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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 (21 articles)
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2017 07:38:43 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: DFB63794-9CAE-469C-BFF7-F6139DE83864**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, July 26, 2017 at 7:38:24 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 (21 articles)
CHEMICAL FIRE FOUGHT WITH SAND, ROCK SALT ON DETROIT‰??S EAST SIDE
Tags: us_MI, industrial, explosion, response, magnesium, titanium
OSHA ISSUES $28,000 IN FINES FOR UPPER MACUNGIE LAB EXPLOSION
Tags: us_PA, laboratory, follow-up, injury, other_chemical
13,000 LITRES OF CHEMICAL SPILLED AT CAMBRIDGE BAY AIRPORT
Tags: Canada, industrial, release, response, other_chemical
CHEMICAL PLANT TO PAY $150K FOR BREAKING POLLUTION LAW
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, follow-up, environmental, waste, illegal
OFFICIALS RESPOND TO CHEMICAL SPILL AT I-FALLS PAPER MILL
Tags: us_MN, industrial, release, response, sulfuric_acid
CALLS TO POISON CENTERS ABOUT DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS ON THE RISE
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, drugs
STATE REACHES SETTLEMENT OVER PFOA CONTAMINATION IN BENNINGTON
Tags: us_VT, public, follow-up, response, other_chemical
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY STAFF EVACUATE BUILDING AFTER 'PUNGENT' CHEMICAL GAS LEAK
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, release, injury, gas_cylinders, sulfur_dioxide
FIVE INJURED IN AMMONIA LEAK AT DALLAS BAKERY
Tags: us_TX, industrial, release, response, ammonia
STRONG SMELL FROM CLEANING CHEMICALS AT GLENDALE APARTMENTS
Tags: us_AZ, public, release, response, cleaners
FOX IN ROW OVER CHEMICAL CHICKEN (FROM HERALDSCOTLAND)
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, discovery, environmental, chlorine
CHEMICAL LEAK CONTAINED AT COMPANY OFF ROUTE 1
Tags: us_NJ, laboratory, release, response, chlorine, cyanide
A DANGEROUS IDEA: ELIMINATING THE CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
CITATIONS FOR CHEMICAL BURNS, BROKEN BONES SLAP $1.9M PENALTY ON MANUFACTURER
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, release, injury, metals, sodium_hydroxide
COOPER SAYS HE'S ACTING ON CHEMICAL IN NORTH CAROLINA RIVER
Tags: us_NC, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
SENATORS MURRAY, CANTWELL SECURE NEW PROVISIONS IN SENATE BILL TO ADDRESS HANFORD CHEMICAL VAPOR CONCERNS
Tags: us_wa, industrial, follow-up, injury, radiation
CHEVRON SETTLES WITH CAL/OSHA OVER 2012 REFINERY FIRE
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, injury, corrosives, petroleum
11 STATES SUE TRUMP ADMIN TO REDUCE RISK OF CHEMICAL EXPLOSIONS
Tags: transportation, discovery, environmental
FOUR KINGS COUNTY DEPUTIES HOSPITALIZED AFTER BEING EXPOSED TO AIRBORNE DRUGS DURING TRAFFIC STOP
Tags: us_WA, public, release, injury, clandestine_lab
EPA: TANKS LEAKED HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES AT FORMER DEFERIET PAPER MILL SITE, PUBLIC NOT AT RISK
Tags: us_NY, industrial, release, response, asbestos, sodium_hydroxide, sulfuric_acid
WATER TAINTED WITH PERFLUOROCARBONS BY U.S. MILITARY IS FOCUS OF LEGISLATION
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
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CHEMICAL FIRE FOUGHT WITH SAND, ROCK SALT ON DETROIT‰??S EAST SIDE
Tags: us_MI, industrial, explosion, response, magnesium, titanium
On Tuesday morning, the Detroit Fire Department fought fire with dry sand and rock salt at a plant on the city‰??s east side.
It all started with a ‰??minor explosion‰?? in a machine that processes magnesium at the Global Titanium plant on the 19300 block of Filer. This was at about 5:10 a.m., said Dave Fornell, deputy commissioner of the Detroit Fire Department. That‰??s north of East Seven Mile, and just east of Mount Elliott.
Of the three buildings on site, the explosion took place in a building where the company processes magnesium.
