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From: DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (11 articles)
Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2019 07:03:39 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: AB05F9F7-0EAF-4B2B-AC0E-FFAC488DC4C5**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, December 13, 2019 at 7:03:13 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 (11 articles)
UPDATE: OVERHEATED BATTERY PROMPTS HAZMAT RESPONSE
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, batteries
FIRE DESTROYS CHEMICAL RECYCLING PLANT IN SPAIN
Tags: Spain, industrial, fire, response, solvent, waste
LOCAL, FEDERAL AGENCIES SAY MARCH CHEMICAL FIRE NEAR HOUSTON BEGAN WITH MECHANICAL BREAKDOWN
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, petroleum
DISPOSAL BEGINS FOR MICHIGAN‰??S FIRE-FIGHTING FOAM CONTAINING PFAS
Tags: us_MI, industrial, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
SPD: ALL-CLEAR GIVEN AFTER FIRE AT CHEMICAL PLANT IN STERLINGTON
Tags: us_LA, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
INCREASE SAFETY IN LABORATORIES
Tags: India, laboratory, follow-up, environmental, explosives
FOUR VEHICLES AND 60 GALLONS OF CHLORINE SNARL TRAFFIC IN MARTIN COUNTY
Tags: us_FL, transportation, release, response, chlorine
CLEAN-UP, INVESTIGATION OF SOUTHINGTON PFAS CHEMICAL SPILL CONTINUING
Tags: us_CT, public, release, response, other_chemical
TPC GROUP LOOKS TOWARD REBUILDING PHASE
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
HELL ON WATER
Tags: Hong_Kong, transportation, follow-up, injury, other_chemical
EXXON ORDERED TO GIVE INFORMATION REGARDING 2015 EXPLOSION
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, hydrofluoric_acid
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UPDATE: OVERHEATED BATTERY PROMPTS HAZMAT RESPONSE
https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/Update-Overheated-Battery-Prompts-Hazmat-Response-14903164.php
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, batteries
Five people were hospitalized Thursday after a hazardous materials response to a robotics company in Mountain View, fire department officials said.
Firefighters received a call at 12:41 p.m. reporting an odor from a car making people sick. They responded and found people reporting feeling ill at two locations operated by the company Nuro at 1300 Terra Bella Ave. and nearby at 1340 W. Middlefield Road.
Witnesses and patients reported that a Toyota Prius was being charged in an enclosed space at the West Middlefield Road address when people said an odor was coming from the Prius' battery.
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FIRE DESTROYS CHEMICAL RECYCLING PLANT IN SPAIN
https://www.fox5ny.com/news/fire-destroys-chemical-recycling-plant-in-spain
Tags: Spain, industrial, fire, response, solvent, waste
A fire at a waste recycling plant in Montornes del Valles, in provincial Barcelona, Spain, on Dec. 11 triggered a chemical emergency plan as a massive smoke cloud hung over the town.
Civil protection officials advised residents to close windows and doors to avoid the smoke.
Hundreds of firefighters from dozens of units responded to the fire. They made progress bringing the fire under control by the next day but the fire destroyed the plant and continued to burn, officials said.
The plant recycles solvent and industrial residues.
The effects of the fire apparently contaminated a nearby river so officials urged factories and farmers to avoid drawing water from it until further notice.
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LOCAL, FEDERAL AGENCIES SAY MARCH CHEMICAL FIRE NEAR HOUSTON BEGAN WITH MECHANICAL BREAKDOWN
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-texas-energy-houston-fire/local-federal-agencies-say-march-chemical-fire-near-houston-began-with-mechanical-breakdown-idUSKBN1YG2I0
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, petroleum
HOUSTON (Reuters) - A March fire at a petrochemical terminal that spread a blanket of black smoke across Houston began when part of a manifold, which includes a pump and motor, on one storage tank broke, according to a report by local and federal agencies.
