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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 (19 articles)
Date: Fri, 24 Nov 2017 06:01:31 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: 9F01D6A4-6BBF-439C-9D7B-682286DFC5D4**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, November 24, 2017 at 6:01:17 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)
HAZMAT UNIT DISPATCHED AFTER MISHAP WITH A TURKEY FRYER IMPROPERLY ATTACHED TO A PROPANE TANK
Tags: us_fl, public, release, injuries, carbon_monoxide
FIRE BREAKS OUT AT CHEMICAL GODOWN
Tags: india, industrial, fire, response, solvent
VIC WORKERS EXPOSED TO MYSTERY CHEMICAL
Tags: australia, transportation, release, injuries, unknown_chemical
US SENATE SPENDING BILL WOULD ELIMINATE IRIS PROGRAMME
Tags: us, public, discovery, toxics, enviromental
MERCURY FOUND IN GYM FLOORS IN THREE PARSIPPANY SCHOOLS
Tags: us_NJ, education, discovery, response, mercury
GREELEY OIL FIELD WORKER DIES AFTER PIPELINE FIRE
Tags: us_CO, industrial, fire, death, unknown_chemical
CHEMICAL VALLEY FLARING REFLECTS A ROSY GLOW OVER SOUTH PORT HURON
Tags: us_MI, public, discovery, environmental, flammables
BOFFIN MADE BOMBS OF THE TYPE USED IN 7/7 ATTACKS
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, discovery, response, explosives, illegal
VT. TOXICS LAW PROVIDES DATA, BUT NOT CLARITY, ABOUT TOYS
Tags: us_VT, public, discovery, environmental, unknown_chemical
ONE PERSON HOSPITALISED IN 'MYSTERY CHEMICAL' LEAK OUT OF BARREL AT AUCKLAND AIRPORT
Tags: New_Zealand, transportation, release, injury, unknown_chemical
NORTH CAROLINA TO YANK CHEMOURS‰??S WATER POLLUTION PERMIT FOR FLUOROCHEMICAL PRODUCTION
Tags: us_NC, industrial, follow-up, environmental, plastics
'LARGE FIREBALL' INJURES STUDENTS IN CHEMISTRY EXPERIMENT GONE WRONG
Tags: us_NY, laboratory, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
WALMART IN NORTH KINGSTOWN RE-OPENED AFTER HAZMAT INCIDENT
Tags: us_RI, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
MINNESOTA SAYS 3M CHEMICALS CAUSED CANCER, INFERTILITY; PUTS COST AT $5 BILLION
Tags: us_MN, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
CHEMICALS LINKED TO FIRE FIGHTING FOAM DISCOVERED IN LAKE MARGRETHE
Tags: us_MI, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
SAFETY CONSIGNED TO FLAMES
Tags: India, industrial, follow-up, environmental, flammables, plastics
MULTIPLE INVESTIGATIONS ARE IN MOTION IN COSMETICS FACTORY FIRE
Tags: us_NY, industrial, follow-up, death, unknown_chemical
AFTER FLINT, HELPING DOCTORS RECOGNIZE CHEMICAL EXPOSURE
Tags: us_MI, public, discovery, environmental, pesticides
ARKEMA DOCUMENTS: PLANNING, MECHANICAL FAILURES LED TO HARVEY CHEMICAL FIRES
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, peroxide
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HAZMAT UNIT DISPATCHED AFTER MISHAP WITH A TURKEY FRYER IMPROPERLY ATTACHED TO A PROPANE TANK
Tags: us_fl, public, release, injuries, carbon_monoxide
Seven people were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning in Miami on Thanksgiving, after they improperly attached a turkey fryer to a propane tank.
According to CBS12, a call came into 911 after members of a family said they felt suddenly ill. Once the family went outside for air, they felt much better, but were taken to the hospital for treatment.
A spokesman for Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue said that the third, fourth and fifth floors of the apartment complex where the residents lived was evacuated.
Residents were allowed to go back inside once the area was properly ventilated.
