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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, October 2, 2017 at 7:08:11 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 (19 articles)
CREWS CALLED TO AMMONIA LEAK AT COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS REC CENTER
Tags: us_UT, public, release, response, ammonia
UP TO 3,500 GALLONS OF DIESEL FUEL SPILLED IN DOWNTOWN RALEIGH
Tags: us_NC, public, release, response, diesel
3 CLASSROOMS AT FONTANA A.B. MILLER SEALED BY HAZMAT THREAT, EXPECTED TO BE CLEARED MONDAY ‰?? SAN BERNARDINO SUN
Tags: us_CA, education, discovery, response, mercury
FOUR INJURED IN POSSIBLE FIRE PIT EXPLOSION IN MONKTON
Tags: us_MD, public, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
CMAC BEGINS REMOVAL OF TWO CHEMICAL BOMBS, NATIONAL, PHNOM PENH POST
Tags: Cambodia, public, discovery, response, bomb, tear_gas
ACTIVISTS SUE OVER REVAMPED U.S. TSCA CHEMICAL LAW
Tags: public, follow-up, environmental
POOL CLEANING CHEMICAL SPILL PROMPTS HAZMAT RESPONSE, SHELTER-IN-PLACE ADVISORY IN REDWOOD CITY
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, pool_chemicals
OLD MILITARY EXPLOSIVES FOUND IN YARD OF LAWNDALE HOME
Tags: us_CA, public, discovery, response, explosives
CHEMICAL STENCH: JOHOR ISSUES STOP-WORK ORDER TO PASIR GUDANG PLANT, SE ASIA NEWS & TOP STORIES
Tags: Singapore, industrial, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical
CHEMICALS FROM CANADA'S AIR FIND THEIR WAY TO THE ST. CLAIR RIVER AND LAKE ST. CLAIR
Tags: us_MI, industrial, discovery, environmental
VILLAGERS EVACUATED FOR SECOND TIME AS FIRE DEPARTMENT REMOVES TOXIC GAS CYLINDERS
Tags: Malaysia, public, discovery, response, chlorine, gas_cylinders
EPA: HURRICANE HARVEY COMPROMISED CAP ON TOXIC WASTE SITE
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, waste
LAWSUIT: REFINERY, CHEMICAL PLANT WORSENED HARVEY FLOODING
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, response, unknown_chemical
3 HURT IN EXPLOSION IN BUILDING ON ROCKLAND WATERFRONT
Tags: us_ME, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION OF TEXAS CHEMICAL PLANT BLASTS OPENED
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, response, peroxide
CHEMICAL STENCH IN SINGAPORE TRACED TO JOHOR INDUSTRIAL FACILITY
Tags: Singapore, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical
NEWS WRAP: HURRICANE HARVEY CAUSED POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS CHEMICAL SPILL, SAYS EPA
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
TOP 10 TOXIC CHEMICALS COMING FROM CALIFORNIA REFINERIES IDENTIFIED
Tags: us_CA, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
2ND EXPLOSION IN YEAR AT GLENVILLE PLANT ELEVATES CONCERNS
Tags: us_NY, industrial, explosion, response, cleaners, kerosene
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CREWS CALLED TO AMMONIA LEAK AT COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS REC CENTER
Tags: us_UT, public, release, response, ammonia
COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, Utah, Oct. 1, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) ‰?? Fire crews and a HazMat team were called to the scene of an ammonia leak at Cottonwood Heights Recreaction Center Sunday morning.
Ross Fowlks, acting district chief for the Unified Fire Authority, told Gephardt Daily employees at the center, at 7500 S. 2700 East, came in before the building opened Sunday and noticed a smell of ammonia in the building.
Fire crews were called at approximately 10:30 a.m., and the staff self-evacuated.
‰??They had a car accident last night at about 2 o‰??clock, that shut power off to the area,‰?? Fowlks said. ‰??They‰??ve had some issues with a leak, in their ammonia, just a slight leak, and I guess with the power failure that caused a leak to build up and it kind of spread throughout the building.‰??
Crews arrived and opened up and all the doors, and checked the perimeter to make sure surrounding residents were safe. The HazMat team was called in as a precaution.
‰??Got ready to send our guys in and by the time we‰??d ventilated, on entry we get inside and most of it was dissipated and gone,‰?? Fowlks added. ‰??So now we‰??ve just got a technician on scene getting ready to go in and make sure the leak‰??s stopped.‰??