When firefighters arrived, the fire had spread to two storage bins, Fornell said.
‰??Magnesium, when it ignites, it burns with a white-hot heat, and you can‰??t use water to put it out,‰?? Fornell said. ‰??The water turns to steam and causes minor explosions, which spreads the material.‰??
There was also titanium involved.
Such a fire can‰??t be extinguished with water, Fornell said; it must be smothered with dry sand. In this case, dry sand and rock salt. And unlike at most of the blazes the department fights, this time workers at the site ‰??worked hand-in-hand‰?? with firefighters over the next hour. The sand and rock salt were already on site.
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OSHA ISSUES $28,000 IN FINES FOR UPPER MACUNGIE LAB EXPLOSION
Tags: us_PA, laboratory, follow-up, injury, other_chemical
Workers handling a combustible compound at a semiconductor lab in Upper Macungie Township weren‰??t wearing proper safety gear during a February explosion that injured three employees, according to a U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration report.
In the June report, OSHA said it found three ‰??serious‰?? violations that culminated in $28,067 in fines as a result of the Feb. 16 explosion at CyOptics Inc., at 9999 Hamilton Blvd. in the Tek Park campus.
CyOptics is a subsidiary of Broadcom and describes itself as a leader in indium phosphide optical chips and component technologies for data communications and telecommunications markets.
Workers were handling the flammable compound trimethylindium, which ignited and caused a minor explosion and fire.
The OSHA investigation determined a lack of training led a worker to improperly handle the material, causing the compound to explode around employees who weren‰??t wearing the kind of protective clothing that could have prevented injury.
Trimethylindium is a organometallic compound commonly used in the manufacture of semiconductors. Derek Lowe, an organic chemistry research scientist and blogger for Science Translational Medicine, said in an email that the compound is used to turn metals such as aluminum or indium into a gaseous state so thin layers can be applied to semiconductor components.
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13,000 LITRES OF CHEMICAL SPILLED AT CAMBRIDGE BAY AIRPORT
Tags: Canada, industrial, release, response, other_chemical
Approximately 13,000 litres of a chemical used for dust control was spilled onto the ground at the airport in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, RCMP say.
Police say in a news release that they were notified of the spill on Sunday. They say 13 containers were opened and spilled sometime over the previous weekend.
Approximately 13,000 litres of a chemical used for dust control was spilled onto the ground at the airport in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, RCMP say.
The chemical, EK35, is considered non-hazardous, but steps have been taken to prevent the spill from reaching the nearby bay, police say.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL PLANT TO PAY $150K FOR BREAKING POLLUTION LAW
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, follow-up, environmental, waste, illegal
TRENTON -- A chemical plant that once operated in Newark will pay more than $150,000 in fines for discharging waste into the sewer system in ways that did not comply with the law, Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino said Tuesday.
Cardolite Corporation, headquartered at Monmouth Junction, pleaded guilty to six charges of violating the Water Pollution Control Act before Superior Court Judge John I. Gizzo in Essex County. The international company agreed to pay a $100,000 fine and $53,000 in restitution to the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, which helped in the investigation.
A call to the attorney representing Cardolite was not returned.
Authorities said Cardolite admitted that between April and July 2015, it failed to properly manage and report its waste discharges six different times. The Water Pollution Control Act requires companies self-monitor and report violations but Cardolite tampered with the measurements, authorities said.
---------------------------------------------
OFFICIALS RESPOND TO CHEMICAL SPILL AT I-FALLS PAPER MILL
Tags: us_MN, industrial, release, response, sulfuric_acid
County and state officials responded to a sulfuric acid spill at the Boise Paper mill in International Falls last week.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency reported Tuesday that it was notified last week that about 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of sulfuric acid had spilled onto the production floor. The liquid flowed from a floor drain into the plant's wastewater treatment facility, the MPCA reported; plant employees worked to neutralize the acid by adding an alkalizing agent, and eventually shut down the wastewater treatment facility.
The plant is located along the Rainy River, and staff from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Koochiching County Soil and Water Conservation District patrolled about 30 miles of the river downstream from International Falls on Friday and Saturday to look for evidence of a fish kill. They did not find any dead fish.
‰??It‰??s important to note that a fish kill would be a primary indicator of too much acid in a water body because acid affects the available oxygen, and when that decreases to a certain level, fish die,‰?? MPCA spokeswoman Anne Moore said.
