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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, May 15, 2017 at 7:14:57 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)
ROOF DAMAGED AFTER CHEMICAL REACTION CAUSES EXPLOSION IN MOOROOBOOL
Tags: Australia, public, explosion, injury, chlorine, cleaners
MASSIVE FIRE BREAKS OUT AT GHAZIABAD CHEMICAL FACTORY- THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, response, gas_cylinders, propane
HOW THE WRONG CAT LITTER TOOK DOWN A NUCLEAR WASTE REPOSITORY
Tags: us_NM, industrial, follow-up, environmental, wastes, radiation
IMPROVING REMOTE DETECTION OF RADIOACTIVITY
Tags: us_MD, laboratory, discovery, environmental, radiation
CANTWELL, HANFORD OFFICIALS EXPLAIN STEPS THEY'RE TAKING TO AVOID ANOTHER TUNNEL COLLAPSE
Tags: us_WA, industrial, follow-up, response, radiation, waste
CHEMICAL SPILL INJURES TWO EMPLOYEES AT HILTON HOTEL IN NIAGARA FALLS
Tags: us_NY, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
ACIDIC CHEMICAL BROKE: 5 STUDENTS SUFFER BURNS AFTER ACID BOTTLE BREAKS
Tags: India, laboratory, release, injury, acids
UPDATE: WHAT CAUSED CHEMICAL GAS LEAK IN WALTON
Tags: us_NY, transportation, follow-up, environmental, chlorine, mustard_gas, water_treatment
STATE MOVES TO TIGHTEN RULES ON DRY CLEANING CHEMICALS
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, environmental, pce
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS INJURING MCALLEN RECYCLING CENTER EMPLOYEES
Tags: us_TX, industrial, discovery, environmental, batteries, waste, zinc
BROKEN SEWER VALVE LEADS TO HAZARDOUS MATERIALS RESPONSE IN WORCESTER
Tags: us_MA, industrial, release, response, water_treatment
MAN INJURED IN COSTA MESA FIRE IS SUSPECTED OF RUNNING MARIJUANA-RELATED OPERATIONS
Tags: us_CA, public, fire, injury, illegal, clandestine_lab
5 TO HOSPITAL AFTER NORTHWEST SIDE POOL CHEMICAL ACCIDENT
Tags: us_IL, public, release, injury, pool_chemicals
EVACUATION ORDER LIFTED IN BEACH CITY AFTER OIL TANK FIRE
Tags: us_TX, industrial, fire, response, petroleum
RAMPS CLOSED FOR CHEMICAL CLEAN-UP
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, chlorine, sodium_bicarbonate
[NO TITLE]
Tags: us_CA, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
HAZMAT SPILL CAUSES CLOSURE OF STATE HIGHWAY 27
Tags: us_AR, transportation, release, response, corrosives
MYSTERIOUS YELLOW SUBSTANCE LEAKS INTO FOND DU LAC RIVER
Tags: us_WI, public, release, response, other_chemical
WV METRONEWS ‰?? REVISED REPORT, SAME CONCLUSIONS ON FREEDOM INDUSTRIES SPILL
Tags: us_WV, industrial, follow-up, response, unknown_chemical, other_chemical
NGOS CALL FOR CONFLICT OF INTEREST PROBE INTO US EPA APPOINTEE
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
LARGE CHEMICAL SPILL ON MARSH BARTON INDUSTRIAL ESTATE AT EXETER
Tags: United_Kingdom, transportation, release, response, sodium_hydroxide
CHEMICAL MIX-UP CAUSES POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SITUATION IN WALTON
Tags: us_NY, education, release, response, water_treatment
REDSTONE ARSENAL CONTINUES WORK ON CHEMICAL CLEANUP PROJECT, CONFIRMED NEIGHBORS ARE SAFE
Tags: us_AL, public, discovery, environmental, explosives, pesticides
TRUMP'S TIES TO DOW CHEMICAL PROMPT FOIA SUIT
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, ag_chems, pesticides
PAPER ON MICROPLASTICS IN FISH IS RETRACTED
Tags: Sweden, laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
---------------------------------------------
ROOF DAMAGED AFTER CHEMICAL REACTION CAUSES EXPLOSION IN MOOROOBOOL
Tags: Australia, public, explosion, injury, chlorine, cleaners
UPDATE: A MAN who was working on a Mooroobool roof when a chemical reaction caused a large explosion is being treated in hospital.