The report by the Harris County Fire Marshal and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), found the fire at Mitsui & Co Ltd‰??s Intercontinental Terminals Co (ITC) in Deer Park, Texas, was accidental and not the result of an intentional act.
An ITC spokesman said the company was studying the report.
‰??ITC has received and is evaluating the recent report of the Harris County Fire Marshal about the March 17, 2019 fire at ITC‰??s Deer Park terminal,‰?? the spokesman said. ‰??As expected, the Fire Marshal‰??s report confirms that this fire was accidental.‰??
The fire at ITC also shut the Houston Ship Channel, slowed production at local oil refineries and closed roadways and schools as it spread from one giant storage tank to 11 others before being extinguished on March 20.
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DISPOSAL BEGINS FOR MICHIGAN‰??S FIRE-FIGHTING FOAM CONTAINING PFAS
https://www.mlive.com/news/2019/12/disposal-begins-for-michigans-fire-fighting-foam-containing-pfas.html
Tags: us_MI, industrial, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
Lansing on Thursday became the first city in Michigan to send its PFAS-based fire-fighting foam to a hazardous waste landfill.
Stacks of five-gallon buckets, totaling 1,260 gallons and some dating back from at least decade ago, were carted to trucks operated by US Ecology. The company was the winning bidder of the $1.4 million contract to remove at least 34,000 gallons of the chemicals from hundreds of departments statewide.
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SPD: ALL-CLEAR GIVEN AFTER FIRE AT CHEMICAL PLANT IN STERLINGTON
https://www.knoe.com/content/news/SPD-Fire-reported-at-chemical-plant-in-Sterlington-566087861.html
Tags: us_LA, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
STERLINGTON, La. (KNOE) - UPDATE: Sterlington police say the all-clear has been given.
An ANGUS representative told KNOE the fire was extinguished by the plant's fire suppression system before anyone was injured.
The representative said the emergency alert system at the plant was activated and ANGUS notified the Ouachita Parsh Fire Department. He said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but the plant is back up and running.
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INCREASE SAFETY IN LABORATORIES
https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/panorama/increase-safety-in-laboratories-784703.html
Tags: India, laboratory, follow-up, environmental, explosives
The recent blast at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Bengaluru occurred when scientists were testing a suspicious liquid found at Raichur last year which had killed a ragpicker there. When scientists conducted tests out to figure the contents of the liquid, suspected to be Tri-Acetone Triperoxide, they poured it into an empty flask which resulted in an explosion. Tri-Acetone Triperoxide, is a primary a high explosive formed through a mixture of acetone and hydrogen peroxide. A primary explosive is extremely sensitive to stimuli such as impact, friction, heat, static electricity, or electromagnetic radiation.
Some primary explosives are also known as contact explosives. Only a relatively small amount of energy is required for an explosion. Generally, primary explosives are considered to be those compounds that are more sensitive than Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) which is a secondary explosive.
The test sample pertained to a case from October 2018 in Raichur, where a waste picker Anantamma, 32, died when a can which contained this chemical exploded, as she picked it up. The explosion left her husband and son injured. Explosives are solid or liquid substances which are capable of undergoing rapid chemical reaction producing gas at such a temperature and pressure and at such speed as to cause damage to the surroundings.
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FOUR VEHICLES AND 60 GALLONS OF CHLORINE SNARL TRAFFIC IN MARTIN COUNTY
https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/martin-county/2019/12/10/four-vehicles-and-60-gallons-chlorine-snarls-traffic-martin-county/4391837002/
Tags: us_FL, transportation, release, response, chlorine
A four-vehicle crash that caused 60 gallons of chlorine to spill into the roadway snarled traffic Tuesday night on Martin Highway and 42nd Avenue.
A four-vehicle crash that caused 60 gallons of chlorine to spill into the roadway snarled traffic Tuesday night on Martin Highway and 42nd Avenue. (Photo: Martin County Sheriff's Office)
Martin County sheriff's officials and the Martin County Fire Rescue Haz-Mat Team responded to the crash.
