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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 (6 articles)
Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2017 07:53:29 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: 956D31CB-CB09-411E-933E-BD91ACC1288E**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, March 8, 2017 at 7:52:39 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 (6 articles)
EPA SCRAPS METHANE REPORTING FOR OIL AND GAS INDUSTRIES
Tags: industrial, follow-up, environmental, carbon_dioxide, methane, natural_gas
SOURCE: CHEMICAL-FILLED BOTTLES LEFT ON MBTA TRACKS IN CONCORD, MASS., PROMPTING DELAYS
Tags: us_MA, public, discovery, response, unknown_chemical
NEW INFORMATION RELEASED ON HAZMAT SITUATION AT YALE MEDICAL SCHOOL
Tags: us_CT, laboratory, follow-up, response, sodium_azide
CANADIAN GOVERNMENT SCIENTIST WHO SMUGGLED BACTERIA IN CARRY-ON LUGGAGE GETS PRI
Tags: Canada, laboratory, discovery, response, other_chemical, illegal
SCHOOL EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: New_Zealand, laboratory, release, response, mercury
KIDS PLAYING WITH PEPPER SPRAY LEADS TO HAZMAT CALL
Tags: us_TN, public, release, injury, pepper_spray
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EPA SCRAPS METHANE REPORTING FOR OIL AND GAS INDUSTRIES
Tags: industrial, follow-up, environmental, carbon_dioxide, methane, natural_gas
The Trump Administration has withdrawn an EPA request that oil and natural gas companies provide information on their methane emission from field operations.
The Obama Administration had sent the data request to some 15,000 oil and gas companies late last year. It asked for basic information on the numbers and types of equipment used at onshore drilling and production facilities as well as more detailed information on methane emissions sources and control devices.
Earlier in 2016, EPA issued methane control regulations for new oil and gas facilities, but did not address existing facilities. The data collection rule was an attempt by the Obama EPA to learn more about oil and gas operations in preparation for emissions regulations at operating facilities.
Oil and gas operations are the largest industrial source of methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent that carbon dioxide, according to EPA.
The U.S. is experiencing an oil and gas bonanza with some million wells in operation. However, in the rush to exploit the resource much is unclear‰??even the exact number of wells is uncertain. Confusion also surrounds the quantity of methane emissions. The now-canceled reporting was intended to help resolve this uncertainty.
‰??There is a lack of transparency in oil and gas operations,‰?? notes Mark Brownstein, vice president of climate and energy at the Environmental Defense Fund, an activist group. ‰??We really don‰??t know what is out there. You can‰??t manage what you are not measuring. The irony is industry called for this information before EPA proposes to regulate existing oil and gas facilities.‰??
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SOURCE: CHEMICAL-FILLED BOTTLES LEFT ON MBTA TRACKS IN CONCORD, MASS., PROMPTING DELAYS
Tags: us_MA, public, discovery, response, unknown_chemical
Traffic on an MBTA Commuter Rail line was temporarily stopped Tuesday after suspicious bottles were found on the tracks in Concord, Massachusetts, police say.
The commuter rail tweeted that the police had a hold on trains on the Fitchburg Line, and the transit agency was expecting "significant delays." Concord police confirmed on Twitter that authorities were investigating suspicious bottles on the tracks in the area of Sudbury Road.
A source tells NBC Boston that someone had put bottles filled with chemicals in them with the intention of an explosive reaction. No bottles were hit by trains.
It was unclear what type of chemical was in the bottles or how many devices were placed on the tracks.
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NEW INFORMATION RELEASED ON HAZMAT SITUATION AT YALE MEDICAL SCHOOL
Tags: us_CT, laboratory, follow-up, response, sodium_azide
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) ‰?? Officials have released information on what caused several people to fall ill at the Yale School of Medicine last week.
Yale officials say independent laboratory tests on items removed from the area showed the presence of sodium azide, which is a substance commonly found in labs and is used as a preservative. Symptoms of sodium azide exposure are dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting, rapid breathing and rapid heart rate.
The coffee machine, which wasn‰??t connected to a water source, has been declared safe.
Yale officials say all of those impacted that day have returned to work.
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CANADIAN GOVERNMENT SCIENTIST WHO SMUGGLED BACTERIA IN CARRY-ON LUGGAGE GETS PRI
Tags: Canada, laboratory, discovery, response, other_chemical, illegal
A former federal government scientist and world-renowned expert who attempted to smuggle a potentially harmful bacteria out of the country in his carry-on luggage has been sentenced to two years in prison.
Klaus Nielsen was arrested on Oct. 24, 2012, as he headed to the Ottawa airport en route to China with 17 vials of the brucella bacteria packed in a thermos of ice inside a child‰??s lunch bag. The bacteria and the contagious disease it causes ‰?? brucellosis ‰?? mostly affect animals such as cows, goats and sheep, but can be contracted by humans.
The improper transportation of the bacteria violated several federal regulations, but also represented a breach of trust for the former Canadian Food Inspection Agency scientist who had partnered with a Chinese-born colleague named Wei Ling Yu to manufacture and sell brucellosis diagnostic kits that Nielsen had helped develop as a government employee ‰?? all the while undercutting the U.S.-based company who held the commercial rights to the patents.
Nielsen‰??s arrest followed an 18-month undercover RCMP investigation and came nearly two years after he and his business partner had been fired by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Yu is still wanted by police.
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SCHOOL EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: New_Zealand, laboratory, release, response, mercury
A chemical spill resulted in 16 people being taken to hospital and the evacuation of a Hastings school yesterday.
Fire crews from Hastings and Napier were called to Camberley School in Hastings about 10am after reports of a chemical spill, with a "toxic smell" detected in the school buildings.
By 11am students had gathered in the hall, and parents were advised to collect their children as a "precautionary measure".
Principal Tamla Smith said the spill was believed to have come from an "old-fashioned" mercury thermometer housed in the science area which broke on Friday afternoon.
While the parts of the thermometer had been cleaned up, the mercury soaked into the carpet. With temperatures hovering just under 30C this weekend, by the time the classrooms were opened up yesterday it was believed the mercury had vaporised.
According to the Ministry of Health, a thermometer contains between 0.5 and 3g of mercury - less than 1 quarter of a teaspoon.
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KIDS PLAYING WITH PEPPER SPRAY LEADS TO HAZMAT CALL
Tags: us_TN, public, release, injury, pepper_spray
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (localmemphis.com) - Some kids caused a scare Sunday afternoon for a Northaven family. And it was all because of pepper spray.
A Shelby County Hazmat team was called to the home after a strong odor sickened people in the house.
Turns out, some children were playing with pepper spray in a bathroom.
It took about 45 minutes to figure out what was going on.
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