He and a second male were believed to have been cleaning the roof of the Olfersia Ct property when the blast occurred just after 9am this morning.
Neighbours reported hearing a large explosion followed by several smaller explosions.
Firefighters inspect the roof of a Mooroobool house which sustained damage after cleaners using chlorine likely created a chemical reaction which caused an explosion in Olfersia Ct. Neighbour Monica Stapleton heard the blasts. Picture: Marc McCormack
Resident Monica Stapleton who lives across the road from the house said she saw the men on the roof stripping off their overalls and hosing themselves with water.
‰??They were coughing and spluttering and didn‰??t seem to be able to breath properly,‰?? she said.
The men left and are understood to have driven themselves to Cairns Hospital.
One is being treated and is in a stable condition.
---------------------------------------------
MASSIVE FIRE BREAKS OUT AT GHAZIABAD CHEMICAL FACTORY- THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, response, gas_cylinders, propane
LUCKNOW: A major fire has broken out in a chemical factory in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, police said on Monday. The casualties so far has been the livestock.
Two cows and a calf were burnt to death and over a dozen of these animals were injured in the late Sunday night blaze. The fire broke out in the Pandav Nagar industrial area around midnight, the police added.
It took three dozen fire brigades from neighbouring Noida and Meerut, besides Ghaziabad itself, to douse the inferno that spread due to the gusty winds, an officer said.
The blaze was continuously fed by the regular explosions in the chemical factory as the stockpiles of chemicals exploded along with the LPG cylinders kept inside.
All neighbouring factories have been vacated, a district official informed. The fire also spread to a paint factory in the vicinity.
---------------------------------------------
HOW THE WRONG CAT LITTER TOOK DOWN A NUCLEAR WASTE REPOSITORY
Tags: us_NM, industrial, follow-up, environmental, wastes, radiation
David T. Hobbs is an expert in the complicated chemistry of nuclear waste management. He‰??s studied nuclear waste materials, radiochemical separations, and complex chemical environments for more than three decades. But three years ago, when an accident in a New Mexico repository brought disposal of U.S. defense nuclear wastes to a standstill, he was called to investigate a different kind of material‰??cat litter.
Hobbs, who doesn‰??t own a cat, is one of the researchers who studied the nuclear waste mixture that in 2014 led to a drum failure and radiological release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M. The accident shut down the facility for three years. It was ultimately traced to an unorthodox sorbent, an organic cat litter called sWheat Scoop, that was used in error to prepare the nuclear waste for disposal at WIPP.
After a 33-year tenure, Hobbs retires this month from Savannah River National Laboratory, a South Carolina facility that produced plutonium isotopes for U.S. nuclear weapon and space programs. He recently spoke with C&EN about the accident at WIPP and the enduring thrill of scientific discovery.
---------------------------------------------
IMPROVING REMOTE DETECTION OF RADIOACTIVITY
Tags: us_MD, laboratory, discovery, environmental, radiation
After a nuclear power plant accident, for safety reasons it can be difficult for humans or even robots to get close enough to the facility to assess the situation. To get accurate information without putting people or equipment at risk, responders would benefit from better technology to sense radioactive material from afar. That could come from high-power pulsed electromagnetic waves, reports a team from Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology (UNIST).
First proposed in 2010 by the University of Maryland‰??s Gregory S. Nusinovich and colleagues, the approach involves using an antenna to direct high-intensity millimeter or terahertz waves at a target area. If material there is radioactive, ë3 radiation or ë± particles ionize the surrounding air, releasing free electrons. The interaction of the antenna-directed electromagnetic waves and ionized air induces plasma formation, and the plasma in turn reflects the electromagnetic waves back to the source site for detection.
The UNIST team, led by EunMi Choi, experimentally demonstrated detection of 0.5 åµg of cobalt-60 from 120 cm away, the maximum distance allowed by the laboratory setup (Nat. Commun. 2017, DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15394). Off-the-shelf gyrotrons to generate the electromagnetic waves, antennae to direct them, and radioå-frequency detectors could be used to deploy the technique for field detection.