---------------------------------------------
FIRE BREAKS OUT AT CHEMICAL GODOWN
Tags: india, industrial, fire, response, solvent
A fire broke out at chemical godown where thinner was stored behind Bapu Dham Colony in Sector 26 here this evening. A major tragedy was averted as the godown was next to an LPG cylinder store and residential area.
Four persons, who were at the godown at the time of the incident, rushed out and saved themselves from the blaze.
Firemen said they were yet to ascertain the cause of the fire. It seemed to be a short circuit or somebody might have thrown a burning ‰??bidi‰?? causing thinner to catch fire, said Ishwar Dass, a fire sub-officer from the Industrial Area Fire Station present at the spot.
According to the Sector 17 Station Fire Officer, ML Sharma, the fire broke out at 5.26 pm at the fish market, located near Bapu Dham Colony.
It took almost two hours and a half for eight fire tenders, including water boozers, to control the fire.
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VIC WORKERS EXPOSED TO MYSTERY CHEMICAL
Tags: australia, transportation, release, injuries, unknown_chemical
Three workers needed medical treatment after a mystery chemical leak at a depot in Melbourne's northeast.
Two small chemical containers burst on the back of a truck at a council yard at Bellfield on Friday morning, leading to the evacuation of 18 staff, the Metropolitan Fire Brigade reported.
Paramedics treated three workers at the scene, and the area is in lock down while investigations continue.
---------------------------------------------
US SENATE SPENDING BILL WOULD ELIMINATE IRIS PROGRAMME
Tags: us, public, discovery, toxics, enviromental
The Senate Appropriations Committee has released a proposal that would eliminate the US EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) programme. Such a move would potentially give control of chemical research directly to political appointees who run the agency's regulatory agenda.
The Senate committee‰??s version of the fiscal 2018 appropriations bill covering the EPA was published on its website on 20 November. It would cut the agency‰??s overall funding by $149m. But it provides $3.8bn more than the counterpart legislation approved by the House in September and $22.5bn above the 30% cut called for in the Trump administration‰??s requested budget.
The Senate bill includes $111.6m for the "chemical safety and sustainability" line item that funds chemical research. This would be a $15.3m cut, but is more generous than the House and restores more than half of the $27m cut proposed by the administration.
Eliminating IRIS
However, the report accompanying the bill‰??s text says the committee has not provided funding for IRIS. "In order to ensure that important chemical assessment work is completed, the Committee has transferred resources within the agency from IRIS to help implement the Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act," it said.
Chemical safety and sustainability is one of six thematic research programmes managed by the Office of Research and Development (ORD). Actual research is carried out by seven laboratory organisations. IRIS is part of one such laboratory, the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA), which has facilities in Ohio and North Carolina.
"The bill imposes the IRIS workload onto the recently-reformed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) programme, which was not designed to accommodate the breadth of the IRIS programme's responsibilities," minority Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee said in a statement.
---------------------------------------------
MERCURY FOUND IN GYM FLOORS IN THREE PARSIPPANY SCHOOLS
Tags: us_NJ, education, discovery, response, mercury
PARSIPPANY, NJ ‰?? Mercury has been found in the rubber gym floors in three Parsippany Troy-Hills schools, including an elementary school, district officials say. The school district says the airborne levels tested below the legal safety limits, but parents are still concerned.
Rubber floors in Parsippany High School, Central Middle School, and Littleton Elementary school tested positive for mercury in the floor and as vapors in the air. Mercury is commonly used in the manufacturing process of rubberized floors to help keep them flexible.
School officials said all three gyms tested below safety levels set by the CDC, the Minnesota Department of health and the NJ OSHA law, and that they are safe with ventilation.
In a Q&A posted to the district's website, officials said they plan on keeping the flooring in place through the school year and replacement "will be carefully reviewed as part of the 2018-19 School Budget preparation.
Parents say that's not fast enough.
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"The gym in our school is very important for the students, teachers, staff, parents and the members of the community. It is used not only for Physical Education, sports and games but also as the venue for SKIP and several other programs organized by the PTA and the community. We need to ensure that we eliminate any chance of children being harmed just by participating in any of such events," a group called Parents of Littleton Elementary School students wrote in a Change.org petition.
