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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 (17 articles)
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2017 07:18:46 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: 9DB92264-66E8-49D4-B315-FD22E95D4489**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, February 24, 2017 at 7:18:34 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)
SECOND CASE OF MERCURY SPILL IN SCHOOL LAB
Tags: Malaysia, laboratory, release, response, mercury
CEDAR HILL CHEMICAL PLANT THAT EXPLODED OPERATED WITHOUT NEEDED PERMIT
Tags: us_CT, industrial, follow-up, response, bleach, chlorine
MOUNTAIRE CHEMICAL EXPLOSION CAUSES SEVERE INJURY
Tags: us_DE, industrial, explosion, injury, cleaners
CASUALTIES FEARED IN CHEMICAL PLANT EXPLOSION IN UZBEKISTAN'S FERGHANA
Tags: Uzbekistan, industrial, explosion, death, ammonia
HAZMAT SITUATION REPORTED AT ST. RAPHAEL CAMPUS OF YALE-NEW HAVEN HOSPITAL
Tags: us_CT, public, release, response, formaldehyde
CHEMICAL CLEANING COMPANY FINED $39,000 FOR TOXIC DISCHARGE AT PAEROA
Tags: New_Zealand, public, follow-up, environmental, toxics
CHEMICAL SPILL CLEARS BUILDING
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, release, response, chlorine, waste
CHEMICAL SPILL AT CAJON PASS SCALES PROMPTS HAZARDOUS MATERIAL RESPONSE
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS CREW RESPONDS TO CHEMICAL SUICIDE IN WORCESTER
Tags: us_MA, public, release, death, unknown_chemical, suicide
COLLISION WITH POOL TRUCK TRIGGERS CHEMICAL SPILL IN PHOENIX
Tags: us_AZ, transportation, release, response, pool_chemicals
FAIRCHILD ENDING USE OF HAZARDOUS FIRE-EXTINGUISING FOAM
Tags: us_WA, industrial, discovery, environmental
FIRE BREAKS OUT AT SINGAPORE WASTE MANAGEMENT PLANT
Tags: Singapore, industrial, explosion, response, flammables, waste
INSIDE THE CHINESE LAB POISED TO STUDY WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS PATHOGENS
Tags: China, laboratory, discovery, environmental
CHEMICAL REACTION CAUSES BILOXI LIBRARY TO BE EVACUATED
Tags: us_MS, transportation, release, response, hydrochloric_acid, waste
6 ADULTS, 1 CHILD TREATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT FISHERS YMCA
Tags: us_IN, public, release, response, chlorine
STUDENTS BRIEFLY EVACUATED AT FAYETTEVILLE HS AFTER HAZE FOUND INSIDE SCHOOL
Tags: us_AR, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical
CLOSE CALL AS FUEL TANKER TRUCK BURNS UP IN DAWSON CITY
Tags: Canada, transportation, fire, response, other_chemical
---------------------------------------------
SECOND CASE OF MERCURY SPILL IN SCHOOL LAB
Tags: Malaysia, laboratory, release, response, mercury
MALACCA: Another case of mercury being spilled in a school laboratory was reported after a Fire and Rescue Department's Hazardous Materials (hazmat) team rushed to SMK Talib Karim in Alor Gajah on Thursday.
Department spokesman Mohd Hafidzatullah Rashid said 20 students and a teacher were in the science laboratory when a thermometer fell and broke, spilling mercury onto the floor.
He said those exposed to the spillage were given treatment and no one was hurt in the 12.45pm incident.
Eight firemen were involved in the cleaning-up exercise which ended at 3.40pm.
Earlier this morning, a teacher and two students were taken to hospital after they were exposed to mercury from a broken thermometer at SMK Ken Hwa in Keningau district.
The teacher, Nurul Ain Aziz, 31, had her hands exposed to the mercury while two 13-year-olds, Adrian Kent and Adrian Justin, had their neck and hand exposed to the substance respectively.