Depending on the equipment used, Choi believes the approach could scale to detect radioactivity at distances of at least tens of kilometers and possibly as far as 100 km. Because the time delay of plasma formation depends on ë3 emission energy, Choi also thinks the technique could be used to identify types of radioactive material.
---------------------------------------------
CANTWELL, HANFORD OFFICIALS EXPLAIN STEPS THEY'RE TAKING TO AVOID ANOTHER TUNNEL COLLAPSE
Tags: us_WA, industrial, follow-up, response, radiation, waste
RICHLAND, Wash. ‰?? On Saturday, Washington Senator Maria Cantwell visited the PUREX facility at Hanford where the tunnel holding radioactive material recently collapsed.
Following the senator's briefing on the situation, Action News heard from Cantwell, Hanford officials, and leaders from the Department of Ecology about how they plan to prevent another cave-in.
IMMEDIATE CONCERNS
Hanford Officials say the 400-square-foot collapse of a tunnel containing hazardous materials on Tuesday sounded an alarm, bringing attention to the aging infrastructure of the tunnels at the PUREX facility.
"Now there is still the potential that we could have an additional collapse," said Doug Shoop, site manager for the Department of Energy Richland Operations.
Hanford Spokesperson Mark Heeter said the cause for the collapse is still unknown, but it could have been caused from a multitude of things, such as aging infrastructure, radiation, deterioration, moisture, or extra snowfall this winter.
Nuclear Waste Program Manager Alex Smith said the Department of Ecology issued an order on the tunnel collapse, requiring the DOE to take certain steps to ensure its short-term and long-term stability.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL SPILL INJURES TWO EMPLOYEES AT HILTON HOTEL IN NIAGARA FALLS
Tags: us_NY, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
Police say two people are in hospital after a chemical leak inside the Hilton Hotel in Niagara Falls, prompting an evacuation of much of the complex on Saturday night.
Niagara Regional Police Const. Phil Gavin posted on Twitter that emergency crews were called to the Hilton Hotel on Falls Avenue at 8:20 p.m. for a report of a chemical spill in the base of the middle tower of the complex.
The chemical spill injured two hotel employees, Gavin said.
They were taken to hospital for treatment, their exact condition is not known at this time.
Hotel management and fire officials then ordered an evacuation of the middle tower and lower sections of the north and south towers. Everyone was allowed back inside at 9:45 p.m.
---------------------------------------------
ACIDIC CHEMICAL BROKE: 5 STUDENTS SUFFER BURNS AFTER ACID BOTTLE BREAKS
Tags: India, laboratory, release, injury, acids
AHMEDABAD: Five final-year women students of SAL Pharmacy College suffered burns after a glass bottle containing an acidic chemical broke in their college laboratory on Saturday. Of the five students, one has suffered extensive burns on her face and has been admitted to Civil Hospital in Sola.
Sources said the incident occurred at around 10am. There was chaos at the college after the incident. As the 108 ambulance called for was delayed, the girls had to be rushed to the hospital in private vehicles.
Students say the bottle containing an acidic chemical suddenly broke while they were performing an experiment and the five students got burned.
Hospital authorities said the bottle fell while the acidic substance was being poured into a beaker and it thus shattered.
K N Patel, principal, SAL Pharmacy College, said, "Four students were discharged from the hospital after treatment while one is in a relatively serious condition and has been admitted. She is under observation at the hospital. This is a rare incident. I have never in my entire career witnessed such an occurrence."
---------------------------------------------
UPDATE: WHAT CAUSED CHEMICAL GAS LEAK IN WALTON
Tags: us_NY, transportation, follow-up, environmental, chlorine, mustard_gas, water_treatment
WALTON (WBNG) -- The Village of Walton Mayor says the chemical gas leak at the Wastewater Treatment Plant Thursday could have been prevented.
The mayor says a truck driver emptied the contents of his truck into the wrong tank. It made for a very dangerous mix.
"Everything is back to normal like it was before," Mayor Edward Snow said."Slack Chemical, the company that makes the delivery every Thursday, they were delivering polyaluminum chloride, and by mistake it was put in with chlorine."
