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From: DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (15 articles)
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2020 07:41:30 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Message-ID: 878E620C-1C91-4C6D-8692-C64A18162CF5**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, August 7, 2020 at 7:40:53 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 (15 articles)
SEMI HAULING 'VARIOUS HAZARDOUS MATERIALS' CRASHES, DISRUPTING I-5 FOR 12 HOURS
Tags: us_OR, transportation, release, injury, unknown_chemical
'THEY WERE GREEDY': CARGO SHIP CAPTAIN REVEALS THE ORIGIN OF CHEMICAL STOCKPILE BEHIND BEIRUT BLAST
Tags: Lebanon, transportation, follow-up, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
CHEMICAL STORED IN SAWYERS BAY, BUT ‰??RISK IS MINIMAL‰??
Tags: New_Zealand, public, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
US EPA CHANGES PFAS RULE AFTER SIGNING
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
NORTHERN WIND SEAFOOD AMMONIA LEAK PROMPTS HAZMAT RESPONSE
Tags: us_MA, industrial, release, response, ammonia
CHEMICAL SPILL REQUIRES ROAD CLEANUP ALONG DOUG BARNARD PARKWAY
Tags: us_GA, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical
APS EXPLOSION A POWERFUL, PAINFUL LESSON
Tags: us_AZ, industrial, follow-up, injury, batteries
FIRE LEADS TO MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR COCAINE OPERATION IN BASEMENT OF PATERSON HOME, OFFICIALS SAY ‰?? CBS NEW YORK
Tags: us_NJ, public, fire, response, drugs
ONE KILLED, TWO INJURED IN WEDNESDAY MORNING TANK EXPLOSION AT SCHENECTADY BUSINESS
Tags: us_NY, laboratory, explosion, death, unknown_chemical
LEBANON‰??S $15BN BLAST REPAIR BILL ADDS TO ECONOMIC MISERY
Tags: Lebanon, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
ORICA PLANT IN NEWCASTLE WITH SAME CHEMICAL LINKED TO BEIRUT EXPLOSION
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
AMMONIUM STOCKPILE UNDER SPOTLIGHT IN NSW AFTER DEADLY BEIRUT CHEMICAL BLAST
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
THAIS ASSURED THAT NO AMMONIUM NITRATE IS STORED IN BANGKOK
Tags: Thailand, public, follow-up, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
IN BEIRUT, ECHOES OF TEXAS BLAST: 'WE DON'T SEEM TO LEARN'
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, death, ammonium_nitrate
THE CHEMISTRY BEHIND THE BEIRUT EXPLOSION
Tags: Lebanon, transportation, follow-up, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
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SEMI HAULING 'VARIOUS HAZARDOUS MATERIALS' CRASHES, DISRUPTING I-5 FOR 12 HOURS
https://kpic.com/news/local/semi-hauling-various-hazardous-materials-crashes-disrupting-i-5-for-12-hours
Tags: us_OR, transportation, release, injury, unknown_chemical
ALBANY, Ore. - A semi truck hauling hazardous materials crashed Wednesday evening on Interstate 5, north of Albany.
The emergency response had the interstate cleared and fully reopened more than 12 hours later on Thursday morning.
Oregon State Police responded to the scene at 7:28 p.m. after a semi "carrying various hazardous materials" braked to avoid a crash with slower traffic.
The semi crashed, closing northbound I-15.
"Hazmat units responded to properly off load the hazardous materials," state police said. "The driver of the semi was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries."
All lanes of I-5 were back open by 8 a.m. Thursday.
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'THEY WERE GREEDY': CARGO SHIP CAPTAIN REVEALS THE ORIGIN OF CHEMICAL STOCKPILE BEHIND BEIRUT BLAST
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/they-were-greedy-cargo-ship-captain-reveals-the-origin-of-chemical-stockpile-behind-beirut-blast
Tags: Lebanon, transportation, follow-up, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
The chemicals that went up in flames in Beirut's deadliest peace-time explosion arrived in the Lebanese capital seven years ago on a leaky Russian-leased cargo ship that, according to its captain, should never have stopped there.