---------------------------------------------
CEDAR HILL CHEMICAL PLANT THAT EXPLODED OPERATED WITHOUT NEEDED PERMIT
Tags: us_CT, industrial, follow-up, response, bleach, chlorine
Cedar Hill neighbors pressed a chemical plant's CEO not to wait six hours to tell them they're safe the next time his factory explodes.
The CEO in turn asked neighbors to help him gain zoning permission to legally carry out the work that caused a recent explosion.
Those dueling asks emerged Thursday as neighbors and business owners met with officials from the bleach-making the Welton Street-based New Haven Chlor-Alkali, formerly known as H. Krevit & Co., and city emergency officials at Leeway nursing home to discuss a Dec. 22 explosion that literally shook the ground of the community.
Neighbors learned that the explosion didn't happen in the old part of the plant that uses a process that requires hazardous chlorine gas to be brought in by rail daily. It occurred in a new wing of the plant that the company touted as safer'a new plant that the company, it now turns out, was not properly permitted to use for manufacturing. It in fact was permitted for use only as a warehouse.
The company is seeking to obtain a special permit to allow for manufacturing at the new plant. That application will be before the Board of Zoning Appeals next month.
'There's no question that the explosion day-lighted an omitted permit,' said the company's zoning attorney, Marjorie Shansky said. 'I can't tell what the thinking was at that time when the City Plan Commission approved the site and coastal plan in 2009, and when the city issued an electric bolt permit for over $2 million of electricity for a warehouse. It is a little gray and murky.'
---------------------------------------------
MOUNTAIRE CHEMICAL EXPLOSION CAUSES SEVERE INJURY
Tags: us_DE, industrial, explosion, injury, cleaners
A 34-year-old man was severely injured in a minor chemical explosion at Mountaire poultry processing plant in Selbyville earlier this month.
According to officials, in the early morning of Thursday, Feb. 9, a Mountaire employee suffered facial trauma and chemical burns when he accidently mixed two cleaning chemicals that caused an explosive reaction.
There was no fire, and emergency workers were called in to deal with the injury and chemical cleanup.
'The gentleman was part of cleaning detail. He was filling up a sprayer to spray down and clean various areas of the plant. As it's been related to us, he unknowingly mixed two chemicals that cannot be mixed together,' said Fire Chief Matt Sliwa of the Selbyville Volunteer Fire Company.
There were no other injuries, but several emergency responders went through a decontamination process.
The State Fire Marshal's Office determined that the incident occurred when the worker 'mistakenly mixed two chemicals in a 2.5-gallon sprayer. The sprayer over-pressurized, causing it to explode. Minor damage was caused to the room where the explosion occurred.'
The Fire Marshal's Office could not confirm the identities of the two chemicals that were mixed together. The incident occurred around 3 a.m. at the Hosier Street location, in a room near the garage bays.
'It was in what they call it their 'chemical room,' but I don't know if they consider that part of the plant or wastewater plant,' said Selbyville Police Chief W. Scott Collins.
'Third shift is a cleaning shift. They're not actually processing anything,' Sliwa noted.
'He was critical at that point,' he added of the worker's condition when emergency responders arrived on-scene. 'They wanted to try and fly him to shock-trauma at some point, but with the weather issues and high wind conditions,' it was safer to drive to Peninsula Regional Medical Center, said Sliwa.
---------------------------------------------
CASUALTIES FEARED IN CHEMICAL PLANT EXPLOSION IN UZBEKISTAN'S FERGHANA
Tags: Uzbekistan, industrial, explosion, death, ammonia
An explosion occurred at a chemical plant in the city of Ferghana in Uzbekistan, killing an undisclosed number of people, the Central Asian country's emergency ministry said on Thursday.
The blast happened at the ammonia production facility of the Farg'onaazot company which produces fertilizers and other chemicals, the ministry said in a statement.
The explosion took place during maintenance and assembly works on Thursday evening.
The statement said that a government commission to support the families of the deceased has also been established.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT SITUATION REPORTED AT ST. RAPHAEL CAMPUS OF YALE-NEW HAVEN HOSPITAL
Tags: us_CT, public, release, response, formaldehyde
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) ' City of New Haven officials confirm to News 8 that hazmat crews have responded to the the St. Raphael's campus of Yale-New Haven Healthcare Wednesday afternoon.