12 News reached out to Slack Chemical. Company officials tell us the situation is under investigation and they hope to release a statement next week.
During the ordeal, a local day care had to be evacuated and all afterschool activities were canceled for Walton Central School District.
But Snow says the situation could have been worse.
"If you see what happens overseas Libya and all of that, this can have the same kind of effect as mustard gas. If we would have had a windy day and more would let up in the atmosphere, we could have a lot of fatalities in the area," Snow said.
‰??From what I understand the off gassing was a chlorine gas and if you did the wrong things with it it could explode,‰?? Walton Fire Chief Bob Brown said.
Thankfully, no serious injuries were reported. But one person did seek medical help after inhaling the mixture.
---------------------------------------------
STATE MOVES TO TIGHTEN RULES ON DRY CLEANING CHEMICALS
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, environmental, pce
The state is proposing changes to rules for dry cleaners for the first time in 20 years that are aimed at reducing potential leaks of a carcinogenic dry cleaning chemical.
Rules proposed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation target the use of perchloroethylene (PCE, also known as "perc"), a cleaning solvent that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said can cause cancer. The rules would build on federal requirements that older dry cleaning machines that use PCE no longer be used after December 2021.
Dry cleaners that use perc in newer, so-called "fourth generation" machines will have to perform regular monthly leak tests and immediately repair or replace machines that don't pass.
The chemical is used at more than 2,000 dry cleaners across the state. The latest model perc-based machines with tighter emission controls can cost between $32,000 and $100,000 depending on the size.
---------------------------------------------
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS INJURING MCALLEN RECYCLING CENTER EMPLOYEES
Tags: us_TX, industrial, discovery, environmental, batteries, waste, zinc
MCALLEN ‰?? McAllen officials said people could be putting lives in danger with what they choose to throw away.
Crews at the McAllen Recycling Center said hazardous materials are making their way to the sorting line.
McAllen Recycling Center renewable resources manager Robert Trevino said 28 people sort through trash every Tuesday through Friday.
He said these items sometimes injure people on the job.
‰??We see needles, car batteries, some of the waste diapers that have the feces still inside,‰?? he said.
Employee Jose Chio learned items in blue bins can also be dangerous.
‰??There‰??s always a risk. It could be a needle or glass. For me, I felt it was glass. We were pulling material out and when I grabbed my gloves I felt a prick and I let go,‰?? he said.
Chio said crews sort through hazardous material with their hands.
‰??For me the most dangerous materials are batteries ‰?? all kinds of batteries ‰?? they contain Zinc. It can contaminate your blood. That‰??s dangerous,‰?? he said.
---------------------------------------------
BROKEN SEWER VALVE LEADS TO HAZARDOUS MATERIALS RESPONSE IN WORCESTER
Tags: us_MA, industrial, release, response, water_treatment
WORCESTER ‰?? A broken valve at the city‰??s wastewater treatment plant on Quinsigamond Avenue led to a hazardous materials response Friday morning.
District Fire Chief Andrew White said the broken valve, which controls the distribution of sodium bisulfite, was not a serious hazard. The chemical is added to purified wastewater before discharge. The incident required the call for the local hazardous materials response team to the treatment plant at 70 Quinsigamond Ave. as a precaution.
The Hazardous material team members were expected to go into the building, which had been evacuated, and shut off the valve.
---------------------------------------------
MAN INJURED IN COSTA MESA FIRE IS SUSPECTED OF RUNNING MARIJUANA-RELATED OPERATIONS
Tags: us_CA, public, fire, injury, illegal, clandestine_lab
man suspected of running an illegal butane honey oil extraction lab and a marijuana growing operation inside a Costa Mesa home was burned in a fire Thursday night, authorities said.
The fire in the backyard of the home in the 2200 block of Avalon Street was reported around 9 p.m. Fire crews extinguished the blaze within 20 minutes, said Costa Mesa fire Capt. Chris Coates.
A man in his 20s suffered moderate but non-life-threatening burns and was taken to Orange County Global Medical Center in Santa Ana, Coates said.
---------------------------------------------
5 TO HOSPITAL AFTER NORTHWEST SIDE POOL CHEMICAL ACCIDENT
Tags: us_IL, public, release, injury, pool_chemicals
Three children and two adults were taken to a hospital for treatment of chlorine exposure after two pool chemicals were mixed at a Belmont Central neighborhood home, authorities said.
