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Previous by Date: Subject: [DCHAS-L] CHO Position at Washington University St. Louis Date: Thursday, July 13, 2017 at 11:53:28 PM Author: Harry J. Elston <helston**At_Symbol_Here**MIDWESTCHEMSAFETY.COM> |
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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, July 14, 2017 at 7:40:11 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 (7 articles)
FIRE IN INDUS MAGIC LAB: CSIR RUBBISHES NCL FACT-FINDING TEAM‰??S FINDINGS ON FIRE THAT GUTTED MAGIC LAB
Tags: india, fire, laboratory, follow-up
GAS COMPANY SUES TO END COUNTY OVERSIGHT AFTER MASSIVE NATURAL GAS DISASTER
Tags: us_ca, industrial, release, follow-up, natural_gas
MULTIPLE BUILDINGS EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL IN BILLERICA, MASSACHUSETTS
Tags: us_ma, industrial, release, response, sulfuric_acid
EXXON MOBIL FINED FOR LOUISIANA REFINERY EXPLOSION THAT INJURED FOUR
Tags: us_la, industrial, explosion, injuries, followup
CHEMICAL LEAK PROMPTS EVACUATION AT D&E
Tags: us_WV, laboratory, release, response, hydrofluoric_acid
ARKANSAS AND MISSOURI BAN DICAMBA HERBICIDE
Tags: us_AR, industrial, release, environmental, pesticides
NEW DETAILS ON MERCURY‰??S ROUTE TO THE ARCTIC
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, mercury
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FIRE IN INDUS MAGIC LAB: CSIR RUBBISHES NCL FACT-FINDING TEAM‰??S FINDINGS ON FIRE THAT GUTTED MAGIC LAB
Tags: india, fire, laboratory, follow-up
The New Delhi-headquartered Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has sent its final enquiry report on the fire that had destroyed the Indus MAGIC lab inside the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) in Pune on the night of March 27.
The CSIR report, which is now in the possession of NCL management, was sent to its Pune lab earlier this week. ‰??The CSIR committee has raised serious objections to several findings submitted by the NCL‰??s fact-finding internal committee‰?|,‰?? said sources. During its day-long visit to NCL on April 13 , the expert team from CSIR had questioned the scientists working at MAGIC lab and officials in charge of safety and security. They had also collected evidence from the site, which has been cordoned off ever since the incident. The CSIR inquiry report comes after a delay of over two months. It has been learned from reliable NCL sources that CSIR has expressed its displeasure with the initial findings of the fact-finding internal committee appointed by NCL.
This committee, comprising senior NCL staffers and security officials, had conducted a primary inquiry just days after the fire.
In a report dated June 29, The Indian Express had highlighted questions about the ‰??compromised‰?? safety standards of The Indus MAGIC lab. Subsequently, scientists and students working at NCL were cautioned by senior scientists, who had warned them about the serious consequences of failing to adhere to mandatory safety norms. Incidentally, neither of the teams which investigated the fire has ascertained the exact loss caused by the fire.
Officials of the Chaturshrungi police station, who were also probing the matter, had informed The Indian Express in April that the estimated loss caused by the fire was Rs 7-8 crore. However, the NCL internal team has yet again drawn the CSIR‰??s flak, after the Council cited discrepancies in the estimated loss amount. ‰??This may be due to the differences in the estimation of losses‰?| it definitely calls for clarification, as it is a public funded laboratory,‰?? said sources.
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GAS COMPANY SUES TO END COUNTY OVERSIGHT AFTER MASSIVE NATURAL GAS DISASTER
Tags: us_ca, industrial, release, follow-up, natural_gas
LOS ANGELES (CN) ‰?? After a massive methane gas leak at SoCalGas‰??s Aliso Canyon underground gas storage facility displaced thousands of families and took more than 100 days to plug, many residents in surrounding neighborhoods felt the energy company had gotten off lightly with a $4 million fine and tightened outside oversight.
But now Southern California Gas, a subsidiary of energy giant Sempra, says Los Angeles County‰??s attempts to prevent another environmental disaster of that scale go too far.
In a federal lawsuit filed against Los Angeles County and state regulators on Wednesday, SoCalGas claims that the county‰??s attempts to impose stricter safety standards on its pipelines and underground storage facilities violate a federal law called the Pipeline Safety Act, or PSA.
‰??Defendants include a state agency and a county that are attempting to impose and enforce safety standards for SoCalGas‰?? natural gas pipeline facilities, including SoCalGas‰?? underground gas storage facilities. Defendants‰?? actions violate the PSA, which expressly preempts all state and local safety standards for natural gas pipeline facilities and precludes state and local authorities from imposing or enforcing safety standards on natural gas pipeline facilities except as permitted under federal law,‰?? the 25-page lawsuit states.
According to SoCalGas, only the California Public Utilities Commission has the authority under federal law to regulate the energy company‰??s facilities, and the company says that it is in compliance with the regulations the agency imposes.
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MULTIPLE BUILDINGS EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL IN BILLERICA, MASSACHUSETTS
Tags: us_ma, industrial, release, response, sulfuric_acid
Multiple buildings have been evacuated in Billerica, Massachusetts, after a chemical spill.
The Billerica Fire Department said the spill came from a truck carrying 55-gallon barrels of different chemicals, and there is now a fume cloud associated with it.
Crews have identified the spill as sulfuric acid.
