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Previous by Date: Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (18 articles) Date: Thursday, July 19, 2018 at 10:23:03 PM Author: Monona Rossol <0000030664c37427-dmarc-request**At_Symbol_Here**LISTS.PRINCETON.EDU> |
Next by Date: Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (18 articles) Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2018 12:50:04 +0000 Author: "Stuart, Ralph" |
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, July 20, 2018 at 6:03:47 AM
A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
Connecting Chemistry and Safety at http://www.dchas.org
All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas
Table of Contents (9 articles)
AMMONIA LEAK IN NORTH PORTLAND FORCES EVACUATIONS
Tags: us_OR, industrial, release, response, ammonia
OXYGEN EXPLOSION AT KAISER BUILDING: DETAILS, PHOTOS
Tags: us_CA, transportation, explosion, injury, oxygen
FIVE INJURED IN EXPLOSION AND FIRE AT PENNSYLVANIA ARMY DEPOT
Tags: us_PA, industrial, explosion, injury, solvent
STEAM PIPE EXPLOSION SPEWED ASBESTOS INTO FLATIRON DISTRICT: GOTHAMIST
Tags: us_NY, public, explosion, response, asbestos
SOUTHWESTERN MONTANA TOWN EVACUATED IN CHEMICAL LAB INCIDENT
Tags: us_MT, laboratory, discovery, response, explosives
AKRON CHEMICAL PLANT THAT EXPLODED HAS HISTORY OF EPA, SAFETY VIOLATIONS
Tags: us_OH, industrial, follow-up, environmental, acrylonitrile, styrene
2 PEOPLE INJURED IN BATTERY TANK FIRE IN SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO
Tags: us_NM, industrial, fire, response, petroleum
CREWS RESPOND TO HAZMAT INCIDENT IN WEST GREENWICH
Tags: us_CT, transportation, release, injury, corrosives
DEADLY BLAST IN CHINA HIGHLIGHTS UNEVEN ENFORCEMENT OF SAFETY REGULATIONS
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, death
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AMMONIA LEAK IN NORTH PORTLAND FORCES EVACUATIONS
http://www.kxl.com/ammonia-leak-in-north-portland-forces-evacuations/
Tags: us_OR, industrial, release, response, ammonia
Portland, Oregon ‰?? Hazmat crews from Portland Fire and Rescue are responding to a chemical leak at the Widmer Brothers Brewery in North Portland. They got the 911 call just after 4am this morning. It‰??s an ammonia leak, and it‰??s contained to inside the building‰??s basement. Newspartner KGW reports that crews say there are no concerns for the nearby area. It‰??s not toxic enough to cause any problems to the neighborhood. Crews are stopping the leak and venting the building. Workers there reported smelling something overnight and called first responders. It‰??s unclear if any workers had to go to the hospital.
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OXYGEN EXPLOSION AT KAISER BUILDING: DETAILS, PHOTOS
https://patch.com/california/rohnertpark-cotati/oxygen-explosion-kaiser-building-details-photos
Tags: us_CA, transportation, explosion, injury, oxygen
SANTA ROSA, CA ‰?? More information was released Thursday about a hazardous materials explosion Wednesday at a Kaiser Permanente building in Santa Rosa that prompted authorities to close surrounding roadways, including U.S. Highway 101, and evacuate the medical complex. Assistant Santa Rosa fire Marshal Paul Lowenthal said crews were dispatched at 2:35 p.m. Wednesday to multiple reports of an explosion at Kaiser Medical Office Building 5, 3925 Old Redwood Highway.
The first units arrived on scene in under six minutes and determined that the explosion happened as a big rig hauling a trailer full of liquefied oxygen was there to deliver the oxygen to an onsite tank at the back of Building 5, Lowenthal said.
The explosion resulted in major damage to the back of the trailer as well as equipment affixed to the exterior of the building.
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FIVE INJURED IN EXPLOSION AND FIRE AT PENNSYLVANIA ARMY DEPOT
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/us/letterkenny-army-depot-explosion.html
Tags: us_PA, industrial, explosion, injury, solvent
An apparent explosion and resulting fire injured five people at an Army depot in southern Pennsylvania on Thursday, a military spokeswoman said. The cause of the blast was being investigated.
The explosion took place in the morning at the Letterkenny Army Depot, an 18,000-acre site in the borough of Chambersburg, Lisa Hunter, a spokeswoman for the United States Army Aviation and Missile Command, said in a statement.
It set off a fire in the ‰??paint shop‰?? of a building at the site, where paint and thinner are stored and mixed to eventually be sprayed on parts and other products, she said.
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STEAM PIPE EXPLOSION SPEWED ASBESTOS INTO FLATIRON DISTRICT: GOTHAMIST
http://gothamist.com/2018/07/19/exploded_steam_pipe_asbestos.php
Tags: us_NY, public, explosion, response, asbestos
An steam pipe explosion at Fifth Avenue and 21st Street in Manhattan sent clouds of vapor into the air this morning around 6:30 a.m., and caused over two dozen nearby buildings to be evacuated. Five minor injuries have been reported.
While the source of the explosion is still under investigation, city officials say the pipe was lined with asbestos. Those in the area at the time of the blast are encouraged by Con Edison to bag their clothes and shower; the FDNY has already decontaminated 100 first responders a few blocks from the scene.
