From: Ralph Stuart <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (7 articles)
Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2018 07:48:35 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: F3272C09-4839-4750-9B02-8A1411503713**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, December 17, 2018 at 7:48:23 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 (7 articles)

FOOD SAFE AFTER WAWA HAZMAT SPILL, OFFICIALS SAY
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, cleaners

MAKING OUR LABORATORIES SAFER
Tags: India, laboratory, follow-up, environmental, gas_cylinders

LOCAL NEWS: CHEMICAL LEAK AT BAINBRIDGE UTILITIES PROMPTS EVACUATIONS (12/16/18)
Tags: us_IN, public, release, response, chlorine

HAZMAT SITUATION PROMPTS EVACUATION OF BIOTECH BUILDING IN BOSTON ‰?? BOSTON NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical

ODOR LEADS TO EVACUATION OF COMMON GROUND HIGH SCHOOL IN NEW HAVEN
Tags: us_CT, laboratory, release, response, hydrochloric_acid

EXPLOSION AT NATURAL GAS FACILITY INJURES FOUR
Tags: us_PA, industrial, explosion, injury, natural_gas

HSE FEEDBACK ON HCR CHALLENGE
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, discovery, environmental, petroleum


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FOOD SAFE AFTER WAWA HAZMAT SPILL, OFFICIALS SAY
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Food-Safe-After-Wawa-Hazmat-Spill-502915021.html
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, cleaners

A hazardous material spill at a Wawa dairy plant in Delaware County did not contaminate any food products, officials said.
The spill happened around 2:30 a.m. at a Middletown Township plant on the 1300 block of West Baltimore Pike and involved cleaning chemicals spilling into a containment unit, Rocky Run Fire Company Chief Bill Cairns said.
"There are no hazards to any of the foods or any contamination at all," Cairns said. "This is just simply a cleaning chemical that is used to sanitize all the containers that they process the milk through."
There spill caused no injuries and forced no evacuations, though the Delaware County hazmat team was on the scene containing the leak, Cairns added.

---------------------------------------------

MAKING OUR LABORATORIES SAFER
https://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/op-ed/making-our-laboratories-safer/306375.html
Tags: India, laboratory, follow-up, environmental, gas_cylinders

A few days ago I received a message in one of my WhatsApp groups from a researcher friend at Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, insisting us to be extremely cautious while performing experiments in our labs. Rightly so, the explosion, suspected to be caused by a leak in hydrogen cylinder in the Laboratory for Hypersonic and Shock Wave Research in IISc created shivers in the whole research community; it resulted in the instant death of one young engineer and injured three others, while also damaging the equipment in the laboratory. The accident is not unique of its kind, there have been many other accidents that have occurred in the laboratories of academic institutions. For example, in June, 2009, extremely inflammable hydrogen gas, having the potential of forming explosive mixtures with air, leaked during an experiment and resulted in an explosion injuring four research scholars at the University of Missouri biochemistry research lab in Columbia.

The extent and the severity of the damage caused by such accidents calls for an imperative need to take pro-active safety measures to enhance safety at the academic workplace. The need is further stressed upon by the fact that academic institutions are relatively less regulated by the government in terms of following safety protocols. The pro-active measures must begin from within and must start with creating extensive safety awareness among the individuals involved, by rigorously discussing the various accidents that have occurred in academia or in other related fields (to take home important safety lessons), and finally religious implementation of the same.

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LOCAL NEWS: CHEMICAL LEAK AT BAINBRIDGE UTILITIES PROMPTS EVACUATIONS (12/16/18)
https://www.bannergraphic.com/story/2574123.html
Tags: us_IN, public, release, response, chlorine

A serious chemical leak that recently occurred in Bainbridge is now being assessed as town officials and first responders continue to address the situation.

At about 1:39 p.m. Sunday afternoon, the Bainbridge Fire Department was toned out to a Hazmat call from municipal utilities employees, who reported that a chlorine leak had occurred near Bainbridge Town Hall.

