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From: DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (8 articles)
Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2018 06:50:34 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: C0F59E06-6614-417C-981E-EE9415FBF53E**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Article summaries are also available at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas
Table of Contents (8 articles)
AMMONIA LEAK SHUTS DOWN RINKS AT AIRDRIE"S GENESIS PLACE
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, ammonia
GAS LEAK AT FORT LAUDERDALE APARTMENT COMPLEX TRIGGERS EVACUATION " WSVN 7NEWS
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, propane
FOUR KILLED IN CHEMICAL FACTORY BLAST IN CHINA
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, death, unknown_chemical
EPA DIVISION THAT STUDIES THE HEALTH RISKS OF TOXIC CHEMICALS IS IN A FIGHT FOR ITS LIFE " AGAINST THE EPA
Tags: us_DC, public, discovery, environmental
OSHA STANDARDS MOOT IN QUINTON RIG EXPLOSION BECAUSE OF EXEMPTION FOR OIL-AND-GAS INDUSTRY
Tags: us_OK, industrial, follow-up, death, natural_gas
OKC POLICE BOMB SQUAD CALLED TO INSPECT POTATO SALAD CONTAINER
Tags: us_ok, public, discovery, response, unknown_chemical
PICRIC ACID FOUND IN WEST ASHLEY HOME CALLED FOR 'CONTROLLED EXPLOSION' FIRE DEPT. SAYS
Tags: us_sc, public, discovery, response, picric_acid
FOAM SEEPING OUT FROM CHEMICAL COMPANY TEMPORARILY SHUT DOWN ST. LOUIS HIGHWAY LANES
Tags: us_mo, release, industrial, response, other_chemical
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AMMONIA LEAK SHUTS DOWN RINKS AT AIRDRIE"S GENESIS PLACE
https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/ammonia-leak-shuts-down-rinks-at-airdrie-s-genesis-place-1.3788301
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, ammonia
Emergency crews were forced to evacuate the hockey arenas at the only recreation centre in Airdrie because of an ammonia leak that was detected on Saturday morning.
Police say that at about 7:05 a.m., an ammonia leak alarm sounded in the "Twin Arenas" area of Genesis Place on East Lake Boulevard in Airdrie.
As a result, the arenas were immediately evacuated by city staff while they awaited the arrival of first responders.
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GAS LEAK AT FORT LAUDERDALE APARTMENT COMPLEX TRIGGERS EVACUATION " WSVN 7NEWS
https://wsvn.com/news/local/gas-leak-at-fort-lauderdale-apartment-complex-triggers-evacuation/
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, propane
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Residents of an apartment complex in Fort Lauderdale were evacuated after a hazmat crew found a gas leak, Saturday morning.
Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue responded to the scene at the Madison Apartments near West Sunrise Boulevard and Northwest 27th Avenue, just after 11 a.m., after residents said they smelled gas in the neighborhood.
The hazmat crew found a 1,000-gallon propane tank leaking. They quickly replaced a faulty valve.
No one was hurt.
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FOUR KILLED IN CHEMICAL FACTORY BLAST IN CHINA
http://www.financialexpress.com/world-news/four-killed-in-chemical-factory-blast-in-china/1049873/
Tags: China, industrial, explosion, death, unknown_chemical
An explosion ripped through a chemical factory in east China"s Shandong Province today, killing four people and injuring six others, officials said. The blast occurred in the morning at the Jinshan Chemical Plant Co Ltd in an economic development zone in Linshu County while maintenance work was underway, according to the county government. Four people were killed and six others wounded in the blast, local authorities said, adding that two persons were severely injured. Owner of the chemical plant is in police custody, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Two persons were killed and eight others injured in a chemical factory blast in China"s northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region last year.
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EPA DIVISION THAT STUDIES THE HEALTH RISKS OF TOXIC CHEMICALS IS IN A FIGHT FOR ITS LIFE " AGAINST THE EPA
https://theintercept.com/2018/02/03/epa-iris-toxic-chemicals/
Tags: us_DC, public, discovery, environmental
A SMALL BUT vitally important program within the Environmental Protection Agency is in a fight for its life. The Integrated Risk Information System, or IRIS, is the only division of the EPA that independently assesses the toxicity of chemicals. IRIS supplies evaluations used by states, tribes, private developers, Superfund sites, and foreign countries, among others, and has long been a target of the companies whose profits can rise and fall based on its findings.
A meeting at the National Academy of Sciences on Thursday and Friday to review the program"s recent progress brought IRIS"s defenders together with its critics. Though the agenda focused on IRIS"s scientific process and whether the program has adequately incorporated guidance the academy gave it in 2014, questions about its survival permeated the meeting.
It"s not clear how IRIS might lose its ability to continue independently evaluating chemicals, but one possibility is that it would be folded into another division of the EPA, as the 2018 Senate Appropriations Bill proposes. According to that plan, staff would be moved from the current division of the agency, which is primarily concerned with science, to the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, which deals with regulation.