---------------------------------------------
CALLS TO POISON CENTERS ABOUT DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS ON THE RISE
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, drugs
More than 70% of Americans take some form of dietary supplement. Yet these increasingly popular products typically don‰??t undergo U.S. Food & Drug Administration safety testing or approval before they hit the market, a lax requirement that may merit reevaluation, according to a recent study (J. Med. Toxicol. 2017, DOI: 10.1007/s13181-017-0623-7).
In the study, researchers evaluated data collected from 2000 to 2012, finding that calls to U.S. poison control centers reporting dietary supplement exposures doubled during the period, to total about 275,000 calls. The majority of those exposures occurred in children younger than age six. Often, parents don‰??t think of supplements as dangerous and leave them within reach of curious children, says Henry Spiller, director of the Central Ohio Poison Center and coauthor of the new study. But when it comes to safety, parents should treat them like any other medicine, he says.
Although most of the exposures over the 13-year period had relatively benign effects, 4.5% of the reported exposures resulted in serious medical outcomes. These adverse effects were linked to a few main categories of supplements: energy products, cultural medicines such as Ayurvedic treatments, and botanicals such as ephedra, which was once marketed for weight loss, heightened alertness, and improved athletic performance.
---------------------------------------------
STATE REACHES SETTLEMENT OVER PFOA CONTAMINATION IN BENNINGTON
Tags: us_VT, public, follow-up, response, other_chemical
Gov. Phil Scott announced Tuesday that the state has reached a settlement with the company Saint-Gobain over the water contamination in Bennington.
Saint-Gobain owned the factory that released the chemical PFOA, which contaminated about 270 private wells. The company has now agreed to pay about $20 million which will bring municipal water to about 200 homes.
Saint-Gobain will also pay for a continued investigation into a disputed area of potential contamination.
The two sides will continue hammering out a settlement for the rest of the properties. The governor's office says that with this part of the talks wrapped up, construction can begin this fall on the waterline extensions.
---------------------------------------------
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY STAFF EVACUATE BUILDING AFTER 'PUNGENT' CHEMICAL GAS LEAK
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, release, injury, gas_cylinders, sulfur_dioxide
Cambridge university staff were forced to evacuate a building and one woman was given oxygen after a "pungent" gas leaked from a cylinder in a laboratory.
Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service was called at around 2pm yesterday (July 23) to the Earth Science laboratories in Downing Street, Cambridge.
A statement from the fire service said: "A crew from Cambridge was called to a chemical leak at the Earth Science laboratories in Downing Street after a leak from a cylinder of Sulphur Dioxide.
"Firefighters cordoned off the area and entered the building wearing breathing apparatus following reports of a pungent smell in the building."
---------------------------------------------
FIVE INJURED IN AMMONIA LEAK AT DALLAS BAKERY
Tags: us_TX, industrial, release, response, ammonia
(WBAP/KLIF News) ‰?? Five people were taken to the hospital after an ammonia leak at a Dallas bakery early Monday morning.
Dallas Fire and Rescue‰??s Jason Evans said the leak came from a faulty compressor in an air conditioning unit at the EPI Bread Company on West Ledbetter near Joseph Hardin Drive.
‰??The fumes got into the system and spread throughout the building,‰?? he said.
Shortly after the leak, employees began experiencing side effects from the exposure.
‰??You had a number of people that were exposed to the fumes and they were experiencing symptoms ranging from nausea, dizziness, lightheadedness. There was one person who even fainted,‰?? he said.
After the company shut off the leak, a HazMat team arrived and helped ventilate the building.
The five employees were taken to nearby hospitals and are expected to recover.
---------------------------------------------
STRONG SMELL FROM CLEANING CHEMICALS AT GLENDALE APARTMENTS
Tags: us_AZ, public, release, response, cleaners
GLENDALE, AZ - Phoenix and Glendale Fire Department crews are at an apartment complex in Glendale after getting a report of two people feeling nauseous from cleaning chemicals.
Authorities say there was a strong chemical smell when fire crews arrived at the scene Sunday afternoon.
The decision was made to evacuate about 14 apartments closest to the apartment that the odor was originating from.
A hazardous materials team came in and used chemical meters to determine that there were vapors present, but not at a level that would cause any long-term health effects.
