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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, April 5, 2019 at 8:29:23 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 (13 articles)
VALVE MALFUNCTION CAUSES HOPPER BLAST AT FLORIDA PLANT
Tags: us_FL, industrial, explosion, injury, asphalt
FORMER INDIAN AMERICAN UMASS MED STUDENT CLAIMS RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, ALLEGING PROFESSORS FAILED TO ACCOMMODATE FORMALDEHYDE ALLERGY
Tags: us_MA, education, discovery, response, formaldehyde
POOL TRUCK CRASHED IN CAPE CORAL, SPILLING CHLORINE ONTO DEL PRA
Tags: us_FL, transportation, release, response, chlorine
TEXAS DEER PARK FIRE RISK STILL A REALITY, ENVIRONMENTAL CHIEF SAYS
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, injury, petroleum
ANOTHER TOXIC BLAZE CLOUDS MELBOURNE
Tags: Australia, industrial, fire, response, flammables, waste
UPDATE: THREE EMPLOYEES HAD ‰??SIGNIFICANT RESPONSIBILITY‰?? FOR CHINESE CHEMICALS PLANT EXPLOSION
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, death, unknown_chemical
'CHEMICAL BURNS': DELTA FLIGHT ATTENDANTS SAY NEW UNIFORMS CAUSE RASHES
Tags: industrial, discovery, response, unknown_chemical
LIGHTNING STRIKE MAY HAVE SPARKED TANK FIRE IN EAST HARRIS COUNTY OVERNIGHT
Tags: us_TX, industrial, fire, response, petroleum
PAXTON FILES PETITION AGAINST KMCO AFTER DEADLY CHEMICAL PLANT FIRE
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental
THREE DETAINED OVER CHINA CHEMICAL BLAST THAT KILLED 78
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, death, flammables, illegal
CSB ‰??SAFETY SPOTLIGHT‰?? HIGHLIGHTS AGENCY CONTRIBUTIONS TO GUIDELINES, CODES AND STANDARDS
Tags: industrial, follow-up, environmental
EXPLOSION-DAMAGED WISCONSIN REFINERY WILL KEEP USING TOXIC CHEMICAL
Tags: us_WI, industrial, follow-up, environmental, hydrofluoric_acid
THE HOUSTON AREA HAS HAD TWO CHEMICAL PLANT FIRES IN TWO WEEKS. WHY DO THEY KEEP HAPPENING?
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental
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VALVE MALFUNCTION CAUSES HOPPER BLAST AT FLORIDA PLANT
https://www.powderbulksolids.com/news/Valve-Malfunction-Causes-Hopper-Blast-at-Florida-Plant-04-04-2019
Tags: us_FL, industrial, explosion, injury, asphalt
Firefighters responded to an explosion in a silo at the D.A.B. Constructors Inc. asphalt plant in Leesburg, FL early Thursday morning, local news organizations reported. Officials said an equipment failure likely lead to the incident.
Leesburg Deputy Fire Chief Joe Mera told the Leesburg Daily Commercial that the explosion occurred at about 6 a.m. as a worker was starting up equipment at the plant. The worker was reportedly received minor injuries in the blast and was later treated at the scene.
‰??It is apparent that a valve malfunctioned on one of their silo-hoppers, pressure built and an explosion resulted,‰?? a Facebook post from the Leesburg Police Department said.
The silo was holding liquid asphalt at the time of the blast. HAZMAT personnel managed to turn off the valve, coverage by ClickOrlando.com said, stopping the substance from leaking beyond the facility‰??s property.
People living within a few miles of the plant reported hearing and feeling the explosion when interviewed by several area news outlets.
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FORMER INDIAN AMERICAN UMASS MED STUDENT CLAIMS RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, ALLEGING PROFESSORS FAILED TO ACCOMMODATE FORMALDEHYDE ALLERGY
https://www.indiawest.com/news/global_indian/former-indian-american-umass-med-student-claims-racial-discrimination-alleging/article_20c85828-5646-11e9-8706-07528e3bfbd4.html
Tags: us_MA, education, discovery, response, formaldehyde
A former student at the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine has sued the university, claiming it racially discriminated against him when professors failed to accommodate his allergy to formaldehyde.
In his lawsuit, filed Jan. 7 in U.S. District Court in Worcester, Massachusetts, Indian American Vishal Saxena, 46, described himself as disabled, noting that he has a ‰??well-documented reactivity to formaldehyde that interferes with major life activities including breathing, seeing and thinking.‰??
