD
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, nitric_acid
A cleaning material spill prompted the closure of a Corona street on Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 14, a fire official said.
The driver of a box truck was traveling in the area of Alcoa Circle and Rincon Street when he realized that the 330 gallon bin of Nitric Acid he was carrying was leaking, said Corona Fire spokesman John Deyoe.
Deyoe said the chemical is commonly utilized for cleaning purposes.
He said Rincon Street was closed off from Auburndale Street to Lincoln Avenue. Nearby businesses were evacuated for operational safety as crews attempted to start a cleanup.
Deyoe stressed that no one was in any danger as a result of the spill.
Crews had used a forklift to lift the bin of Nitric Acid off the truck and were trying to find a way to mitigate the leak before starting a decontamination operation.
---------------------------------------------
'OXYGEN DEPRIVATION' AT TUALATIN PLANT SENDS 6 TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_OR, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
TUALATIN, Ore. -- Six people were sent to nearby hospitals after a reported mechanical problem created "oxygen deprivation" about 4 a.m. Tuesday inside Lam Research.
All six people were released from hospitals within a few hours. They were not exposed to a toxic chemical, according to Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue.
The cause was initially thought to be a leak of sulfur hexaflouride, an odorless gas. However, TVF&R later said an unidentified external smell was the likely cause of employee discomfort.
The workers at the semiconductor plant at 11361 SW Leveton Drive who were taken to hospitals complained of upper respiratory issues, including runny noses, coughing and wheezing.
A hazmat team was dispatched to the scene. Lam said the odor was not coming from their facility and is currently working with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to investigate the source of the smell.
---------------------------------------------
HEAVY METALS PLANT FIRE PROMPTS EVACUATION AT ARCONIC TUESDAY
Tags: us_MI, industrial, fire, response, dust, metals
WHITEHALL, MI - A heavy metals fire in a dust collector prompted the evacuation of a plant at Arconic early Tuesday morning.
About 30 employees were evacuated from plant No. 4 after the fire was discovered just after 6 a.m. Feb. 14, said White Lake Fire Authority Chief Gregory M. Holman. The plant, formerly Alcoa, is located at 555 Benston Road in Whitehall.
White Lake firefighters, assisted by Montague firefighters, extinguished the fire with a dry chemical powder, Holman said. Because the fire was burning at such high temperatures - estimated at between 1,800 and 2,000 degrees - spraying water on it could have caused an explosion, he said.
The fire, discovered by employees, occurred when a spark ignited titanium, copper and brass particles collected in a large dust collection system, Holman said. Such fires occur a couple of times a year and the plant keeps the dry chemical for fire suppression on site, he said.
The chemical creates a "blanket" that smothers the fire, but the process takes time, he said. Firefighters were on scene about 2 1/2 hours, during which that section of the plant was not operating, he said. Normal plant operations resumed once the fire department cleared, Holman said.
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