The cleaning chemicals were removed and a fan was used to exhaust the remaining fumes.
Both people who felt nauseous decline treatment now.
---------------------------------------------
FOX IN ROW OVER CHEMICAL CHICKEN (FROM HERALDSCOTLAND)
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, discovery, environmental, chlorine
Britain‰??s Trade Secretary has refused to rule out post-Brexit imports of cheap American chicken which has been rinsed in chemicals.
Amid heightened concerns over both food safety and animal welfare after the UK leaves the EU, Liam Fox dismissed fears over chlorine-washed poultry as a media ‰??obsessions‰??.
Scottish farmers have become increasingly concerned over talk of free trade deals with the United States including low-cost meat, such as hormone-treated beef.
As revealed in The Herald‰??s Beyond Brexit series, food industry leaders believe Scotland, which produces high-quality produce to European standards, would struggle to compete on price with American chicken and beef.
Dr Fox, however, on Monday said decisions on whether to allow chlorine-washed chicken to be sold to British consumers would be taken at the ‰??very end stage‰?? of a potential US-UK free trade deal.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL LEAK CONTAINED AT COMPANY OFF ROUTE 1
Tags: us_NJ, laboratory, release, response, chlorine, cyanide
WEST WINDSOR -- A hazardous chemical release inside a company's building off Route 1 and Alexander Road Monday morning was contained with no threat to the public, and no injuries, police and fire officials said.
The incident occurred at Chilworth on Campus Drive, shortly after 11 a.m.
The company provides safety-related consulting, training, and testing for a number of industries worldwide, their website says.
Employees were working in a "fume hood" and their readings of a test showed a presence of cyanide and chlorine gas, West Windsor Emergency Services Director Jim Yates said.
The quantities they were working with were very small and company officials called the fire department to check on the readings, Yates said. Two firefighters donned chemical suits to take readings in the area and found no escape of the chemicals into the building.
Yates said the firefighters also found no harm to the public or environment, nor to building employees or occupants and the building was later reopened.
---------------------------------------------
A DANGEROUS IDEA: ELIMINATING THE CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
RICHMOND, Calif. ‰?? The United States Chemical Safety Board is a federal watchdog with more bark than bite. It has five board members, a tiny staff of less than 50 and a budget of some $11 million a year. Its mission is to investigate fires and explosions in oil refineries and chemical plants.
The board can‰??t impose financial penalties for corporate misbehavior and has no rules of its own to enforce. It merely issues fact-finding reports, with accompanying technical and policy recommendations. Labor and management can use this valuable information to avoid future accidents, or ignore it.
But its bark can be effective. The board‰??s reports have their own power, laying bare corporate negligence or ineptitude, and indentifyng hazards that communities may not realize are in their own backyards.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the board could soon be gone, despite its consultative approach and reliance on voluntary compliance. Under President Trump‰??s 2018 fiscal year budget proposal, the agency, which opened in 1998, would be eliminated because its role is ‰??largely duplicative‰?? of efforts by other agencies, presumably the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Environmental Protection Agency. Both of those agencies would also experience cuts to reduce ‰??over-regulation‰?? of industry.
---------------------------------------------
CITATIONS FOR CHEMICAL BURNS, BROKEN BONES SLAP $1.9M PENALTY ON MANUFACTURER
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, release, injury, metals, sodium_hydroxide
DELAIR -- An aluminum manufacturing company accused of repeatedly violating workplace safety standards faces new allegations after accidents landed employees in the hospital with chemical burns and broken bones, officials said.
The Occupational Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) under the federal Department of Labor inspected Delair-based Aluminum Shapes LLC in January, marking the company's eighth inspection in six years. On Friday, OSHA slammed the site with 51 new violations and a $1.9 million penalty following its latest inspection of the company.
Aluminum Shapes manufactures products for the construction, transportation and architectural industries, as well as consumer goods and electrical machinery, according to the company's website.
When visiting the site earlier this year, inspectors learned that two employees had been hospitalized in separate alleged workplace incidents.
In the first, employees entered a tank containing dehydrated sodium hydroxide, aluminum oxide and metal. While attempting to drain it, the employees allegedly sustained chemical burns, which they reported to supervisors.