Saxena said in the lawsuit that ‰?? when he is exposed to formaldehyde ‰?? he suffers a variety of serious symptoms, including severe difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, severe cough, severely blurred vision, double vision, swelling of the eyes, burning of the eyes, eye itching, burning sensation in the lungs and nasal passages, chest tightness, disorientation, trouble concentrating and other painful effects. The lawsuit states that formaldehyde is a carcinogen known to cause skin disorders and cancer.
Saxena was exposed to formaldehyde during his anatomy classes, which required him to work on cadavers preserved in the substance. He noted in the lawsuit that there were several alternatives, such as using frozen cadavers, plastic cadavers, and virtual techniques.
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POOL TRUCK CRASHED IN CAPE CORAL, SPILLING CHLORINE ONTO DEL PRA
https://www.nbc-2.com/story/40256055/pool-truck-crashed-in-cape-coral-spilling-chlorine-onto-del-prado-boulevard
Tags: us_FL, transportation, release, response, chlorine
CAPE CORAL, Fla. - Hazmat teams are responding to a crash involving a pool truck that spilled chlorine on the road.
The crash happened at the intersection of Del Prado Boulevard North and Malagrotta Circle, and Cape Coral police are on the scene.
The southbound lanes of Del Prado were closed but were cleared and reopened.
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TEXAS DEER PARK FIRE RISK STILL A REALITY, ENVIRONMENTAL CHIEF SAYS
https://www.texastribune.org/2019/04/04/texas-deer-park-fire-risk-still-reality-environmental-chief-says/
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, injury, petroleum
The ominous black plume of smoke that hung over the Houston area for days last month may be long gone, but Texas' chief environmental regulator told a panel of state lawmakers on Thursday that the fallout from the blaze at a Deer Park petrochemical facility is in full effect ‰?? and that danger remains.
"It is an ongoing event. We're still in response mode," said Toby Baker, executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, at a hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Texas Ports.
He added: "If I‰??m completely honest, there's still a fire risk."
A fire broke out at a sprawling, waterfront tank farm operated by Intercontinental Terminals Company on March 17 and flared up again days later, prompting cities and school districts in east Harris County to issue shelters-in-place and cancel outdoor activities for fear of poor air quality. Lawmakers had already called for hearings on the incident ‰?? and the state had already sued ITC ‰?? when another Houston-area chemical plant caught fire earlier this week, resulting in one death and multiple injuries.
---------------------------------------------
ANOTHER TOXIC BLAZE CLOUDS MELBOURNE
https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/bushfires/melbourne-factory-blaze-sparks-warning-ng-s-1936151
Tags: Australia, industrial, fire, response, flammables, waste
A waste management factory which exploded into a fireball sending a toxic black plume over Melbourne had been storing almost three times the quantity of chemicals permitted.
The inferno at suburban Campbellfield was sparked about 6.40am on Friday and although under control by shortly after midday, is expected to burn for days.
Operators of the Campbellfield business had their licence suspended by the Environmental Protection Agency in March after being repeatedly found storing too much highly-flammable material.
"We inspected the premises and found three times the amount of material being stored on the premise than it was licensed to store," the authority's Damian Wells said.
Storage containers were also inadequately labelled and being handled outside an appropriate area.
The address is registered to Bradbury Industrial Services, a toxic waste disposal company.
The factory is allowed to hold a maximum 150,000 litres of waste material, including solvents, inks, paints and other flammable materials, before being processed.
---------------------------------------------
UPDATE: THREE EMPLOYEES HAD ‰??SIGNIFICANT RESPONSIBILITY‰?? FOR CHINESE CHEMICALS PLANT EXPLOSION
https://www.thechemicalengineer.com/news/update-three-employees-had-significant-responsibility-for-chinese-chemicals-plant-explosion/
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, death, unknown_chemical
THREE employees of Jiangsu Tianjiayi Chemical Company are said to have ‰??significant responsibility‰?? for an explosion at a Chinese chemicals plant, reports state news agency Xinhua. The explosion killed 78 people and injured more than 600.
On 21 March at about 14:50 local time a Tianjiayi Chemical plant exploded at the Chenjiagang Industrial Park, in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, eastern China. As of 2 April, 187 of those injured were still under hospital care, two of whom were in critical condition, says Xinhua.
Xinhua reports that on Wednesday local authorities said three employees had been put under ‰??criminal coercive measures‰??. AFP reports that according the Chinese parliament‰??s website this indicates that the employees have been detained, arrested, or put under house arrest. Xinhua adds that in China criminal coercive measures may also include summons by force, bail, and residential surveillance.