Chicago Fire Department crews were called a little before 9 p.m. to the 2800 block of North Meade Avenue and called for a hazardous materials response. The five people were taken to Adocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, all with stabilized conditions, after suffering chlorine exposure, according to the fire department's Twitter account.
Two pool chemicals were mixed indoors, causing a bad reaction, according to the department.
---------------------------------------------
EVACUATION ORDER LIFTED IN BEACH CITY AFTER OIL TANK FIRE
Tags: us_TX, industrial, fire, response, petroleum
BEACH CITY, Texas - One hundred homes in Beach City were evacuated Friday after a crude oil tank caught fire, officials said.
The fire broke out around 4 a.m. at an oil tank farm in the 9800 block of Point Barrow.
Evacuations were ordered for homes within a half-mile radius of the tank farm out of concern that contaminants from the fire could become airborne. As a precaution, residents were asked to leave the area.
"The fire department and sheriff's office were concerned that fire or airborne contaminants from the smoke and everything...possibly could reach some of these homes, so for precaution they asked those residents to evacuate," Chambers County fire marshal Ryan Holzaepfel said.
---------------------------------------------
RAMPS CLOSED FOR CHEMICAL CLEAN-UP
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, chlorine, sodium_bicarbonate
Two gallons of chemicals that officials suspect may have fallen from a pool cleaning vehicle forced the closure of the Carmen Drive on- and off-ramps to the 101 Freeway in Camarillo for about three hours Monday night, authorities said.
Someone reported toxic fumes emanating from the location and called Ventura County Fire Department around 11:30 p.m.
Fire crews arrived and found a gallon of chlorine and a gallon of acid, along with some pool-cleaning equipment, on the Carmen Drive overpass, county fire Battalion Chief Robert Szczepanek said.
No one was injured in the incident, he said.
California Highway Patrol officers closed the on- and off-ramps while firefighters cleaned up the spill, assisted by a hazardous materials team from the Oxnard Fire Department, Szczepanek said.
Firefighters used baking soda to neutralize the acid and sprayed water hoses to clear the chlorine from the road, he said.
---------------------------------------------
[NO TITLE]
Tags: us_CA, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
A small insulation fire on the roof a tank at the Torrance Refining Company facility did not cause major issues at the refinery ‰?? nor did it release any toxic pollutants, fire officials said Thursday.
The department responded to a reports of a fire on the exterior of a tank at the refinery with 25 firefighters Thursday evening, according to a statement from Steve Treskes, Torrance Fire Department assistant chief.
The responding crew included members of the department‰??s hazardous materials team.
The team monitored the air quality air at the refinery and outside its gates and received no readings of pollutants on their instruments, Treskes said. There was no impact on the neighboring community, he said.
All personnel at the plant were safely accounted for and there were no injuries, he said.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT SPILL CAUSES CLOSURE OF STATE HIGHWAY 27
Tags: us_AR, transportation, release, response, corrosives
DARDANELLE ‰?? Russellville Fire Department Hazmat 1 responded to State Highway 27 and Liberty Road in Yell County at approximately 4:30 p.m. Thursday after a two-vehicle motor vehicle crash with possible chemical spill that caused the highway to be closed from Dardanelle to Liberty Road for a few hours.
Upon arrival, the fire department‰??s Hazmat team found an accident that involved a pickup truck and trailer hauling approximately 1,700 gallons of a hazardous chemical. Crews determined the chemical to be UN3264 Corrosive Liquid (inorganic chromium).
A two-person entry team donned Level B suits entered the hot zone and confirmed an active leak. The leak was stopped and the remaining spill was contained. Approximately 800 gallons was spilled. A Hazmat cleanup company was responding as of press time.
The Russellville Fire Department worked the mutual-aid incident in conjunction with Yell County Office of Emergency Management (OEM), members of Dardanelle Rural Fire Department, Arkansas State Police (ASP), Arkansas Highway Police and other Dardanelle and Yell County law enforcement agencies.