City of New Haven Spokesman Laurence Grotheer confirmed to News 8 that just after 4:00 p.m., hazmat crews were requested at the St. Raphael's campus, located at 1450 Chapel Street. Yale-New Haven Health Spokesman Mark Dantonio said the hazmat situation was triggered by a formaldehyde spill in the morgue.
Dantonio reports that the spill is very small, and the cleanup is complete, but hospital officials are required by law to report spills of this kind to hazmat teams. No evacuations have taken place.
Dantonio described the incident as 'extremely minor', and there is no need for the public to be alarmed.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL CLEANING COMPANY FINED $39,000 FOR TOXIC DISCHARGE AT PAEROA
Tags: New_Zealand, public, follow-up, environmental, toxics
A chemical cleaning company has been convicted and fined $39,000 for a toxic discharge that resulted in a significant fish kill at Paeroa last year.
The case, against Chemwash Hamilton Limited, involved the discharge of toxic chemicals through the town's stormwater system to a local stream resulting in a large number of eels and native banded kokopu fish dying.
The prosecution, brought by Waikato Regional Council, concerned events that occurred in early February 2016.
Paeroa residents noticed a large number of distressed and dead eels and fish in a tributary that flows to the Ohinemuri River and notified the council, a spokesman said.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL SPILL CLEARS BUILDING
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, release, response, chlorine, waste
About 50 Texas Woman's University faculty and staff members evacuated the school's Graduate Research Building on Tuesday after a hazardous chemical spill inside a third-floor laboratory, officials said.
No one was inside the lab during the incident and no injuries were reported, TWU spokeswoman Amanda Simpson said.
The Denton Fire Department hazardous materials crew responded to the spill at about 12:45 p.m. and cleared the building by 3 p.m. A graduate lab assistant had been conducting a routine disposal of chemical waste when two chemicals accidentally mixed, causing a glass container to shatter, Simpson said.
She said the container held less than 2 liters of chemicals.
Nathaniel Mills, a TWU biology professor whose office is on the third floor of the research building, said he heard a 'pop' and later smelled an odor similar to chlorine. As a safety officer in the building, Mills said he saw the spill and immediately contacted authorities.
'We need to sit down and figure more or less what was happening; could we structure something differently so it doesn't happen again?' he said.
Mills has worked in the building for 32 years and only recalls two or three similar incidents, he said.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL SPILL AT CAJON PASS SCALES PROMPTS HAZARDOUS MATERIAL RESPONSE
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical
CAJON PASS, Calif. (VVNG.com)- San Bernardino County Firefighters responded to a hazardous materials incident at the cajon pass scales Tuesday afternoon.
The leak was first noticed at about 4:00 p.m. when a semi truck entered the scales on the northbound I-15 freeway located just south of Highway 138.
The California Highway Patrol requested County Fire to respond to the incident.
Firefighters responded and ultimately located a 55-gallon drum in the back of the trailer leaking an unknown substance, stated San Bernardino County Fire Public Information Officer Eric Sherwin.
The First Alarm Hazmat response included an engine, chief officer, ambulance, hazmat rig. The response was reinforced by hazmat 73 from Fontana, medic engine 2 from Devore, County hazmat personnel, and station 22 hazmat from Spring Valley Lake.
According to CHP logs, the spilled substance was described as 'hypo chloride' However, Eric Sherwin said the leaked material had not been 'definitely identified'.
The leak was stopped at about 6:30 p.m. 'The contents of the drum have been placed in a proper container so there is no further threat of the leak,' stated Sherwin.
---------------------------------------------
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS CREW RESPONDS TO CHEMICAL SUICIDE IN WORCESTER
Tags: us_MA, public, release, death, unknown_chemical, suicide
The state's hazardous materials response team assisted with a chemical situation at a Worcester residence on Tuesday night where a man was killed by suicide.
According to Deputy Fire Chief John Sullivan, a man killed himself in a house on Pleasant Street using an unidentified chemical gas.
First responders called in a Tier 2 chemical emergency to the state's hazardous materials response team, containing the scene until they arrived. Sullivan said there was never any danger to homes in the surrounding area.