The cause of the explosion is still unknown. At a press conference this afternoon, Mayor Bill de Blasio said it will be a few days before residents of the affected area can return. According to the mayor, there had not been any recent work done around the site.
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SOUTHWESTERN MONTANA TOWN EVACUATED IN CHEMICAL LAB INCIDENT
http://www.kulr8.com/story/38686341/southeastern-montana-town-evacuated-in-chemical-lab-incident
Tags: us_MT, laboratory, discovery, response, explosives
The small unincorporated community of Norris, near Bozeman, is reopened after authorities evacuated it on Tuesday while potential explosives were removed from a laboratory.
The Environmental Protection Agency says Norris Lab is located along Hot Springs Creek and did chemical testing for the mining industry. The lab was shut down by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently after investigators found "hundreds of improperly stored and abandoned containers of hazardous substances at the facility."
The EPA says many of the volatile compounds were exposed to the elements, and the soil around the facility is contaminated with byproducts from lab testing.
A storm drain in the lab empties into Hot Springs Creek, according to the EPA.
Photos of the lab also show messy jumbles of chemical containers and a bathroom where hazardous materials were flushed down the toilet, according to the EPA.
A Missoula County bomb squad, along with several other agencies, responded to help remove dangerous explosives and other chemicals from the site this week.
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AKRON CHEMICAL PLANT THAT EXPLODED HAS HISTORY OF EPA, SAFETY VIOLATIONS
https://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2018/07/akron_chemical_plant_that_expl.html
Tags: us_OH, industrial, follow-up, environmental, acrylonitrile, styrene
AKRON, Ohio - Emerald Performance Materials, the company that owns the West Emerling Avenue chemical plant that exploded Wednesday in Akron, was previously forced to pay more than $200,000 in fines as a result of health and safety violations, records show.
An unannounced 2011 inspection by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found the plant in violation of four requirements the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, including a failure to identify chemical leaks.
The EPA filed a federal suit related to those violations saying Emerald was a "major source" for hazardous air pollutants, or HAPs. "Emerald uses styrene, butadiene and acrylonitrile, which are all HAPs." Those chemicals have been known to contribute to the cause of cancer.
"Emerald failed to identify connectors with an instrument meter reading greater than 500 parts per million as a detected leak," according to the EPA notice issued to the company on Dec. 20, 2011.
The plant also failed to maintain periodic reports, keep records of repairs for two years, or clearly identify leaking equipment with a tag.
As a result of the lawsuit, Emerald Performance Materials was fined $90,070.
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2 PEOPLE INJURED IN BATTERY TANK FIRE IN SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO
https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/business/article215132645.html
Tags: us_NM, industrial, fire, response, petroleum
LOVING, N.M.
Authorities say two people have been injured after a battery tank fire at an oil refinery in southern New Mexico.
The fire broke out Wednesday afternoon at a refinery a few miles east of Loving and triggered a hazmat situation.
KRQE-TV reports that six tanks caught fire and the area around the refinery was evacuated.
Refinery officials say a perimeter at least a mile in all directions has been secured.
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CREWS RESPOND TO HAZMAT INCIDENT IN WEST GREENWICH
http://turnto10.com/news/local/crews-respond-to-hazmat-incident-in-west-greenwich
Tags: us_CT, transportation, release, injury, corrosives
Crews in West Greenwich were on the scene of a hazmat incident Wednesday night.
They responded to Cranston Trucking on Hopkins Hill Road.
The fire chief told NBC 10 that a forklift punctured a 55 gallon drum filled with some type of corrosive chemical.
One person suffered minor injuries but did not need to be transported.
The road was closed for a time but reopened.
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DEADLY BLAST IN CHINA HIGHLIGHTS UNEVEN ENFORCEMENT OF SAFETY REGULATIONS
https://cen.acs.org/safety/industrial-safety/Deadly-blast-China-highlights-uneven/96/i30
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, death
huge blast followed by a blaze on July 12 at a chemical plant in southwest China killed 19 people and injured 12 more. The accident suggests that in spite of stricter enforcement of safety regulations since 2015, when an explosion at a chemical warehouse in Tianjin killed 173 people, some Chinese firms continue to operate under lax, or even nonexistent, government supervision.
The accident, China‰??s worst involving chemicals since Tianjin, occurred at Hengda Technology, located in the Sichuan province city of Yibin. Little is known about the company, which doesn‰??t seem to have a website. Statements released by local and national authorities indicate that the company produced or handled unspecified hazardous chemicals.
Preliminary findings by China‰??s Ministry of Emergency Management show that Hengda was in breach of the most basic regulations. The ministry says the firm, although in an industrial park, did not have the proper licenses to operate. What the company did, how it did it, and who was employed there were unknown to authorities, the ministry found. Local authorities had failed to supervise the plant, the ministry added.
Following the 2015 blast in Tianjin, where investigators had discovered numerous safety violations and evidence of high-level corruption, China‰??s central government launched a three-year plan to tighten safety at industrial sites. Since then, thousands of chemical plants have been ordered to relocate to industrial parks away from residential areas.
Companies ordering or handling chemicals also have had to cope with new restrictions on shipping and warehousing, but Hengda appears to have escaped notice.
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