"They were being greedy," said Boris Prokoshev, who was captain of the Rhosus in 2013 when he says the owner told him to make an unscheduled stop in Lebanon to pick up extra cargo.
Mr Prokoshev said the ship was carrying 2,750 tonnes of a highly combustible chemical from Georgia to Mozambique when the order came to divert to Beirut on its way through the Mediterranean.
The crew were asked to load some heavy road equipment and take it to Jordan's Port of Aqaba before resuming their journey onto Africa, where the ammonium nitrate was to be delivered to an explosives manufacturer.
But the ship was never to leave Beirut, having tried and failed to safely load the additional cargo before becoming embroiled in a lengthy legal dispute over port fees.
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CHEMICAL STORED IN SAWYERS BAY, BUT ‰??RISK IS MINIMAL‰??
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/422978/chemical-stored-in-sawyers-bay-but-risk-is-minimal
Tags: New_Zealand, public, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
The company in charge of its storage says the risk is minimal, and it will be moved out of the site by the end of the year.
At least 137 people were killed and thousands more injured when 2750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse in Beirut exploded on Wednesday.
The chemical, used mainly for fertilising farmland, is also used as an explosive when mixed with a substance such as diesel fuel for bulk industrial operations in mining, quarrying and large-scale construction of bridges and roads.
An Otago Regional Council spokesman yesterday said it had been made aware of concerns about hazardous materials being stored in Sawyers Bay, and staff were looking into it.
RedBull Powder Company manages the storage and transportation of ammonium nitrate for OceanaGold's Macraes mining operation.
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US EPA CHANGES PFAS RULE AFTER SIGNING
https://cen.acs.org/policy/chemical-regulation/US-EPA-changes-PFAS-rule/98/web/2020/08
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler signed the rule June 22, but the EPA published a different version of it in the Federal RegisterJuly 27.
The published version omits a requirement that any part of a product coated with certain PFAS is subject to the rule. Instead, the rule says the EPA plans to issue guidance on which coatings are covered by the rule.
The top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Sen. Tom Carper, is calling for the EPA‰??s inspector general to investigate whether the process the EPA used to alter the rule was appropriate and legal.
Carper first raised concerns about the rule in an April letter to the EPA, noting that the rule proposed in March was much weaker than the version first proposed in 2015. Carper claimed to have documents indicating that White House official Nancy Beck spent years trying weaken the rule. The version of the rule signed by Wheeler on June 22 did not include several of the weakening changes.
‰??However, in recent weeks, my office learned that Dr. Beck continued to push for changes to the rule even after it was signed,‰?? Carper says in a statement. The rule published July 27 ‰??includes significant changes that my office was informed were directed to be included by Dr. Beck.‰?? Beck previously worked as senior director of regulatory affairs at the American Chemistry Council, the US chemical industry‰??s main lobbying group. She joined the EPA‰??s chemical safety office in 2017, then moved to the White House National Economic Council in 2019. President Donald J. Trump has nominated Beck to lead the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
‰??It is not unusual for some minor technical or typographical corrections to be made to a rule after it has been signed but before it is published in the Federal Register,‰?? Carper says. However, when significant errors occur, a rulemaking process is required to correct the rule and notify the public of the changes, he says.
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NORTHERN WIND SEAFOOD AMMONIA LEAK PROMPTS HAZMAT RESPONSE
https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/processing-equipment/northern-wind-seafood-ammonia-leak-prompts-hazmat-response
Tags: us_MA, industrial, release, response, ammonia
Northern Wind Seafood‰??s facility in New Bedford, Massachusetts, suffered an ammonia leak prompting an evacuation of the building on 4 August, South Coast Today reported.
The New Bedford Fired Department announced via a Facebook post that the facility had been evacuated for an ammonia leak at around 9 a.m. on 4 August. The leak, according to local media, elevated to a ‰??Tier 2‰?? hazardous response and required a state hazmat team to investigate.
According to the fire department, no injuries were reported.
An official with Northern Wind told SeafoodSource that the leak was related to a faulty valve, and that it was "very very small."