---------------------------------------------
COOPER SAYS HE'S ACTING ON CHEMICAL IN NORTH CAROLINA RIVER
Tags: us_NC, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
RALEIGH, N.C.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Monday he's directing state criminal investigators to see if a chemical plant violated any permits by discharging a little-studied chemical into a river that hundreds of thousands of people use for drinking water.
Cooper discussed his order to the State Bureau of Investigation while meeting with local officials in Wilmington, where there's been an outcry since traces of the unregulated chemical GenX in water supplies was revealed this spring. There's little scientific data about the relatively new chemical's health effects.
Cooper also promised that chemical company Chemours will be barred under terms of a pending state permit from releasing GenX into the Cape Fear River alongside its Bladen County plant, which employs nearly 1,000 workers.
GenX has been used since 2009 to make Teflon and other non-stick products. It was developed to replace a different chemical ‰?? perfluorooctanoic acid or PFOA ‰?? tied to increased cancer risk. The related nature of the compounds and their largely unknown health effects prompted the governor's moves, Cooper spokeswoman Sadie Weiner said.
---------------------------------------------
SENATORS MURRAY, CANTWELL SECURE NEW PROVISIONS IN SENATE BILL TO ADDRESS HANFORD CHEMICAL VAPOR CONCERNS
Tags: us_wa, industrial, follow-up, injury, radiation
WASHINGTON, D.C. ‰?? Today, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and a senior member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, announced they secured new provisions in the Fiscal Year 2018 Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill to address ongoing concerns about workers in or near the tank farms at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state being exposed to chemical vapors. One provision urges the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to continue implementing recommendations from the 2014 Hanford Tank Vapor Assessment Report, and to move forward with recommendations from three subsequent reviews conducted by DOE‰??s Office of the Inspector General and Office of Enterprise Assessments, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. A second provision would direct DOE !
to work with contractors, labor unions, and the State of Washington to establish a resource center to provide education and advocacy to current and former Hanford employees on all available Federal and State compensation programs to support workers who are injured on the job. The bill containing the two provisions passed the Senate Committee on Appropriations and now moves to the full Senate.
‰??While continued progress at Hanford is important, it should never come at the expense of workers‰?? health and safety,‰?? Senator Murray said. ‰??I‰??m encouraged to see these important provisions pass this hurdle, and I will fight to make sure the Trump Administration does everything in its power to put safety first and provide Hanford workers the health care and benefits they deserve.‰??
‰??Workers at Hanford deserve the most stringent possible precautions in place as they make progress on the clean-up,‰?? Senator Cantwell said. ‰??The measures that Senator Murray and I were able to include in the 2018 Appropriations bill will help make progress towards that important goal, and I look forward to seeing them become law."
---------------------------------------------
CHEVRON SETTLES WITH CAL/OSHA OVER 2012 REFINERY FIRE
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, injury, corrosives, petroleum
RICHMOND ‰?? Chevron Corp. has reached a settlement agreement with state regulators stemming from the 2012 fire at its Richmond refinery that will require it to spend about $20 million to improve safety at the facility.
The agreement calls for San Ramon-based Chevron to implement ‰??extraordinary measures‰?? that meet or exceed California‰??s pending landmark regulation to reduce risk at refineries, the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) said in a news release Monday.
‰??This means safer operations at the refinery, which will help protect refinery workers and those who work and live nearby,‰?? Cal/OSHA Chief Juliann Sum said.
An investigation by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board found that the Aug. 6, 2012, fire, which endangered 19 refinery workers and sent more than 15,000 residents to hospitals, was caused by a combination of regulatory shortcomings, a flawed Chevron safety culture and insufficient emergency efforts that likely exacerbated the problem. It concluded that Chevron failed to replace aging and corroded pipes, and failed to shut down leaking equipment before it caught fire
The agreement announced Monday calls for Chevron to replace all carbon steel piping that carries corrosive liquids with chrome-alloy piping, which has better corrosion resistance, at an estimated cost of $15 million. It also calls for Chevron to spend an estimated $5 million to develop and implement criteria and procedures to monitor equipment to alert operators when equipment should be replaced.
In addition, Chevron agreed to provide specialized training for Chevron Fire Department workers and refinery operators, beyond the training that is already provided; donate $200,000 to a job-readiness program to help prepare students for jobs in the petrochemical and related industries; and pay the citation penalties originally proposed by Cal/OSHA in January 2013 of $782,700, plus an additional $227,300.