According to Putnam County Emergency Management Director Tom Helmer, Bainbridge units quickly arrived on the scene to find that three employees had been exposed to the chemical.

Hazmat teams from Greencastle arrived on the scene at approximately 3 p.m. after the leak had been controlled shortly before. The Banner Graphic arrived shortly thereafter to acquire information on the situation.

Helmer related that about 150 to 200 people east of the Dollar General on Pat Rady Way, north of U.S. Highway 36 and along 200 East to 800 North were evacuated from their homes and businesses to the Bainbridge Fire Department to be checked out.

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HAZMAT SITUATION PROMPTS EVACUATION OF BIOTECH BUILDING IN BOSTON ‰?? BOSTON NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS
https://whdh.com/news/hazmat-situation-prompts-evacuation-of-biotechnology-building-in-boston/
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical

BOSTON (WHDH) - A biotech building in Boston was evacuated after two chemicals came in contact with each other, causing a hazmat situation, authorities said.

Crews responding to MassBiologics, located at 460 Walk Hill St., around 11:30 a.m. evacuated the building as a precaution as hazmat crews investigated inside, Boston fire said.

There were no reported injuries.

The MassBiologics website lists the company as part of the University of Massachusetts Medical School , located on the grounds of the old Boston State Hospital.

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ODOR LEADS TO EVACUATION OF COMMON GROUND HIGH SCHOOL IN NEW HAVEN
https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Small-chemical-leak-evacuates-Common-Ground-High-13466679.php
Tags: us_CT, laboratory, release, response, hydrochloric_acid

NEW HAVEN ‰?? An odd odor and the resulting fear of a chemical leak in a Common Ground High School science lab Friday morning turned out to be merely vinegar next to an unopened container of hydrochloric acid, according to Fire Chief John Alston.
Students were moved to an adjacent building of the school while firefighters investigated, Alston said. He noted the school was never shut down.
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Alston said a teacher opened a cabinet in the lab, ‰??thought the odor was strange‰?? and called the school‰??s security officer. The fire department then was called in.
Alston said no students were in the classroom when the cabinet was opened.
‰??It was an honest mistake,‰?? Alston said. ‰??We determined it was just the vinegar‰?? that made the odor.

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EXPLOSION AT NATURAL GAS FACILITY INJURES FOUR
https://www.thechemicalengineer.com/news/explosion-at-natural-gas-facility-injures-four/
Tags: us_PA, industrial, explosion, injury, natural_gas

AN explosion at MarkWest natural gas processing facility in Pennsylvania, US, has injured four people.

The explosion occurred just after 18:00 local time on 13 December, followed by a fire. The incident happened close to two temporary tanks that were on site for routine maintenance. The fire started in a tank which holds 200 bbl of liquid ethylene glycol and hydrocarbons. Four workers sustained burns and were airlifted to hospital.

The cause of the explosion is currently unknown. The processing plant was not involved in the incident, but has been shut down as a precaution.

MarkWest Energy Partners, owned by Marathon Petroleum, is one of the largest processors of natural gas in the US. It is involved in gathering, processing and transporting natural gas, transporting, fractionating and storing natural gas liquids, and gathering and transporting crude oil.

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HSE FEEDBACK ON HCR CHALLENGE
https://www.thechemicalengineer.com/news/hse-feedback-on-hcr-challenge/
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, discovery, environmental, petroleum

Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Britain‰??s national workplace health and safety regulator, has fed back to industry on its hydrocarbon release (HCR) challenge.

In April this year HSE‰??s director of energy division, Chris Flint, wrote a letter to all offshore oil and gas production operators in the North Sea urging them to do more to tackle HCRs. The letter was in reaction to continued major HCRs in the North Sea. It identified failings that led to releases and asked that senior leaders critically review their operations in order to identify where improvements could be made. Industry was given until 20 July to explain what measures it is taking to improve performance.

Recently, HSE met with representatives from Oil and Gas UK (OGUK) and health and safety managers from several of the UK‰??s offshore producers. Together they discussed industry‰??s plans for improving safety leadership, audit, and assurance.

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