The transfer from a scientific to a regulatory part of the agency would hobble the program, according to many familiar with its work. "Moving it would bias the risk assessments," said Tracey Woodruff, director of the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment at the University of California, San Francisco. "You should try to keep the science separate, then use the independent science for regulation."
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OSHA STANDARDS MOOT IN QUINTON RIG EXPLOSION BECAUSE OF EXEMPTION FOR OIL-AND-GAS INDUSTRY
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state/osha-standards-moot-in-quinton-rig-explosion-because-of-exemption/article_162d0efa-7860-5f4b-b982-ebdeb142c075.html
Tags: us_OK, industrial, follow-up, death, natural_gas
The natural gas rig that exploded near Quinton and killed five workers is not covered by a comprehensive package of federal safety standards implemented in the early 1990s after several chemical industrial disasters.
Oil and natural gas drilling, servicing and production are exempt from OSHA"s "Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals" regulations. The PSM standard exists to prevent or minimize "the consequences of catastrophic releases of toxic, reactive, flammable, or explosive chemicals."
While industry standards do exist, a U.S. Chemical Safety Board report from 2014 noted that "serious incidents continue to occur," suggesting that industry"s "voluntary guidance is insufficient."
A 2013 executive order from President Barack Obama directed OSHA to evaluate whether to remove the oil and gas industry PSM exemption, among other regulatory reforms. The status of that effort under Donald Trump"s administration is unknown.
OSHA didn"t respond to Tulsa World questions about whether that exploratory revision process remains ongoing or has been paused or canceled. The Department of Labor declined to comment.
Obama"s executive order came in response to the explosion in 2013 at the West Fertilizer Co. facility in West, Texas, that killed 15 people and injured more than 160 others.
The order notes that the oil and gas industry was exempted from PSM in 1992 because separate regulatory rules specific to the industry were to be developed. However, that never materialized as the matter later was dropped from the agency"s regulatory agenda.
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OKC POLICE BOMB SQUAD CALLED TO INSPECT POTATO SALAD CONTAINER
http://www.news9.com/story/37417501/okc-police-bomb-squad-called-to-inspect-potato-salad-container
Tags: us_ok, public, discovery, response, unknown_chemical
OKLAHOMA CITY - A supposed container of potato salad prompted a police response on the southwest side of the metro, Friday evening.
According to the Oklahoma City Police Department, the suspicious side dish was spotted in a mailbox of a home in the 3100 block of SW 94th Street, just to the south of the Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC) campus.
The OKC Police Bomb Squad was called out to investigate. In the end, nothing dangerous was found inside the container. The hazmat team said it looked liked it may have been some sort of children's play slime substance.
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PICRIC ACID FOUND IN WEST ASHLEY HOME CALLED FOR 'CONTROLLED EXPLOSION' FIRE DEPT. SAYS
http://abcnews4.com/news/local/picric-acid-found-in-west-ashley-home-called-for-controlled-explosion-fire-dept-says
Tags: us_sc, public, discovery, response, picric_acid
A substance left in a home garage for almost 30 years caused a huge scene in West Ashley Friday. A homeowner in the Shadowmoss subdivision found picric acid in his garage and knew he had to call authorities to get it moved safely.
As the work day was coming to an end , neighbors in the Shadowmoss subdivision in West Ashley came home to an explosion.
"He was concerned about the condition of the chemicals and that prompted the call," said Mike Julazadeh, Chief Fire Marshall
For more than four hours, The City of Charleston Fire, Hazmat Team, the Bomb Squad, EMS and Charleston Police worked to safely remove the picric acid.
"We had additional concerns with the gas line cause once they determined the product had to be destroyed on site. They worried about the gas line that was in the vicinity so SCE&G actually responded to the scene as well." Julazadeh said.
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FOAM SEEPING OUT FROM CHEMICAL COMPANY TEMPORARILY SHUT DOWN ST. LOUIS HIGHWAY LANES
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/foam-seeping-out-from-chemical-company-temporarily-shut-down-st/article_6a10bd79-ef9c-5835-90cb-8cc06dd63bf8.html
Tags: us_mo, release, industrial, response, other_chemical
ST. LOUIS ‰?¢ When a white foam oozes onto lanes of Interstate 55, it calls for an investigation.
So the St. Louis Hazardous Materials Task Force checked out the so-called seepage that temporarily blocked two lanes early Friday morning.
After some investigation, the foam was determined to be an extinguishing agent and vapor suppressant that is not hazardous, the St. Louis Fire Department announced Friday morning.
The substance was released from the offices of the MilliporeSigma chemical company at 3300 South 2nd Street in the Kosciusko neighborhood about 11:30 p.m. Thursday as a result of a system malfunction, the department said.
All lanes of traffic were reopened early Friday morning after Missouri Department of Transportation crews cleared the substance from the road.
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