According to a statement on the Yancheng government‰??s official Weibo account the employees were significantly responsible for the plant explosion, reports AFP. Sina Weibo is a Chinese social media platform. The Yangcheng police reportedly declined to offer details about the case when contacted by AFP.
---------------------------------------------
'CHEMICAL BURNS': DELTA FLIGHT ATTENDANTS SAY NEW UNIFORMS CAUSE RASHES
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/apr/03/delta-flight-attendants-uniforms-rash-claims?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Tags: industrial, discovery, response, unknown_chemical
Delta flight attendants are complaining that a new set of uniforms introduced by the airline are still causing skin rashes and worse almost a year after the company introduced them.
And while the airline says it is addressing the issue, some flight attendants say they fear retaliation for complaining.
Last May, Delta unveiled a new set of slick purple uniforms designed by Bravo‰??s Project Runway star Zac Posen and manufactured by the retailer Land‰??s End.
The uniforms were designed to turn Delta‰??s 24,000 flight attendants into walking advertisements for the airline. Delta encouraged flight attendants to promote the new uniforms on their social media accounts.
Shortly after their introduction, some female flight attendants said that they started getting sick, reporting skin rashes, shortness of breath, and hair loss.
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Delta crew members reported rashes. Photograph: Courtesy writer
‰??I noticed right away after I put the uniforms on that I had shortness of breath and I have been a runner my whole life,‰?? said one Delta flight attendant who spoke to the Guardian on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation. ‰??I don‰??t smoke or anything like that, so when I couldn‰??t get up the stairs without being extremely winded, I know there was some sort of problem.‰??
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Another flight attendant said she noticed huge rashes all over her body that made it impossible for her to sleep.
‰??I don‰??t even want to call them rashes because it‰??s worse than that. Some of them look like chemical burns, some of them look like chemical bites, but they don‰??t go away for weeks at an end,‰?? she said. ‰??I had a huge patch that got infected and I had to take an antibiotic, even, to get rid of it.‰??
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LIGHTNING STRIKE MAY HAVE SPARKED TANK FIRE IN EAST HARRIS COUNTY OVERNIGHT
https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/lightning-strike-may-have-sparked-tank-fire-in-east-harris-county-overnight/285-a462a91b-ed35-434c-85d3-52bbf4987d75
Tags: us_TX, industrial, fire, response, petroleum
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas ‰?? Fire crews responded to a tank fire in east Harris County believed to be caused by a lightning strike during overnight storms
The Crosby Fire Department say it happened just after 1 a.m. Thursday at a well site on Saralla Road north of Barbers Hill.
Three tanks small crude oil tanks containing a saltwater and oil mixture were involved.
---------------------------------------------
PAXTON FILES PETITION AGAINST KMCO AFTER DEADLY CHEMICAL PLANT FIRE
https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/paxton-files-petition-against-kmco-after-deadly-chemical-plant-fire/1897135176
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental
AUSTIN (KXAN) ‰?? The Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a petition Tuesday hours after an explosion at a chemical plant near Houston left one dead, according to a press release from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
The chemical isobutylene exploded at the KMCO plant in Crosby late Tuesday morning and it took officials about six hours to extinguish the blaze after a transfer line ignited and a tank caught fire, according to reports by KPRC the NBC affiliate in Houston.
According to an investigation from KPRC, the company KMCO owed a series of OSHA fines before and after the ownership change of the facility in 2012. The investigation found that KMCO paid $247,932 in fines to settle various safety violations.
---------------------------------------------
THREE DETAINED OVER CHINA CHEMICAL BLAST THAT KILLED 78
https://www.france24.com/en/20190403-three-detained-over-china-chemical-blast-killed-78
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, death, flammables, illegal
Police have detained three suspects linked to a chemical plant blast in China, which killed 78 people and left hundreds injured, local officials said Wednesday.
The explosion last month in Yancheng city, in eastern Jiangsu province, was one of the worst industrial accidents in the country in recent years.
Three employees from Jiangsu Tianjiayi Chemical, whose facility was involved in the blast, had "significant responsibility" for the accident, according to a statement on the Yancheng government's official Twitter-like Weibo account.
Officials said the suspects have been subjected to "criminal coercive measures" -- a vague term which indicates detention, arrest or being put under house arrest temporarily until police complete their investigations, according to an explanation on the Chinese parliament's website.
Yancheng police declined to offer details on the case when contacted by AFP.
The blast razed an industrial park and blew out the windows of surrounding homes.