---------------------------------------------
MYSTERIOUS YELLOW SUBSTANCE LEAKS INTO FOND DU LAC RIVER
Tags: us_WI, public, release, response, other_chemical
OND DU LAC, Wis. -
Crews in Fond du Lac were called out to the Fond du Lac River Thursday after yellow paint leaked into the water from the Fond du Lac County Highway Garage.
Fond du Lac Fire Rescue says a report came in regarding a ‰??yellow cloud‰?? by the bridge over the Fond du Lac River by Western Avenue.
---------------------------------------------
WV METRONEWS ‰?? REVISED REPORT, SAME CONCLUSIONS ON FREEDOM INDUSTRIES SPILL
Tags: us_WV, industrial, follow-up, response, unknown_chemical, other_chemical
CHARLESTON, W.Va. ‰?? More than eight months after its initial report, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board released a revised version of its report on the 2014 Elk River chemical spill.
The agency released its first report in September 2016, and identified several issues relating to the chemical leak at the Freedom Industries facility in Charleston.
Chemicals contaminated the West Virginia American Water Company‰??s Kanawha Valley Plant, which is 1.5 miles downstream from the spill.
More than 300,000 residents from nine West Virginia counties were affected by the event.
There were changes made to the original report after receiving written comments following a public meeting in September.
The investigation was modified to add additional information. One section regards the tanks at the Freedom Industries facility. The CSB partnered with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to obtain a sample from storage containers that it was previously unable to gather in January 2014.
---------------------------------------------
NGOS CALL FOR CONFLICT OF INTEREST PROBE INTO US EPA APPOINTEE
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
A group of NGOs has written to US EPA administrator Scott Pruitt to voice concern about the appointment of American Chemistry Council (ACC) staffer Nancy Beck to a senior agency role, and to demand an investigation into potential conflicts of interest.
The group says Dr Beck's history of "attempting to shape government policies on science and risk assessment for the financial benefit of chemical companies" raises ethical concerns under federal conflict-of-interest rules.
And it questions whether she would use her position as deputy assistant administrator at the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) to reshape the proposed framework rules under the new TSCA so they align with ACC recommendations.
An objective ethics review, the NGOs say, would require Dr Beck's recusal from certain issues. These include participating in any matters directly affecting the US chemical industry on which she has taken an advocacy position in the past, as well as from any chemical-specific proceedings targeting "a discrete and identifiable subset of ACC members".
---------------------------------------------
LARGE CHEMICAL SPILL ON MARSH BARTON INDUSTRIAL ESTATE AT EXETER
Tags: United_Kingdom, transportation, release, response, sodium_hydroxide
Firefighters cleared 100 litres of spilled chemicals in Marsh Barton Industrial Estate in Exeter on Thursday morning.
Two fire engines from Exeter, as well as an environmental protection unit from Newton Abbot went to the scene where 100 litres of Sodium Hydroxide had spilled from a delivery lorry on Yeoford Way at 9.40am.
Sodium hydroxide can cause severe chemical burns.
A fire spokesperson said: "The crew used 2 breathing apparatus wearers and environmental protection equipment to remove the pallet from the van to gain access to the leaking drum. The drum contained 200 litres of the chemical and had a substantial leak. Crews contained the leak and spilled chemical using another drum to cover the leaking drum.
"Approximately 100 litres had spilled onto the lorry and roadway and the spillage was contained by the fire crew using sand as well as the above equipment. A specialist company was contacted to attend and clear up the spill entirely, Environmental Agency was also contacted to attend and provide the crews with relevant advice."
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL MIX-UP CAUSES POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SITUATION IN WALTON
Tags: us_NY, education, release, response, water_treatment
A delivery vehicle emptied its contents into the wrong tank at the Walton Wastewater Treatment Plant today, creating a chemical reaction that could produce potentially harmful gases, Walton Central School District officials said they were told by authorities.
The Delaware County hazardous materials team estimated a 6-8 hour cleanup time, with a completion projected at between 8 and 10 p.m., a media release from the school district said, and officials recommended residents remain indoors with windows and doors closed.
The school district has canceled after-school activities and arranged for students and staff to leave, the release said.
At the time of the accident, emergency personnel advised school officials that prevailing winds would carry any gases away from the schools, the release said, and there was no risk to students or staff.