The petition, which has 148 signatures, wants to see the gym floors replaced "immediately."
"It is shocking that our children will continue to be exposed to what is now considered Hazmat," Nina Sengupta told Patch.
The parents say there are limits to the sampling methods used and even acceptable limits of mercury could be too much for children with weak immune systems.
---------------------------------------------
GREELEY OIL FIELD WORKER DIES AFTER PIPELINE FIRE
Tags: us_CO, industrial, fire, death, unknown_chemical
GREELEY, Colo. ‰?? An oil field worker who was among three people injured in a gas pipeline fire last week died Tuesday night, the Weld County Coroner‰??s Office said.
George Cottingham, 61 of Greeley, was taken to North Colorado Medical Center after the fire about 10 miles east of Galeton on Thursday.
The final manner and cause of his death are awaiting autopsy and laboratory results, the coroner‰??s office said.
One DCP Midstream employee and two contractors were performing routine maintenance when the fire broke out on a PDC Energy site.
The workers were near a DCP pipeline at the time of the fire. Two company trucks also burned.
The names and conditions of the other two workers have not been released.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL VALLEY FLARING REFLECTS A ROSY GLOW OVER SOUTH PORT HURON
Tags: us_MI, public, discovery, environmental, flammables
People living in Port Huron and looking to the east are seeing what appears to be a fire reflected off the bottom of low clouds.
The source of the red glow is flaring from Chemical Valley in Ontario.
Gas flaring in Chemical Valley and at facilities in Marysville and St. Clair can sometimes look as if large buildings are on fire.
Flare stacks are used to burn off flammable gases.
---------------------------------------------
BOFFIN MADE BOMBS OF THE TYPE USED IN 7/7 ATTACKS
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, discovery, response, explosives, illegal
retired chemical analyst who made an explosive of the type used in the 7/7 bombings has avoided jail.
David Taylor‰??s home in Golcar was raided last year after an internet service provider alerted police that he was buying chemicals online.
The 71-year-old had used his purchases to make two types of explosives - hexamethlyene triperoxide diamine (HMTD), which was used in the 7/7 bombings, and pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN).
But Leeds Crown Court heard today (Wednesday) that he has no political or religious affiliations and merely made them as a ‰??hobby‰??.
Bashir Ahmed, prosecuting, said: ‰??These chemicals are unstable and cause serious damage and harm if they do indeed explode.
---------------------------------------------
VT. TOXICS LAW PROVIDES DATA, BUT NOT CLARITY, ABOUT TOYS
Tags: us_VT, public, discovery, environmental, unknown_chemical
MONTPELIER - Three years after Vermont required manufacturers to report chemicals used in children's products, holiday shoppers can get more information about toys than ever before ‰?? some assembly required.
In 2014, Vermont passed a law requiring toy manufacturers to report the presence of chemicals in children's products, using a list of 66 chemicals thought to raise possible health concerns. Manufacturers began submitting their reports Jan. 1.
The catch? To find chemical information about specific toys and clothing, consumers must download 70 individual spreadsheets from an obscure corner of the Vermont Department of Health website.
Most of the items are identified only by product codes, and this reporter struggled to match any of the data to the name of a recognizable toy.
"A parent would have to be an excellent researcher and go compare the spreadsheet to the product on the shelf," said Adam Maxwell, a field director for Vermont Public Interest Research Group.
---------------------------------------------
ONE PERSON HOSPITALISED IN 'MYSTERY CHEMICAL' LEAK OUT OF BARREL AT AUCKLAND AIRPORT
Tags: New_Zealand, transportation, release, injury, unknown_chemical
A hazardous materials team and six fire crews were called to the spill, which prompted the evacuation of an Air New Zealand cargo building, on Thursday morning.
Crews are decontaminating the cordoned off area.
One person has since been taken to hospital, while emergency services earlier said two people were being checked after sniffing the yet-to-be-identified liquid.
Fire and Emergency NZ says the material leaked out of a barrel and seeped over a large area.
No delays to flights in and out of the airport were expected.