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CLEAN-UP, INVESTIGATION OF SOUTHINGTON PFAS CHEMICAL SPILL CONTINUING
https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-pfas-foam-spill-southington-20191210-wxlafvmncrfzfci4zjpzrrmnti-story.html
Tags: us_CT, public, release, response, other_chemical
Environmental crews were continuing to vacuum up hazardous PFAS firefighting foam Tuesday that authorities said spilled from a fire suppression system in a building on Southington‰??s West Queen Street this week.
An unknown amount of the chemical foam was released Monday afternoon, spilling into the storm drains at the property owned by Smiths Medical ASD, and then into catch basins along West Queen Street.
Southington Fire Department officials asked for state help on the potentially dangerous chemical discharge and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection sent its emergency spill response team to the site.
‰??DEEP spill team staff immediately mitigated and contained the spill,‰?? the agency‰??s spokesperson, Kristina Rozek, said in an email Tuesday.
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TPC GROUP LOOKS TOWARD REBUILDING PHASE
https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/TPC-Group-looks-toward-rebuilding-phase-14897344.php
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
As TPC Group prepares to remove chemicals from its blast-damaged plant in Port Neches, the company is beginning to look at how it will get back to business.
Sara Cronin, vice president of communication and media affairs, said the company at this point intends to rebuild at the current site, where a Nov. 27 blast at one of its butadiene processing units injured workers, damaged homes and ignited a smoky industrial fire that burned for a week and led to two evacuations.
Cronin said it was too early to offer a timeline for rebuilding or commit to how many employees would be retained.
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HELL ON WATER
https://www.maritime-executive.com/magazine/hell-on-water
Tags: Hong_Kong, transportation, follow-up, injury, other_chemical
In the early hours of the morning on May 24, an explosion was heard and a fire identified on the South Korean-flagged, 1,585-TEU KMTC Hong Kong as she sat quayside in Laem Chabang, Thailand. The fire spread throughout containers understood to be carrying noxious substances.
From across the river, a video was recorded and uploaded to YouTube showing a thick column of smoke becoming a sequence of plumes as devastating explosions occurred ‰?? apparently the result of tank containers carrying paraffin. Soon locals were reporting a burning sensation on their skin and breathing difficulties. A few hours later, 37 had been admitted to the hospital, poisoned or with fire or chemical burns. Some 143 were affected by chemicals in the smoke.
At the last update, the fire and explosions had encompassed 35 boxes, and 200 people were receiving medical treatment. Local news reports noted, as if in explanation, that the vessel had more than ten containers on board loaded with calcium hypochlorite.
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EXXON ORDERED TO GIVE INFORMATION REGARDING 2015 EXPLOSION
https://www.jurist.org/news/2019/12/exxon-ordered-to-give-information-regarding-2015-explosion/
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, hydrofluoric_acid
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Monday that Exxon Mobil Corp. must comply with subpoenas issued by the Chemical Safety and Hazard Board in its investigation of a 2015 explosion.
The Safety Board is interested in information relating to Exxon‰??s Acid Tank, which was located near the California explosion site. The tank, owned by Exxon, contained hydrofluoric acid, and could be useful in determining the source of the explosion. Exxon stated that the Board‰??s argument was flawed, as there was no damage to the tank at the time of the explosion, and that no hydrofluoric acid was released. The Ninth Circuit rejected that argument stating, ‰??While no modified hydrofluoric acid was released, its characteristics and qualities, including its volatility and toxicity, were among the ‰??circumstances‰?? of the accidental release, which included the 40-ton flying piece of debris that landed five feet from a settler holding the acid.‰??
The Ninth Circuit overturned a district court ruling that found that the Safety Board had no legal authority to investigate Exxon‰??s involvement in the explosion, or its materials. The Ninth Circuit stated that the district court, ‰??Adopted an erroneous view of the legal standard governing the board‰??s authority in declining to enforce these requests.‰??
Exxon must now comply with the safety board‰??s investigation by disclosing information about its tanks and the contents within them.
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