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11 STATES SUE TRUMP ADMIN TO REDUCE RISK OF CHEMICAL EXPLOSIONS
Tags: transportation, discovery, environmental
Eleven states including Washington have sued the Trump administration to improve safety at the nation‰??s refineries and chemical plants.
The lawsuit aims to force the Environmental Protection Agency to revive safety rules enacted in the final days of the Obama administration.
Within days of taking office, the Trump administration put the rules on hold as part of its push to de-regulate the U.S. economy.
The chemical safety rules ‰?? amendments to EPA‰??s Accidental Release Prevention Requirements under the Clean Air Act ‰?? are in limbo until 2019. They were intended to reduce the risk of explosions that have killed workers and endangered communities in Anacortes and elsewhere in recent years.
‰??Washingtonians have first-hand experience with the types of disasters this rule was designed to help prevent,‰?? a press release from Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said.
A fireball half the size of a football field erupted from the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes in 2010, killing seven workers. An appeals judge in June overturned the company‰??s record $2.4 million safety fine from state safety regulators.
United Steelworkers ‰?? the union representing workers at that refinery ‰?? and environmental groups sued the EPA in June to revive the safety rules.
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FOUR KINGS COUNTY DEPUTIES HOSPITALIZED AFTER BEING EXPOSED TO AIRBORNE DRUGS DURING TRAFFIC STOP
Tags: us_WA, public, release, injury, clandestine_lab
FRESNO, County (KFSN) -- Deputies in Kings County are recovering from a hospital stay after being exposed to the highly toxic drug fentanyl during a traffic stop.
It led to a HAZMAT situation at 12 3/4 and Douglas Avenues, just south of Laton. The incident happened around 10 p.m. Saturday night when deputies pulled over 43-year-old Gene Brady for an outstanding warrant
During a search of his car, authorities now confirm that four deputies were exposed to the highly toxic drug fentanyl and became ill shortly after coming in contact with it.
They were immediately transported to the hospital for treatment and were released a few hours later.
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EPA: TANKS LEAKED HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES AT FORMER DEFERIET PAPER MILL SITE, PUBLIC NOT AT RISK
Tags: us_NY, industrial, release, response, asbestos, sodium_hydroxide, sulfuric_acid
DEFERIET ‰?? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said hazardous substances appear to have leaked from containers at the site of the former St. Regis paper mill.
However, Joel M. Petty, on-scene coordinator for the EPA, said there was no risk to the public from the materials found in a garage at the secured site at 400 Anderson Ave. or to those working at a nearby hydroelectric power plant.
Mr. Petty said the material was either ‰??containerized, or onto the floor of the garage.‰??
EPA officials said they discovered the spilled material in June as they searched the site for asbestos-containing material, work that has been ongoing since last year. The mill site has been out of use since the mid-1980s and was described by the agency as being in a ‰??severe state of disrepair.‰??
In searching more than 100 containers, ranging from 30-gallon containers to a pair of 4,500-gallon tanks, the EPA said ‰??several of these containers have holes, are bulging and leaking contents onto the ground.‰??
A sample of the containers determined they contained substances like sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid, Mr. Petty said.
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WATER TAINTED WITH PERFLUOROCARBONS BY U.S. MILITARY IS FOCUS OF LEGISLATION
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
The Pentagon would have to study whether drinking water tainted with perfluorinated chemicals used in firefighting causes health problems under a bill the U.S. House of Representatives passed on July 14.
The proposed 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2810) includes provisions on perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), collectively known as perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). The chemicals persist in the environment indefinitely and have been linked to disease in people.
The military in the 1970s began using aqueous film-forming foam containing PFOA and other perfluorinated compounds that can degrade to PFOA or PFOS. Scientists have recently linked use of the foam at military installations to contamination of drinking water with PFASs. The Department of Defense is assessing its use of these substances and potential substitutes for them.
The bill would instruct the Pentagon to study the health of people who drank PFOS- or PFOA-contaminated water on or near current or former military installations.
The measure brings up the possibility that the Environmental Protection Agency might cap the amount of PFASs allowed in drinking water. EPA set a nonbinding health advisory level for PFASs in drinking water at 70 ppt in May 2016 but has not set a legally enforceable limit for these substances.
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