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From: DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (9 articles)
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2018 06:49:00 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: 228CDB92-BEED-4062-9AD3-27726B08E7BA**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, December 14, 2018 at 6:48:48 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)
HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO MERCURY SPILL IN ANDOVER
Tags: us_MA, public, release, response, mercury
PHILIPPI POLICE WEARING HAZMAT SUITS DUE TO INTENSIFYING METH PROBLEM
Tags: us_WV, public, release, response, clandestine_lab
INTEL RELEASES NEW STATEMENT ON POSSIBLE TOXIC EXPOSURE INCIDENT
Tags: us_OR, industrial, follow-up, environmental
REPORT: DUST COLLECTOR FIRE AT NY METAL PROCESSING PLANT
Tags: us_NY, industrial, explosion, response, dust, metals
WOLFVILLE FIREFIGHTERS ASSESSED AFTER REFRIGERANT LEAK
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, hvac_chemicals
FIRE CREWS CONTAIN SMALL CHEMICAL FIRE AT STERIS IN MENTOR
Tags: us_OH, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
CHLORINE LEAK SENDS ONE TO HOSPITAL, TRIGGERS HAZMAT INCIDENT IN ROCHESTER
Tags: us_NY, industrial, release, injury, chlorine
INDUSTRY: TSCA 'HIGH-PRIORITY' DESIGNATION MUST NOT CARRY RISK PRESUMPTION
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
INVESTIGATORS: HOLE IN VALVE CAUSED SUPERIOR REFINERY EXPLOSION
Tags: us_WI, industrial, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
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HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO MERCURY SPILL IN ANDOVER
https://patch.com/massachusetts/andover/hazmat-crews-respond-mercury-spill-andover
Tags: us_MA, public, release, response, mercury
ANDOVER, MA -- A hazardous materials response team was called to a building being built at 138 Haverhill Street in Andover Thursday afternoon after a reported mercury spill. According to scanner reports, the spill was classified as a Level 1 Hazmat spill, the lowest risk level in the classification of hazardous material incidents.
Several medical facilities are located at 138 Haverhill Street, including Quest Diagnostics and Andover Surgery Center.
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PHILIPPI POLICE WEARING HAZMAT SUITS DUE TO INTENSIFYING METH PROBLEM
https://www.wdtv.com/content/news/New-requirements-means-HAZMAT--502733201.html
Tags: us_WV, public, release, response, clandestine_lab
PHILIPPI, W.Va (WDTV) - West Virginia has a drug problem and the opioid crisis is one of the most talked about.
One local police department tell us that meth is making a comeback and it's making them take extra steps to keep the community safe.
Before going into the department's evidence room, he dressed head to toe in a full hazmat suit.
"I went in to process some evidence and when I was done, I started feeling not normal," said Chief Jeff Walters.
"I won't say we're winning the war, but we're definitely winning some battles," Walters said.
They have to make sure they're covered before coming into contact with it. In his time as chief, he has never seen the meth problem so bad.
"The drugs in Philippi have gone up dramatically," he said. "I've been here for 23 years and I've not seen it like this."
"The officers will be out here booking somebody out here in our booking area and you walk by them and they actually smell like methamphetamine where it's coming out of their pores."
On top of adding the vent and suiting up, Walters says he knew something had to be done after a few minutes in the evidence room turned into an experience he'd never forget.
"My teeth went kind of numb, my lips were going numb, I got a little edgy, and at that point I knew I had a little bit of exposure."
In the end, he reminds everyone that it's all to protect the community.
"In order to be able to protect the citizens, we have to be healthy. We have to take the precautions necessary to keep us healthy."
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INTEL RELEASES NEW STATEMENT ON POSSIBLE TOXIC EXPOSURE INCIDENT
https://katu.com/news/local/intel-releases-new-statement-on-possible-toxic-exposure-incident
Tags: us_OR, industrial, follow-up, environmental
HILLSBORO, Ore. ‰?? Intel released a new statement Wednesday morning saying the company has determined it‰??s safe for workers to return to the Ronler Acres campus that has been closed since Dec. 3, when 22 people were treated for possible toxic exposure.
Intel says during the incident, some people reported an odor that the company later determined was coming from its air handling units, which it uses to regulate air intake into the building.
The company says the odor does not represent a health risk, but it is making changes to its system to address the smell.
On Dec. 3, Hillsboro firefighters treated multiple patients after receiving a call for people experiencing "light irritation of their respiratory systems" at Intel‰??s Ronler Acres campus. A hazmat unit also responded to the scene.
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REPORT: DUST COLLECTOR FIRE AT NY METAL PROCESSING PLANT
https://www.powderbulksolids.com/news/Report-Dust-Collector-Fire-at-NY-Metal-Processing-Plant-12-12-2018
Tags: us_NY, industrial, explosion, response, dust, metals
Firefighters put out a dust collector fire at the Keywell Corporation metal processing plant in Falconer, NY on Tuesday, the Jamestown [NY] Post-Journal reported.
Falconer Fire Department Chief Charles Piazza told the newspaper that he heard an explosion at the site at about noon and observed fire in one of the site‰??s dust collection units.