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CHEMICAL SPILL REQUIRES ROAD CLEANUP ALONG DOUG BARNARD PARKWAY
https://www.wjbf.com/csra-news/chemical-spill-requires-road-cleanup-along-doug-barnard-parkway/
Tags: us_GA, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) ‰?? According to Augusta Fire and EMA, a truck leaked an unknown chemical along the southbound shoulder of Doug Barnard Parkway near Perkins Road earlier this morning, requiring a closure of the right hand lane.
A hazmat crew with the Augusta-Richmond County Emergency Management Agency was on scene shortly before 11 a.m. accessing the spill.
EMA is still working with Georgia DOT East Traffic to clean the roadway and get traffic moving fully again.
---------------------------------------------
APS EXPLOSION A POWERFUL, PAINFUL LESSON
https://www.glendalestar.com/news/article_20818086-d757-11ea-8a22-ff4d061e02f1.html
Tags: us_AZ, industrial, follow-up, injury, batteries
The near-deaths of four Peoria firefighters may lead to dramatic changes in the way fires involving solar power systems are handled.
Last week, three days after APS released a technical report on the probable cause of a lithium-ion battery storage explosion that seriously injured four Peoria firefighters, the UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute (FSRI) released a report detailing the firefighters‰?? response.
In chilling detail, it describes the moments before and after the explosion‰??which ‰??ballistically propelled‰?? one firefighter 70 feet into a chain-link fence and hurled another firefighter 30 feet.
‰??It‰??s a miracle all of them are alive,‰?? said Bryan Jeffries, president of the 7,000-member Professional Firefighters of Arizona and a captain with the Mesa Fire Department.
On April 19, 2019, four members of the Peoria Fire-Medical Hazardous Materials Response (‰??hazmat‰??) team were called to the McMicken Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Surprise.
---------------------------------------------
FIRE LEADS TO MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR COCAINE OPERATION IN BASEMENT OF PATERSON HOME, OFFICIALS SAY ‰?? CBS NEW YORK
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2020/08/06/paterson-house-fire-hazmat-team/
Tags: us_NJ, public, fire, response, drugs
PATERSON, N.J. (CBSNewYork) ‰?? An early morning fire in the basement of a New Jersey home led police to a multi-million dollar cocaine operation, officials say.
The fire broke out around 1:30 a.m. inside the basement of a multi-family home on Illinois Avenue.
CBS2‰??s John Dias reports at least a dozen people live inside the house, which is down the block from a school.
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ONE KILLED, TWO INJURED IN WEDNESDAY MORNING TANK EXPLOSION AT SCHENECTADY BUSINESS
https://dailygazette.com/article/2020/08/05/three-injured-in-wednesday-morning-tank-explosion-at-schenectady-business
Tags: us_NY, laboratory, explosion, death, unknown_chemical
SCHENECTADY - One person was killed and two injured following an explosion at a test laboratory in Schenectady on Wednesday morning.
Hudson Valley Community College identified the victim as Joseph Kapp, a longtime member of its Board of Trustees.
Kapp, of North Greenbush, was killed after a tank used to treat avocados exploded at Innovative Test Solutions on Kings Road shortly after 7 a.m. Wednesday.
....
Two other workers were also hurt with injuries described by city fire officials as non life-threatening.
R. Scott Briody, vice president and owner of Innovative Test Solutions, attributed the death to the "catastrophic failure" of a high pressure food processor during trial operational testing.
Arriving firefighters found no chemicals or hazardous materials, but Assistant Fire Department Chief Don Mareno said the device exploded.
---------------------------------------------
LEBANON‰??S $15BN BLAST REPAIR BILL ADDS TO ECONOMIC MISERY
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1715336/business-economy
Tags: Lebanon, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
BEIRUT: Lebanon could face a repair bill of up to $15 billion in the aftermath of a cataclysmic chemical blast at Beirut port, according to a top government adviser.
The explosion, which was felt as far away as Cyprus, killed at least 100 people, wounded thousands and left an additional 300,000 Beirut residents homeless.
It is thought to have been caused by nearly three tons of ammonium nitrate, a common agricultural fertilizer, that was confiscated in 2013 and improperly stored in warehouses. But after months of economic misery, the collapse of the currency and mounting civil unrest, it is being seen as the consequence of years of neglect, financial mismanagement and corruption as across the country.