It was later discovered that the gas had entirely dissipated by the time responders arrived, and the situation was de-escalated to a Tier 1 emergency. Sullivan said that in situations involving a potentially deadly and invisible gas, local emergency responders work as carefully as possible.
Sullivan said that in situations involving a potentially deadly and invisible gas, local emergency responders work as carefully as possible.
"At the local level, our job is to identify what is going on, identify the initial response, then we call for the state response team," Sullivan said. "It was best to initiate a Tier 2 response just in case because it would take 45 minutes to get the resources on the scene."
For hazardous materials situation, it is common to proceed with an overabundance of caution, Sullivan said.
"It's sometimes odorless and most of the time it's invisible. It's not like you get this plume of green cloud. It's clear, odorless and could be absorbed through the skin," Sullivan said.
After the hazmat teams finished collecting readings from the house, first responders were able to safely enter and do their work.
Sullivan said that investigators would not talk about what chemical was used during the suicide, in order to prevent people from copying the method.
---------------------------------------------
COLLISION WITH POOL TRUCK TRIGGERS CHEMICAL SPILL IN PHOENIX
Tags: us_AZ, transportation, release, response, pool_chemicals
A northwest Phoenix street was shut down briefly Wednesday morning after officials said a pool truck spun out of control, hitting at least two other cars and spilling pool chemicals along the street.
Phoenix Fire Capt. Rob McDade said 43rd Avenue in between Maryland Avenue and Ocotillo Road in Phoenix was shut down for a brief period Wednesday morning as police and fire officials cleaned up from when a Shasta Pools truck had spun out of control.
A 26-year-old man was treated on the scene for minor injuries but was not taken to a hospital, McDade said. No other injuries were reported.
McDade said the pool truck was carrying three gallons of muriatic acid and a 25-gallon bucket of chlorine tablets.
At one time, Phoenix fire officials set up an 150-foot perimeter around the collision site to assess the damage and "meditate the problem of the chemicals in the road," McDade said.
---------------------------------------------
FAIRCHILD ENDING USE OF HAZARDOUS FIRE-EXTINGUISING FOAM
Tags: us_WA, industrial, discovery, environmental
SPOKANE, Wash. - Crews at Fairchild Air Force Base are changing the way they handle petroleum fires to avoid contaminating the area's water supplies.
The base has stopped using a pair of flame-smothering chemicals to protect ground water both on and off the installation.
You would assume that with all the re-fueling that Fairchild does, the most likely contaminant out there would be gas for jet engines. But a more recent concern is two chemicals used to snuff out petroleum fires.
When a B-52 crashed at Fairchild back in 1994, the fire department doused the flaming wreckage with foam.
A lot more of the perfluorooctanesulfonic acid ended up on the ground when firefighters practiced using the foam.
'Additionally, laying down a safe blanket of foam across a large fuel spill will help to prevent a fire from erupting into something you don't want it to,' said Senior Master Sergeant Thomas Jenkins, Fire Assistant Chiefs.
---------------------------------------------
FIRE BREAKS OUT AT SINGAPORE WASTE MANAGEMENT PLANT
Tags: Singapore, industrial, explosion, response, flammables, waste
A massive fire that broke out at a waste management plant in western Singapore early Thursday morning has been extinguished, said the city state's fire department.
In a statement posted on its Facebook page at 11:49am HK/SIN, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said with the fire was extinguished. It is investigating the cause of the fire.
"There were no casualties conveyed to the hospital," it said in an earlier update.
The SCDF said the fire broke out at around 6:15am HK/SIN at 23 Tuas View Circuit, the address of ECO Special Waste Management.
According to the company's website, it handles waste from industries such petrochemical, pharmaceutical and energy.
"The fire involve(d) chemical waste and flammable materials. Periodic explosions could be heard as firefighters battle(d) the blaze to contain it within the affected premises," said the SCDF.