---------------------------------------------
NORTH CAROLINA TO YANK CHEMOURS‰??S WATER POLLUTION PERMIT FOR FLUOROCHEMICAL PRODUCTION
Tags: us_NC, industrial, follow-up, environmental, plastics
Manufacture of fluorinated chemicals, including Nafion sulfonated tetrafluoroethylene-based ionic polymers, at Chemours‰??s plant near Fayetteville, N.C., could be hampered because North Carolina is suspending part of the facility‰??s permit to discharge process wastewater.
Earlier this year, Chemours pledged to capture and safely dispose of wastewater containing the fluoropolymer processing aid GenX and related fluorinated compounds. GenX has tainted public drinking water drawn from the Cape Fear River downstream of the plant as well as nearby wells.
In September, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality warned Chemours that as of Nov. 30, it would suspend the part of the water pollution permit covering the Nafion and fluoromonomers production area of the plant, a move that would require the company to capture and dispose of all wastewater from those manufacturing processes. Then in late October, the agency said this action wasn‰??t necessary because Chemours had taken steps to control the release of per- and polyfluorinated compounds in wastewater.
But now, the agency says it will make good on its threat because Chemours allegedly failed to report a spill of GenX at the plant in early October. Chemours in early November acknowledged the spill, which led to a nearly 100-fold increase in GenX concentrations at its outfall into the Cape Fear River, the agency adds.
Chemours calls the suspension ‰??unwarranted.‰?? The company says it has worked in good faith to cooperate with the agency.
The company and its former parent, DowDuPont, face a class-action lawsuit over the contaminated drinking water.
---------------------------------------------
'LARGE FIREBALL' INJURES STUDENTS IN CHEMISTRY EXPERIMENT GONE WRONG
Tags: us_NY, laboratory, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical
Four students at an elite all-girls Catholic high school in New York City reportedly suffered burns and respiratory injuries Wednesday after a ‰??large fireball‰?? exploded in a chemistry experiment gone wrong.
A teacher at the school was conducting a flame experiment in front of a class and the flame apparently grew too large, Sister Patricia Wolf, president of St. Catherine Academy, told NBC New York.
‰??This morning an accident occurred during a demonstration in which several students were singed by a flame in the chemistry lab,‰?? the school said in a statement. ‰??Four students were sent to the hospital. There were no hazardous materials involved.‰??
The teacher was distraught after the incident, Wolf said, but all the students are expected to be okay, NBC New York reported. The parents of all the students were notified by text.
---------------------------------------------
WALMART IN NORTH KINGSTOWN RE-OPENED AFTER HAZMAT INCIDENT
Tags: us_RI, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WLNE) ‰?? A local Walmart has been re-opened Tuesday evening after being closed for a hazmat incident earlier.
According to the North Kingstown Fire Department, a odor of gas was detected in the pharmacy area of the Walmart on Ten Rod Road around 1:45 p.m.
When employees started hearing complaints of coughing from multiple patrons, the store was evacuated.
Of the fifteen people evaluated by North Kingstown EMS professionals, one was transported to the hospital for difficulty breathing.
An air quality test showed that the air was clean Tuesday night, fire officials said.
---------------------------------------------
MINNESOTA SAYS 3M CHEMICALS CAUSED CANCER, INFERTILITY; PUTS COST AT $5 BILLION
Tags: us_MN, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson on Monday said in court filings that past chemical dumping by 3M Co. has cost $5 billion in damages in Oakdale, Minn., and she linked toxic materials by the company to health effects like cancer, infertility and low birth weights.
The Star Tribune has a report on the filing by Swanson, which is the first time in years of disputes over past chemical dumping by 3M that anyone has laid out the potential human cost.
In a statement, 3M said that Minnesota had not sustained any injuries. "3M believes these chemicals present no harm at the levels they are observed in Minnesota,‰?? said 3M‰??s lead attorney, William Brewer III.
Minnesota sued Maplewood-based 3M (NYSE: MMM) over decades-old practices of chemical dumping back in 2010, arguing that it should pay for widespread water contamination of perfluorochemicals, compounds known as PFCs that were used to make Scotchguard, fire retardants, paints and other chemical products. The trial is finally set to begin next year.