But later, emergency personnel reassessed the situation based on National Weather Service predictions that prevailing winds could change direction.
Based on the revised information, after-school activities at were canceled and all faculty and staff were released as soon as students had safely left the building, the release said. Walton school officials also adjusted bus routes that could venture near the treatment facility.
---------------------------------------------
REDSTONE ARSENAL CONTINUES WORK ON CHEMICAL CLEANUP PROJECT, CONFIRMED NEIGHBORS ARE SAFE
Tags: us_AL, public, discovery, environmental, explosives, pesticides
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. ‰?? While Redstone Arsenal works through their environmental clean up efforts, they are working to keep the community updated on the project‰??s progress.
Environmental restoration crews are working diligently to dig up some soil and ground water for the installation‰??s environmental clean up.
‰??We‰??ve got a little bit of everything out here, some pesticides,‰?? Terry Delapaz, Chief of the Installation Restoration Branch, said.
Our crews saw one of the sites on Thursday. It was a former German POW camp from World War II. To look at it, a passerby would never know anything was buried below the fields. That‰??s why the testers rely so heavily on historical data for the clean-up.
‰??You have to start there because if you don‰??t even know where to look, then you‰??re lost,‰?? Delapaz said.
For this site, they‰??re cleaning up the remnants of ‰??goop.‰??
‰??It‰??s like a napalm kind of petroleum-type of material used for chemical weapons that would have been used back in the Korean War,‰?? Delapaz said.
---------------------------------------------
TRUMP'S TIES TO DOW CHEMICAL PROMPT FOIA SUIT
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, ag_chems, pesticides
SAN FRANCISCO (CN) ‰?? Environmentalists sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in federal court Wednesday, saying the agency refused to provide requested documents relating to the relationship between regulators and the pesticide manufacturer Dow Chemical.
The Pesticide Action Network of North America (PANNA) filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the EPA, saying the agency is illegally withholding documents that relate to its decision not to revoke chlorpyrifos despite its scientists finding it‰??s a human health hazard.
‰??PANNA seeks these communications as part of its public education and advocacy to reverse EPA‰??s decision not to revoke chlorpyrifos tolerances,‰?? the organization says in the complaint. ‰??EPA has failed to respond to PANNA‰??s FOIA requests within the time required by law and is unlawfully withholding the information sought by PANNA.‰??
The controversy over chlorpyrifos dates back to 2007, when the Natural Resources Defense Council and PANNA jointly filed a petition with the EPA asking the agency to consider banning the pesticide in light of mounting evidence it presents a hazard to human health in general and childhood development in particular.
Several studies show that even low doses of chlorpyrifos can have adverse impacts on infants‰?? cognitive and emotional development. Large doses can cause acute toxicity in exposed individuals, and studies demonstrate that agricultural workers with frequent exposure to the pesticide have developed serious lung ailments, including wheeze and cancer.
---------------------------------------------
PAPER ON MICROPLASTICS IN FISH IS RETRACTED
Tags: Sweden, laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
Last June, C&EN covered a paper in Science showing that polystyrene microplastics from personal care products ingested by perch could ‰??inhibit hatching, stunt growth, and boost predation‰?? of the fish (2016, DOI: 10.1126/science.aad8828). The paper has now been retracted.
After Oona L̦nnstedt and Peter Ekl̦v of Uppsala University published the study, seven researchers filed a complaint with Uppsala, claiming missing data, statistical design and analysis problems, and discrepancies between how the researchers said they carried out the study and eyewitness accounts of the experiments.
A university-convened panel of researchers concluded on Aug. 31 that no evidence of research misconduct existed. At about the same time, L̦nnstedt and Ekl̦v reported that a computer containing data from the study had been stolen and there was no backup.
The university also asked Sweden‰??s Central Ethical Review Board to consider the complaint. On April 21, the board decided that the authors‰?? responses to questions were deficient and contradictory, that they had failed to get required animal ethics approval, that the data loss suggested the research had not been conducted to the reported extent, that Science should not have accepted the paper, that the Uppsala panel appeared to have missed evidence of research misconduct, and that the authors were ‰??guilty of scientific dishonesty.‰?? Science retracted the paper on May 3.
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