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UP TO 3,500 GALLONS OF DIESEL FUEL SPILLED IN DOWNTOWN RALEIGH
Tags: us_NC, public, release, response, diesel
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) ‰?? Raleigh police and fire crews responded to a diesel leak from a generator on South Wilmington Street, near the Duke Energy building Sunday morning.
The leak was reported around 9:30 a.m. by someone working inside the building.
Authorities said later Sunday that between 3,000 and 3,500 gallons of diesel spilled when a fuel line leaked.
Hazmat, firefighters and Prime Power crews contained the leak and are working to determine how much fuel spread.
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3 CLASSROOMS AT FONTANA A.B. MILLER SEALED BY HAZMAT THREAT, EXPECTED TO BE CLEARED MONDAY ‰?? SAN BERNARDINO SUN
Tags: us_CA, education, discovery, response, mercury
An incident Friday at Fontana‰??s A.B. Miller High School in which some students came in contact with mercury forced school officials to seal three involved classrooms over the weekend for inspection and safety, a school district official said Sunday.
The action was taken as a precaution by the San Bernardino County Fire Department‰??s Hazard Materials Division, which tested the rooms for mercury levels, said Michael Garcia, spokesman for the Fontana School District‰??s family and community engagement division.
A decision will be made Monday whether to re-open the classrooms. If the mercury levels remain above standard, classes scheduled for the rooms will be moved to another part of the school, Garcia said.
The incident occurred Friday afternoon when some students found a bottle containing mercury and came in contact with the chemical. They reported it to a teacher who alerted an administrator. The county‰??s hazmat unit was then called in.
The rooms were quarantined and the hazardous levels of the affected students and classrooms were checked. All were low, and students were released, Garcia said.
The school needs the classrooms to be cleared before they are reopened, and Garcia said he expects that to happen Monday.
---------------------------------------------
FOUR INJURED IN POSSIBLE FIRE PIT EXPLOSION IN MONKTON
Tags: us_MD, public, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
Three adults and one child were injured from what appeared to be an explosion that occurred in a fire pit in Monkton Sunday night, according to the Baltimore County Fire Department.
The fire department was dispatched to the 16500 block of Jm Pearce Road for a fire at around 9 p.m.
Two adults in critical condition were airlifted by helicopters from the landing zone, which was in a school in the area. The two other patients were being taken by ambulance to area hospitals, the fire department stated.
The department said the officials are investigating the cause of the fire. A HAZMAT team was requested, but there were no threats to public safety, the fire department said.
---------------------------------------------
CMAC BEGINS REMOVAL OF TWO CHEMICAL BOMBS, NATIONAL, PHNOM PENH POST
Tags: Cambodia, public, discovery, response, bomb, tear_gas
The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) is scheduled to begin the removal of two chemical bombs in Svay Rieng province this morning, while a 227 kilogram Mk 82 bomb was safely removed yesterday from Kirirom National Park.
The chemical bombs contain 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile (CS), a type of tear gas, and were dropped by the United States military before the Khmer Rouge takeover. Last week, Prime Minister Hun Sen called the bombs ‰??weapons of mass destruction‰??, and accused the US of not shouldering enough of the burden in clearing ordnance.
‰??These chemical bombs are very harmful to the comfort of the people because once the chemical leaks out, it will cause diseases ‰?? itchiness, respiratory problems and cancer,‰?? said CMAC President Heng Ratana, though CS is not listed as a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Ratana said the excavation and removal of the bombs will take 10 days, and 162 families in Romeas Hek district will need to temporarily relocate.
‰??Our experts will do their best to deal with both chemical bombs as soon as possible in order to impound them at the safe place temporarily and wait for the discussion with partners including the US,‰?? Ratana said.
---------------------------------------------
ACTIVISTS SUE OVER REVAMPED U.S. TSCA CHEMICAL LAW
Tags: public, follow-up, environmental
Chemical industry representatives joined environmental activists in June to celebrate the one-year mark of a major overhaul of the Toxic Substances Control Act‰??the law that governs the sale and use of chemicals in the U.S. But as summer drew to an end, so did environmentalists‰?? support for the Environmental Protection Agency‰??s rules that lay the foundation for how the agency will implement the amended law.
A few weeks after industry, EPA, and environmentalists marked the first anniversary of the reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act, activists challenged the agency's new regulations in court.