The new filings argue that 3M knew PFCs were dangerous years before it stopped dumping them (some of those findings also came up years ago). The chemicals have contributed to groundwater pollution in several east-metro cities.
An environmental expert hired by the state studied one of those areas, Oakdale, where 3M long had a facility. He found that mothers there were 34 percent more likely to give birth to low-weight babies than elsewhere in the county with different water sources. The rate of low-weight births declined when Oakdale switched to different water.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICALS LINKED TO FIRE FIGHTING FOAM DISCOVERED IN LAKE MARGRETHE
Tags: us_MI, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
Chemicals linked to causing ill health effects in humans and animals have been discovered in Lake Margrethe, one of Crawford County‰??s most treasured natural resources.
Randy Rothe, the district supervisor for the Department of Quality‰??s (DEQ) Remediation and Redevelopment Division in Gaylord, said a DEQ employee reported seeing foam on the surface water of Lake Margrethe this past summer.
‰??We didn‰??t want to cause a stir out there because we didn‰??t have any data,‰??‰??Rothe said in a report to the Grayling Charter Township Board of Trustees on Nov. 15.
In 2016, the National Guard Bureau issued a directive to identify water sources at every training facility, camp, fort, and armory. The order also included every installation which had an airfield where fire crash training occurred or where fires occurred with the use of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF).
The foam contains Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), which have been classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as an emerging contaminate on the national landscape.
There are just over a dozen PFCs, which were in common use including Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). The EPA‰??s health advisory for just those two compounds is 70 parts per trillion
---------------------------------------------
SAFETY CONSIGNED TO FLAMES
Tags: India, industrial, follow-up, environmental, flammables, plastics
Fire safety has seldom been a priority in India, and it is, unfortunately, all too common to see the damage that results from the neglect of this basic norm. Monday‰??s fire in Amarson Polymers factory in Ludhiana has left in its wake destruction of the five-storied building, damage to adjoining properties, and most importantly, loss of lives among the workers, and even the firemen who were sent to douse the blaze. A tragedy that mocks all our claims on good governance.
Questions are now being raised about the appropriateness of basing an industrial unit, that too which manufactured polythene bags and polyester pouches and stored flammable chemicals, in a residential area; or the manner in which floors were added to the building. Even the manner in which the fire was tackled needs to be studied. Firemen did not, perhaps, have the requisite equipment and training to attend to what was essentially a chemical fire. Even as we laud the bravery of the firemen who went into the burning building, a thorough review is needed of their operating procedures so as to minimise casualties among them. The departments concerned must make the necessary investment in equipment and training at the earliest.
Ludhiana is no stranger to fires, and industrial units of various kinds have accounted for disproportionately high losses. Such units must have fire safety audits done regularly to prevent mishaps. Not only this, the municipal authorities must also crack down on unauthorised factories that operate in residential areas, and clean these up for people to live in. Any building, government or private, residential, commercial or industrial, should not be allowed to become a fire hazard. It may take a moment to trigger a fire, but a history of shortcomings and violations of basic safety stipulations and routines is what allows it to spread and become a menace. Safety must begin at home, and when that fails, a well-organised, well-equipped force must be available to fight the conflagration. The local administration and the state government should go beyond providing succour to the injured and the families of those who died in the fire. Politicians and officials must dedicate themsel!
ves to enforcing the much-needed simple rules and regulations of urban safety.
---------------------------------------------
MULTIPLE INVESTIGATIONS ARE IN MOTION IN COSMETICS FACTORY FIRE
Tags: us_NY, industrial, follow-up, death, unknown_chemical
Tuesday in Orange County, New York state and local authorities were trying to determine what triggered explosions and a fire at a cosmetics factory Monday morning in New Windsor. One employee was found dead and some 125 others were injured, including nine firefighters, at the plant that was cited for safety violations earlier this year.
Authorities identified the Verla International worker whose body was found Monday night as 57-year-old William Huntington, of the Town of Newburgh. In a statement, the company said, "Bill was a valued employee and we at Verla are sorry to his friends and his family for their loss.‰?? Juan Pablo Marcos, a co-worker, told The Associated Press that Huntington had gone back inside after the first explosion to make sure everyone had gotten out safely, and was still inside when the second blast occurred.