---------------------------------------------
INSIDE THE CHINESE LAB POISED TO STUDY WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS PATHOGENS
Tags: China, laboratory, discovery, environmental
A laboratory in Wuhan is on the cusp of being cleared to work with the world's most dangerous pathogens. The move is part of a plan to build between five and seven biosafety level-4 (BSL-4) labs across the Chinese mainland by 2025, and has generated much excitement, as well as some concerns.
China worry about pathogens escaping, and the addition of a biological dimension to geopolitical tensions between China and other nations. But Chinese microbiologists are celebrating their entrance to the elite cadre empowered to wrestle with the world's greatest biological threats.
'It will offer more opportunities for Chinese researchers, and our contribution on the BSL'4-level pathogens will benefit the world,' says George Gao, director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology in Beijing. There are already two BSL-4 labs in Taiwan, but the National Bio-safety Laboratory, Wuhan, would be the first on the Chinese mainland.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL REACTION CAUSES BILOXI LIBRARY TO BE EVACUATED
Tags: us_MS, transportation, release, response, hydrochloric_acid, waste
BILOXI
The Margaret Sherry Library on Popp's Ferry Road was evacuated briefly as a precaution after waste in a garbage truck created a chemical reaction during a stop Tuesday.
Biloxi Fire Deputy Chief of Operations Jeff Merrill said a Waste Pro truck was at the library when the incident occurred. Merrill said the Biloxi Fire Department sent a team to investigate and found muriatic acid, a chemical commonly found in household cleaners and other uses.
Merrill said the substance was removed from the truck and was being disposed of safely.
---------------------------------------------
6 ADULTS, 1 CHILD TREATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT FISHERS YMCA
Tags: us_IN, public, release, response, chlorine
FISHERS, Ind. (WISH) ' Six adults and one child were treated after a chemical spill at a Fishers YMCA Tuesday morning.
A Fishers Fire Department official said those treated were transported with non-life-threatening respiratory issues from the YMCA on 126th Street around 11:30 a.m. An additional 11 people were checked and released at the scene.
Captain John Mehling said the chemical was believed to be a chemical release. Officials on scene said the chlorine spill was in the pool area, but the chemical dissipated quickly.
The building was evacuated while people were treated..
---------------------------------------------
STUDENTS BRIEFLY EVACUATED AT FAYETTEVILLE HS AFTER HAZE FOUND INSIDE SCHOOL
Tags: us_AR, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. '
A Hazmat team was called to Fayetteville High School Tuesday after haze was found inside a building, according to Mauro Campos with the Fayetteville Fire Dept.
The school initially thought the haze was smoke from a science experiment that had been pulled into the school's HVAC system. The fire department called a Hazmat team to the scene.
Crews discovered the haze inside was not necessarily smoke, and the experiment would not have created that haze. Instead, they believe the HVAC system pulled something outside the building to the inside.
Students were sent to the Bulldog Activity & Recreation Center, the alert said. Students were allowed back in class at about 12:15 p.m.
---------------------------------------------
CLOSE CALL AS FUEL TANKER TRUCK BURNS UP IN DAWSON CITY
Tags: Canada, transportation, fire, response, other_chemical
Quick thinking and a daring act may have saved Dawson City from a major disaster in the town's industrial area on Sunday.
A fire broke out in the cab of a fuel truck that was parked in the area. Fire chief Jim Regimbal says the truck was close to a building and three other fuel trucks ' some of them full.
"It could have been a very ugly scene," Regimbal said. "Bulk fuel all over the area and no hydrants in place. So worst case scenario, you've got four fully-involved vehicles, explosions, a workshop with injuries."
People on the scene quickly called 911.
Instead of idly waiting for fire crews, someone leaped into action to contain the damage.
"They actually hooked onto the tanker and pulled it back from the building a few feet," said deputy fire chief Dave Taylor. "It wasn't too far away from the building."
Firefighters arrived shortly after and doused the blaze. Nobody was hurt and damage was restricted to the one vehicle.
"Is it something that I would recommend, that people jump in vehicles and move them away when the vehicle beside them is on fire? No," Regimbal said.
"But fantastic quick thinking probably averted what could have been a much uglier situation."
It's not known yet what caused the fire, but Taylor says fire officials believe it was electrical.
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