Numerous environmental and public health groups filed six lawsuits against EPA on Aug. 10 and 11, asking federal appeals courts to review the agency‰??s two rules for prioritizing and evaluating chemicals for their risks to human health and the environment. The court has consolidated the cases into two sets.
In addition, one of the groups, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), also challenged a third rule that requires chemical manufacturers and importers to notify EPA of chemicals produced during the past 10 years so that the agency knows what chemicals are in the U.S. marketplace.
At issue are changes EPA made to the three rules after the Obama Administration proposed them in January. The Trump EPA finalized the rules in late June. Environmentalists argue that the agency made the modifications to fulfill chemical industry requests.
Many elements of the three rules are ‰??contrary to law and fail to reflect the best available science,‰?? says Richard Denison, a lead senior scientist with EDF.
EDF and other petitioners are concerned about the agency‰??s decision not to consider all uses of a chemical, including reasonably foreseeable uses, in its risk evaluations. EPA proposed to do so under the Obama Administration. But in its final risk evaluation rule, the agency states that it does not need to consider all possible uses of a chemical. EPA plans to evaluate only the uses intended by the manufacturer and will regulate other uses separately.
---------------------------------------------
POOL CLEANING CHEMICAL SPILL PROMPTS HAZMAT RESPONSE, SHELTER-IN-PLACE ADVISORY IN REDWOOD CITY
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, pool_chemicals
People in a Redwood City were briefly asked to shelter in place after pool cleaning chemicals spilled early Saturday.
The advisory took effect around 7:15 a.m. in the vicinity of the 2700 block of Washington Street and the 2700 block of Kensington Road, police said. AHazmat crews then allowed the chemicals to evaporate.
---------------------------------------------
OLD MILITARY EXPLOSIVES FOUND IN YARD OF LAWNDALE HOME
Tags: us_CA, public, discovery, response, explosives
About 100 people were forced from their Los Angeles-area homes Thursday night after sheriff's deputies discovered a cache of World War II-era explosives in the backyard of an abandoned home that had been overtaken by transients.
The sheriff's department had first received a call Thursday night about a suspicious car that was parked in front of the home in Lawndale. While they were investigating that call, the deputies surveyed the vacant home and discovered 15 to 30 grenades, shells and other ordnance in the backyard, officials said. At least some of the explosives appeared to be active, investigators said.
Members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department bomb and hazmat squad search a Lawndale house where several artillery shells and grenades were found on September 29, 2017. MARK RALSTON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
The home had been owned by a World War II veteran who passed away a few months ago, Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell said Friday. After he died, transients moved into the vacant house.
After the deputies discovered the explosives, they evacuated the homes on several surrounding blocks for more than 14 hours as the bomb squad worked to analyze the items. Most of the devices were duds, but concerns about a case of ammunition and other items kept them from lifting the evacuation.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL STENCH: JOHOR ISSUES STOP-WORK ORDER TO PASIR GUDANG PLANT, SE ASIA NEWS & TOP STORIES
Tags: Singapore, industrial, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical
JOHOR BARU ‰?¢ A chemical plant in the industrial town of Pasir Gudang that was identified as the source of a chemical stench which engulfed parts of Singapore has been issued a stop work order by the Johor Department of Environment (DOE).
"The order will be in effect until the plant completes necessary remedial actions. We will make sure that the plant complies with the order before allowing it to resume operations," the DOE director, Datuk Dr Mohammad Ezanni Mat Salleh, told the New Straits Times.
He said the order was issued in the wake of a fire at the plant earlier this month.
Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA) had contacted the DOE for assistance after residents complained of an acrid, chemical stench on Monday.
Complaints first poured in from residents in Sengkang and Punggol, and later in estates such as Ang Mo Kio, Yishun, Seletar and Bishan. Thick smoke also hung over some of the affected areas, residents said.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICALS FROM CANADA'S AIR FIND THEIR WAY TO THE ST. CLAIR RIVER AND LAKE ST. CLAIR
Tags: us_MI, industrial, discovery, environmental
Lake St. Clair‰??s problems don‰??t all reside on the American side.
Across the St. Clair River lies Chemical Valley, a 15-mile stretch of the riverfront in Sarnia, Ontario, that manufactures 40% of Canada‰??s petrochemicals.
More than 700 chemical spills into the St. Clair River were documented from factories there from 1986 to 2000.
Sarnia has the worst air quality in Canada, according to a 2011 World Health Organization study. Particulates and harmful chemicals from Canada's air find their way to the St. Clair River and Lake St. Clair.