The company, with 195 employees, was established in 2007 and mainly produces raw chemical materials including anisole, a highly flammable compound.
---------------------------------------------
CSB ‰??SAFETY SPOTLIGHT‰?? HIGHLIGHTS AGENCY CONTRIBUTIONS TO GUIDELINES, CODES AND STANDARDS
https://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/18255-csb-safety-spotlight-highlights-agency-contributions-to-guidelines-codes-and-standards
Tags: industrial, follow-up, environmental
Washington ‰?? The work of standards-developing organizations is an integral part of ‰??protecting the safety and health of workers, the public and the environment,‰?? the Chemical Safety Board says in its most recent Safety Spotlight publication.
Issued March 12, the six-page document highlights the importance of adhering to industry safety protocols and notes that SDOs have incorporated numerous recommendations stemming from CSB incident investigations when drafting guidelines, codes and standards. Those include:
The American Petroleum Institute in April 2010 issued first-of-its-kind guidance on fatigue risk management in the petrochemical industry after CSB‰??s investigation into a deadly BP refinery explosion and fire in 2005 in Texas City, TX, found that operators in the isomerization unit where the blast occurred likely were fatigued from working long hours on consecutive days. An updated version of the guidance is expected to be released this year, API states.
The National Fire Protection Association in 2011 implemented a provisional gas process safety standard that advises using air, steam, water or inert gas ‰?? rather than natural gas ‰?? to clean piping after CSB investigations into fatal explosions at a ConAgra Foods plant in Garner, NC, and a Kleen Energy power plant in Middletown, CT, in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The standard was updated in 2013.
The International Code Council made several revisions related to combustible dust hazards in the 2018 edition of the International Fire Code after CSB‰??s investigation into the 2011 fatal flash fires at a Hoeganaes Corp. facility in Gallatin, TN.
---------------------------------------------
EXPLOSION-DAMAGED WISCONSIN REFINERY WILL KEEP USING TOXIC CHEMICAL
https://www.grandforksherald.com/business/energy-and-mining/4594501-explosion-damaged-wisconsin-refinery-will-keep-using-toxic
Tags: us_WI, industrial, follow-up, environmental, hydrofluoric_acid
Husky Energy said it will continue to use hydrogen fluoride at its Superior refinery.
In an announcement posted to its website Wednesday morning, April 3, the Calgary-based oil company said it would continue to use the potentially dangerous chemical in the refining process at its Superior refinery, but would add additional safety features.
The evacuations during the April 26, 2018, explosion and fire were based on hydrogen fluoride release concerns, but no hydrogen fluoride was released during the incident.
Hydrogen fluoride, which is used in the process to create high-octane gasoline, can cause death from an irregular heartbeat or from fluid buildup in the lungs when inhaled at high levels or in combination with skin contact.
In the year since the explosion and fire, Twin Ports residents and local and federal officials have voiced concerns over the refinery‰??s use of hydrogen fluoride and have urged Husky to use alternative chemicals, like sulfuric acid.
---------------------------------------------
THE HOUSTON AREA HAS HAD TWO CHEMICAL PLANT FIRES IN TWO WEEKS. WHY DO THEY KEEP HAPPENING?
https://psmag.com/news/the-houston-area-has-had-two-chemical-plant-fires-in-two-weeks-why-do-they-keep-happening
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental
On Tuesday, a fire erupted at a KMCO chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, killing one worker and leaving two others injured. This was the second Texas chemical fire in two weeks, following a blaze that began at a petrochemical storage facility in Deer Park on March 17th. While no injuries were reported, the Deer Park fire triggered widespread concerns about air quality in the area.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo told the Associated Press that "it is disturbing and it is problematic that we're seeing this incident in a facility, especially on the heels of" the fire in Deer Park.
Here's what we know about the regulation of this industry.
DO CHEMICAL FIRES HAPPEN FREQUENTLY?
In an op-ed published by the Houston Chronicle after the Deer Park fire, Elena Craft, the senior director for health and climate at the Environmental Defense Fund, criticized the lack of oversight by state agencies, writing that "the state agency responsible for ensuring chemical plant safety is missing in action‰??unable or unwilling to protect the health and well-being of Texas families." Craft argues that the Texas Commission on Environmental Air Quality, a state agency tasked with protecting the state's natural resources, has essentially let companies "self-regulate."
In 2016, a year-long Houston Chronicle investigation revealed that chemical plants across Houston, America's petrochemical capital, remain a pervasive and virtually unsupervised threat. According to the investigation, the Houston area has a chemical fire or explosion every six weeks on average.
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