Crews from several municipalities responded to the scene, along with a HAZMAT crew and EMS personnel. They remained at the plant for about an hour and a half, according to the Post-Journal‰??s coverage.
The fire chief said that no injuries were logged during the incident.
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WOLFVILLE FIREFIGHTERS ASSESSED AFTER REFRIGERANT LEAK
https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/local/firefighters-assessed-after-leak-267746/
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, hvac_chemicals
Four firefighters were taken to hospital as a precaution after a refrigerant leak in Wolfville Tuesday night.
Wolfville fire chief Todd Crowell said his department was called at about 8 p.m. to Cuts Meat Market on Main Street, almost directly across from the fire station, after someone reported smoke in the building. That smoke turned out to be the gas leaking from the refrigeration system in the basement.
The gas expanded into the upstairs, but Crowell wasn‰??t sure how much of the 800 pounds of refrigerant leaked before firefighters were able to shut down the system.
He said there was a failure of some sort within the system that caused the leak.
The refrigerant ‰?? known as R507 ‰?? is less potent than freon, Crowell said, but can still cause nausea, shortness of breath, dizziness, severe headaches or unconsciousness if too much is inhaled.
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FIRE CREWS CONTAIN SMALL CHEMICAL FIRE AT STERIS IN MENTOR
https://patch.com/ohio/mentor/fire-crews-contain-small-chemical-fire-steris-mentor
Tags: us_OH, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
MENTOR, OH ‰?? Fire crews found thick, pungent smoke billowing from a laboratory in the Mentor STERIS facility on Wednesday afternoon. The smoke came from a fire in a lab storing chemicals, but the chemicals were deemed not to be a public health hazard, officials said. No one was hurt in the fire.
An alarm went off at the STERIS facility at about noon on Wednesday. Fire crews rushed to the Heisley Road-based company.
Firefighters initially thought it had been a false alarm, but then found acrid smoke coming from an unoccupied lab known to contain chemicals. All employees were evacuated safely and fire crews from neighboring cities were called to the scene.
Investigators initially could not determine if the chemicals were dangerous or if there was an abundance of chemicals in the lab. Eventually, firefighters were able to determine there was not a public health hazard, the city of Mentor said in a statement. The fire was contained.
Fire crews remained on scene at STERIS throughout the afternoon, ventilating the building and helping employees collect their personal belongings.
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CHLORINE LEAK SENDS ONE TO HOSPITAL, TRIGGERS HAZMAT INCIDENT IN ROCHESTER
https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2018/12/12/chlorine-leak-sends-one-hospital-triggers-hazmat-incident-rochester/2294797002/
Tags: us_NY, industrial, release, injury, chlorine
A leak of chlorine gas outside a Rochester chemical plant sparked a fire and hazmat response that sent one person to the hospital Wednesday.
The Rochester Fire Department was called to Arch Chemicals, 100 McKee Road, at 1:21 p.m. for the report of a "Level 1 hazmat incident," said Amon Hudson, spokesman for the Rochester Fire Department.
One worker was taken to the hospital for chlorine exposure and is listed in stable condition, Hudson said.
Hudson said the call was triggered by a chlorine gas leak outside one of the buildings. Regina Willis, spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said there was a release of about 85 pounds of gas into the atmosphere due a leak from a rail car.
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INDUSTRY: TSCA 'HIGH-PRIORITY' DESIGNATION MUST NOT CARRY RISK PRESUMPTION
https://chemicalwatch.com/72760/industry-tsca-high-priority-designation-must-not-carry-risk-presumption
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
Industry groups throughout the supply chain have called on the US EPA to provide routine communication to the public that a high-priority designation under TSCA does not equate to a finding on that substance‰??s risk.
The comments come in response to the EPA‰??s ‰??working approach‰?? for prioritising substances for risk evaluation, which lays out both a short- and long-term plan.
And while many of the comments focused on the agency‰??s plans to ‰??bin‰?? substances on the TSCA inventory, others flagged up concerns around public perception of the prioritisation process.
The US Chamber of Commerce, for example, called on the EPA to "consistently communicate that the agency‰??s selection of candidate chemicals for possible review are not determinations of risk or safety."
And the Downstream Users Coalition ‰?? representing trade groups covering paper, plastic, toys, tyres and automotive equipment ‰?? agreed that its member companies and the public will benefit from such messages.
In the light of this, the coalition called for "proactive procedures to help to reduce concerns from consumers and the potential for adverse commercial effects related to premature product deselection or substitution decisions."
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INVESTIGATORS: HOLE IN VALVE CAUSED SUPERIOR REFINERY EXPLOSION
https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2018/12/12/investigators-hole-in-valve-caused-superior-refinery-explosion/
Tags: us_WI, industrial, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ‰?? A hole in a valve is likely the source of an explosion at the Husky Energy Refinery in Superior, Wisconsin last spring.
The explosion injured 36 people and led to the evacuation of a large part of the city.
The United States Chemical Safety and Hazard Board shared its findings Wednesday during a Town Hall meeting.
They say erosion created a hole in the slide valve, allowing air to mix with chemicals, which caused the explosion.
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