Several businesses have been evacuated, including a Cumberland Farms, but no one has been injured.
Source: Multiple Buildings Evacuated After Chemical Spill in Billerica, Massachusetts | NECN http://www.necn.com/news/new-england/Multiple-Buildings-Evacuated-After-Chemical-Spill-in-Billerica-434335693.html#ixzz4mnxzACFw">http://www.necn.com/news/new-england/Multiple-Buildings-Evacuated-After-Chemical-Spill-in-Billerica-434335693.html#ixzz4mnxzACFw
Follow us: **At_Symbol_Here**necn on Twitter | NECN on Facebook
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EXXON MOBIL FINED FOR LOUISIANA REFINERY EXPLOSION THAT INJURED FOUR
Tags: us_la, industrial, explosion, injuries, followup
HOUSTON, July 13 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp has been fined about $165,000 by U.S. regulators for safety lapses including inadequate training and equipment maintenance over an explosion that injured four workers at an aging Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery last year.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued nine citations, several of which echo previous cautions by federal agencies at two other Exxon plants. The citations, issued in May, were seen by Reuters this month.
A separate investigation by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is ongoing and its report on the incident is due by year-end.
Exxon said it is contesting the OSHA citations and fines.
The facility was faulted five years ago by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to address corrosion on pipes and valves and for inadequate shutdown and emergency procedures provided to workers.
The Nov. 22, 2016 explosion on a sulfuric-acid alkylation unit that makes octane-boosting components of gasoline in the sprawling Baton Rouge refinery and chemical plant injured four workers, two of them severely. Two of the affected workers declined to comment; others could not be reached.
A worker on the alkylation unit removed the cover of a malfunctioning valve on an isobutane line and used a wrench to turn the value stem, Exxon reported to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality in a letter. Volatile isobutane is converted in the alkylation unit to a component of gasoline.
As the operator turned the valve stem, portions of the valve fell out, releasing isobutane, according to the Exxon letter, which was ignited by a welding machine 70 feet away.
One worker was knocked off a scaffold next to the alkylation unit and left dangling over the fire, according to two sources. Another worker was burned over most of her body.
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CHEMICAL LEAK PROMPTS EVACUATION AT D&E
Tags: us_WV, laboratory, release, response, hydrofluoric_acid
ELKINS, W. Va. (WDTV) -- A chemical leak inside one of the science labs at Davis and Elkins College prompted an evacuation, Wednesday afternoon.
According to firefighters, they were called to the science center around 2 p.m., after hydrofluoric acid leaked onto the floor, and started reacting with something else. At this time, they don't know what it was reacting with. No one was hurt.
The building was evacuated and an area was cordoned off while firefighters cleaned up the scene.
Firefighters were there for about four hours clearing the area. That building will remain closed until a HAZMAT team comes in to finish cleaning the area.
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ARKANSAS AND MISSOURI BAN DICAMBA HERBICIDE
Tags: us_AR, industrial, release, environmental, pesticides
In response to escalating concerns about alleged misuse of the herbicide dicamba, Arkansas and Missouri have halted the sale and use of the chemical. The states received hundreds of complaints this year from farmers who say dicamba spray drifted onto their property from neighboring fields and damaged their soybeans that have not been genetically engineered to tolerate the herbicide.
On July 7, the Missouri Department of Agriculture banned the sale and use of all dicamba products labeled for agricultural use in the state, effective immediately. Also on July 7, the Arkansas Agriculture Department halted the sale and use of dicamba in that state for 120 days, effective on July 11.
Chris Chinn, director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, says Missouri‰??s ban will be lifted once companies, the state, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agree to new restrictions to be printed on dicamba product labels.
Dicamba (3,6-dichloro-2-methoxybenzoic acid) is found in herbicides produced by Monsanto, BASF, and DuPont for use on soybeans and cotton that are genetically modified to tolerate the chemical. EPA cleared the way for these uses in 2016 to combat broadleaf weeds that have developed resistance to glyphosate and other herbicides.
Complaints about spray drift and soybean damage from illegal use of dicamba in 2015 and 2016 led companies to develop formulations that are less volatile.
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NEW DETAILS ON MERCURY‰??S ROUTE TO THE ARCTIC
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, mercury
Mining operations, coal-fired plants, and other sources of mercury pollution worldwide have led to the deposition of the neurotoxic metal in the Arctic. The chemical mechanism behind this deposition is not completely understood.
Environmental scientists‰?? prevailing hypothesis is that Hg from man-made and natural sources travels through the atmosphere and collects in the Arctic primarily as Hg2+ that falls in rain and snow.
A study now finds that the primary source of the pollution is absorption of gaseous elemental mercury (Hg0) from the atmosphere, not Hg2+ from precipitation (Nature 2017, DOI: 10.1038/nature22997). Hg0 is more stable and lasts longer in the atmosphere, making it more subject to long-range transport, whereas Hg2+ is more reactive and shorter-lived in the atmosphere. The findings have implications for policies to reduce Hg pollution in Arctic ecosystems, which contaminates plants, fish, and mammals that native peoples rely on as food.
In the study, a team led by Daniel Obrist of the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, and the Desert Research Institute, measured Hg levels over two years in air, snow, plants, and soil at Toolik Field Station in northern Alaska and other sites. They found that Hg0 accounted for about 70% of total Hg deposition to the ecosystem, with Hg2+ only a minor contributor.
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