The Sarnia-Lambton Environmental Association, an industry-based group, has declared spills to the St. Clair River requiring a water intake closure to have virtually stopped since 2005. But a May 2016 report, prepared for Canadian government officials working on St. Clair River impairments, showed 13 occasions when the water treatment plant in Wallaceburg, Ontario, which draws its water from a canal off the southern end of the St. Clair River, about 32 miles south of Chemical Valley, shut down its water intake because of chemical contamination in the river between 2004 and 2013, seven precautionary shutdowns and six mandatory shutdowns. The Wallaceburg intake is farther downriver from Chemical Valley than six Michigan water intakes on the river, including Port Huron, Marysville, St. Clair, East China Township, Marine City and Algonac.
---------------------------------------------
VILLAGERS EVACUATED FOR SECOND TIME AS FIRE DEPARTMENT REMOVES TOXIC GAS CYLINDERS
Tags: Malaysia, public, discovery, response, chlorine, gas_cylinders
MELAKA: Villagers of Kampung Tambak Paya were forced to evacuate for a second time in 24 hours to allow the removal of seven cylinders of toxic chlorine gas tanks by the authorities.
State Fire and Rescue deputy superintendent (operation) Kamarulå-zaman Mohd Din confirmed the evacuation, which was reissued to the villagers at 5.30pm today to allow the safe removal of the gas cylinders including one which was buried on early Friday morning.
‰??We have identified that the gas cylinders belong to the company in Rawang.
‰??The state has ordered that the gas cylinders to be returned to the company,‰?? he told reporters at the scene here.
He added that the harzadous materials (Hazmat) team will escort the lorry transporting the gas cylinders, including the leaked cylinder to Rawang.
---------------------------------------------
EPA: HURRICANE HARVEY COMPROMISED CAP ON TOXIC WASTE SITE
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, waste
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has confirmed that rains from Hurricane Harvey damaged a temporary protective cap on a pit of toxic sludge along the San Jacinto River east of Houston, exposing ‰??underlying waste material.‰??
The San Jacinto River Waste Pits ‰?? one of the most hazardous of Houston‰??s many EPA Superfund sites ‰?? is contaminated with carcinogenic waste, including dioxins.
In a statement late Thursday, the EPA said samples from 14 different areas ‰??confirmed the protective cap had been damaged and the underlying waste material was exposed. The sample showed dioxins at 70,000 ng/kg. EPA recommended clean up level for the site is 30 ng/kg.‰??
The agency said it had directed companies responsible for the waste ‰?? International Paper Co. and Industrial Maintenance Corp. ‰?? "to conduct supplemental sampling to ensure that the exposed waste material is isolated.‰??
---------------------------------------------
LAWSUIT: REFINERY, CHEMICAL PLANT WORSENED HARVEY FLOODING
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, response, unknown_chemical
SWEENY, Texas (AP) ‰?? Homeowners southwest of Houston claim in a lawsuit that temporary dams erected by Phillips 66 and Phillips Chevron to protect two facilities from Harvey floodwaters caused their own land to flood.
The lawsuit filed last week in Brazoria County alleges that inflatable barricades were placed along two bayous near Sweeny in August to protect a refinery and a chemical plant from flooding.
More than 270 plaintiffs say the barricades caused floodwaters to be redirected and overrun their own land.
They say they were trapped in their homes without access to food or drinking water.
Phillips 66 says in a statement that its refinery saw flood damage and that its actions prevented material from being washed into the community.
The company says the area was already flooded and that its actions did not worsen it.
---------------------------------------------
3 HURT IN EXPLOSION IN BUILDING ON ROCKLAND WATERFRONT
Tags: us_ME, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
ROCKLAND, Maine - Fire officials say three people were hurt in an explosion on the waterfront in Rockland.
Officials say sparks from a grinder ignited fumes from a 55-gallon drum that had contained chemical stripping agent, causing the explosion Thursday night.
All three were hospitalized. Officials say one of them was transported via LifeFlight to a burn center. Identities weren't immediately released.
Firefighters say the victims may have made things worse by trying to douse the fire themselves instead of immediately calling the fire department.
---------------------------------------------
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION OF TEXAS CHEMICAL PLANT BLASTS OPENED
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, response, peroxide
HOUSTON ‰?? A Texas chemical plant where flooding during Harvey caused multiple explosions is under criminal investigation.