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus released a statement Tuesday, saying the tragic event has deeply touched the community. His spokesman, Justin Rodriguez, says nine firefighters were injured ‰?? five from the City of Newburgh and four from Vails Gate, and that one of the Newburgh firefighters was taken to Westchester Medical Center for burns. These firefighters were caught in the second explosion, some 25 minutes after responding to the first blast. A St. Luke‰??s Cornwall Hospital spokeswoman says 125 patients affected by the incident were treated.
Brendan Casey is commissioner of emergency services for Orange County. He says 30 different fire agencies responded from multiple counties. He said about 250 employees worked at the 52,000-square foot facility that manufactures primarily nail polish and perfumes.
‰??We knew that it was a chemical explosion that caused this. It was not a Tier 2 facility so it wasn‰??t a high-level hazmat [hazardous materials] facility,‰?? said Casey. ‰??We believe that whatever chemicals were in the fire or the smoke were alcohol-based.‰??
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AFTER FLINT, HELPING DOCTORS RECOGNIZE CHEMICAL EXPOSURE
Tags: us_MI, public, discovery, environmental, pesticides
Before doctors in Flint, Mich., knew they were dealing with a crisis of lead poisoning, there were warning signs of a problem with the water supply. The doctors just didn‰??t know what to do with them ‰?? including Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the pediatrician credited with uncovering the widespread lead poisoning afflicting that city. She said Flint was exposed to a ‰??toxic soup‰?? for 18 months ‰?? with drinking water violations for nine of those months ‰?? but no one knew exactly what was in the soup, or more important, what the soup was doing to the health of the people drinking it.
‰??We knew other things were in this water, but we didn‰??t do anything because nobody knew what to do about them,‰?? she said. Officials had been advising residents concerned about one group of chemicals, called trihalomethanes, to ask their doctors for advice; the chemicals were elevated for months because of heavy disinfection treatment and are possibly carcinogenic. ‰??And the doctors‰?? groups in Flint were like, ‰??What do we know about total trihalomethanes? We don‰??t know what to tell people!‰?? ‰??
The medical community‰??s slow response to the water contamination in Flint is a symptom of what Dr. Hanna-Attisha calls one of the largest deficits in the field of medicine today ‰?? the omission of environmental factors, like air and water quality, in the way that doctors talk to patients about their health.
The long-term influence of the environment on our health has been a growing focus of environmental and health researchers in recent decades: scientists have shown that lead causes brain damage; bisphenol A and phthalates disrupt the endocrine system, impairing fertility and reproductive processes; some pesticides and flame retardants cause cancer and interfere with brain development in fetuses and children. Yet these variables remain largely overlooked in medical practice. Few doctors, for example, think to ask patients if they use a water filter at home, if they store food in plastic containers or glass, or if their children‰??s bedding contains flame retardants. That oversight begins in medical schools, which in the United States barely mention environmental factors beyond some acute scenarios like lead poisoning.
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ARKEMA DOCUMENTS: PLANNING, MECHANICAL FAILURES LED TO HARVEY CHEMICAL FIRES
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, peroxide
Prior to the chemical fire at its Crosby plant, Arkema underestimated the potential for storm damage and failed to keep essential backup power protected from rising floodwaters, documents obtained by the Houston Chronicle show.
Poor planning and a series of cascading equipment failures led to dangerous chemicals erupting into flames in late August during the height of Hurricane Harvey. The miscalculations indicate the company's lack of preparation for more than 3 feet of flooding, reflected by an emergency management plan that barely addressed how to handle such a storm.
Those judgments led to the burning of nine trailers containing the company's stockpile of organic peroxides. The resulting inferno exposed first responders and local residents to dangerous fumes and pulled emergency staffers away from hurricane recovery at a critical time.
Arkema officials argue that unprecedented floods made it impossible to prevent its chemicals from catching fire. The site had only seen up to 2 feet of flooding in the past, company officials said.
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