The Houston Chronicle reported Friday that the Harris County district attorney's office confirmed it had opened a criminal investigation into Arkema's actions before the explosions that sent fire and plumes of black smoke shooting into the air. Authorities in late August evacuated a 1.5-mile radius around the plant in Crosby, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Houston.
First responders are suing the company, claiming they were left vomiting and gasping for breath because of the fumes from the explosion of volatile organic peroxides. Their lawsuit says Arkema did not have proper procedures to keep the chemicals cooled in case of a flood or emergency.
Harris County commissioners have also approved filing a lawsuit against the company.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL STENCH IN SINGAPORE TRACED TO JOHOR INDUSTRIAL FACILITY
Tags: Singapore, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical
SINGAPORE, Sept 30 ‰?? The strong whiff of odour which plagued residential areas in the North-east of Singapore on Monday has been traced to an industrial facility in Pasir Gudang, Malaysia.
The National Environment Agency said that it had contacted its counterpart in Malaysia, the Department of Environment (DOE) for the latter‰??s assistance to investigate the gas-like smell on the same day.
‰??(The DOE) is taking action against the operator,‰?? NEA said in a statement posted on its Facebook page yesterday.
Checks by the NEA and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) on factories in affected areas had initially failed to find any anomalies that could have caused the gas smell.
NEA‰??s air monitoring stations in Singapore later detected low and safe levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air.
‰??VOCs can be human-made or naturally-occurring chemical compounds that easily enter the air as gases from some solids or liquids,‰?? NEA explained. ‰??They are numerous, varied and commonly present, and each individual‰??s reaction to VOCs may vary.‰??
---------------------------------------------
NEWS WRAP: HURRICANE HARVEY CAUSED POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS CHEMICAL SPILL, SAYS EPA
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
In our News Wrap Friday, the EPA warned that Hurricane Harvey caused a potentially dangerous chemical spill from a Houston-area Superfund site. The EPA detected high levels of dioxins in the San Jacinto River, which are linked to cancer and birth defects. Also, a 12th person has died in the wake of Hurricane Irma after being taken from a sweltering nursing home in South Florida.
---------------------------------------------
TOP 10 TOXIC CHEMICALS COMING FROM CALIFORNIA REFINERIES IDENTIFIED
Tags: us_CA, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) ‰?? If you live or work in California, you probably spend time near one of the state‰??s 17 refineries, and you may have wondered what refining chemicals end up in the air you breathe.
Up until a couple days ago, it would have been hard to say.
But for the first time, California‰??s Environmental Protection Agency has released a draft report identifying 188 chemicals emitted from its refineries.
Dr. Karen Riveles, the lead author of the report, confirmed that no California agency has previously compiled and published a report on refinery emissions and human health effects.
The report ‰?? which was spurred by a 2012 fire at the Chevron Refinery in Richmond ‰?? was produced at the request of community members and is the result of a collaboration between the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, the California Air Resources Board and the Interagency Refinery Task Force.
During the Chevron Refinery fire, roughly 15,000 people sought medical treatment at nearby hospitals for breathing problems and other symptoms, according to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. The board found that the section of pipe that failed was recommended for replacement in 2002, but was not replaced. It was recommended for inspection in 2009, but was not inspected.
---------------------------------------------
2ND EXPLOSION IN YEAR AT GLENVILLE PLANT ELEVATES CONCERNS
Tags: us_NY, industrial, explosion, response, cleaners, kerosene
GLENVILLE ‰?? Mohawk Asphalt Emulsions is facing pressure from authorities after a second explosion in less than a year rocked the plant Thursday.
In response to the blast, the company ‰?? part of The Gorman Group ‰?? announced Thursday afternoon that it would no longer manufacture a kerosene solution that was part of the early morning blast and fire.
Firefighters on Thursday night were not available to disclose the cause of the explosion.
But company officials believe a heater operating inside the plant caused a cleaning solution containing the kerosene to overheat and catch fire, according to a statement released by company attorney Frank C. O'Connor III.
"To prevent this in the future, Gorman will no longer manufacture the kerosene solution at this facility," O'Connor's statement read.
The 6:30 a.m. explosion and fire destroyed a fuel tank at Mohawk Asphalt. Nobody was injured, but it was the second major incident at the Freemans Bridge Road plant since last October.
A tanker truck exploded at Mohawk Asphalt on Oct. 17 and severely hurt two men who later died of their injuries. A third man also was hurt in the explosion.
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