---------------------------------------------
ORICA PLANT IN NEWCASTLE WITH SAME CHEMICAL LINKED TO BEIRUT EXPLOSION
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8597649/Orica-plant-Newcastle-chemical-linked-Beirut-explosion-leaving-135-dead.html
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
Up to 12,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate is being stored near homes in a busy Australian industrial town, sparking fears of a Beirut-style mega blast.
At least 135 people have died and a further 5,000 were injured when 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate blew up in Lebanon early on Wednesday AEST, with the death toll expected to rise.
Just three kilometres from Newcastle, north of Sydney, up to 12,000 tonnes of the same chemical is stored at the Orica Plant in Kooragang - 800m from suburban homes in North Stockton.
At least 300 residents in the Stockton Community Action Group have long been calling on the government to relocate the plant or reduce the stockpiles of the deadly chemical.
---------------------------------------------
AMMONIUM STOCKPILE UNDER SPOTLIGHT IN NSW AFTER DEADLY BEIRUT CHEMICAL BLAST
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/ammonium-stockpile-under-spotlight-in-nsw-after-deadly-beirut-chemical-blast
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
A chemical stockpile in New South Wales is under fresh scrutiny after this week's massive blast in Lebanon's capital that killed at least 135 people.
Experts believe a giant stockpile of ammonium nitrate is responsible for the explosion that tore through the port in Beirut on Tuesday.
Concerns are now resurfacing about ammonium nitrate being held at a facility in Newcastle, NSW believed to be up to four times larger than the Beirut stockpile.
Although community campaigners are calling for the Newcastle stockpile to be moved away from residents, one chemical engineer says there is little to worry about if the chemicals are being looked after properly.
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THAIS ASSURED THAT NO AMMONIUM NITRATE IS STORED IN BANGKOK
https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanplus-news/2020/08/06/thais-assured-that-no-ammonium-nitrate-is-stored-in-bangkok
Tags: Thailand, public, follow-up, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
BANGKOK (The Nation/ANN): The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration confirmed that no ammonium nitrate has been stored in the city, but admitted that some businesses possess risky chemicals that need to be kept an eye on.
After the massive destruction and deaths caused by the shock chemical explosion in Beirut, many people in Bangkok were concerned whether any similar chemicals were being stored in the Thai capital.
BMA spokesman Pongsakorn Kwanmuang came out yesterday (Aug 5) to allay any fears and calm people over the particular chemical. He also expressed his condolences to Lebanese over the loss of their loved ones.
Pongsakorn categorically stated that no ammonium nitrate was stored in Bangkok. However, he said there are around 5,000 businesses that use harmful substances for their operations.
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IN BEIRUT, ECHOES OF TEXAS BLAST: 'WE DON'T SEEM TO LEARN'
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/08/05/in-beirut-echoes-of-texas-blast-we-dont-seem-to-learn/
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, death, ammonium_nitrate
AUSTIN, Texas ‰?? The staggering videos from the Lebanese capital are grimly familiar to Tommy Muska thousands of miles away in Texas: a towering blast, a thundering explosion and shock waves demolishing buildings with horrifying speed.
It is what the mayor of West, Texas, lived seven years ago when one of the deadliest fertilizer plant explosions in U.S. history partly leveled his rural town. On Wednesday, Muska also couldn‰??t shake a familiar feeling ‰?? that yet again, no lessons will be learned.
‰??I don‰??t know what people were thinking about storing that stuff,‰?? Muska told The Associated Press. He was a volunteer firefighter at the time of the West explosion.
The 2013 disaster at the West Fertilizer Co. was a fraction of the size of Tuesday‰??s explosion at Beirut‰??s port that authorities say killed least 135 people and wounded about 5,000. Both blasts involved massive stockpiles of ammonium nitrate, a common but highly explosive chemical, and swift allegations that negligence and weak government oversight were to blame.
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THE CHEMISTRY BEHIND THE BEIRUT EXPLOSION
https://cen.acs.org/safety/industrial-safety/chemistry-behind-Beirut-explosion/98/web/2020/08
Tags: Lebanon, transportation, follow-up, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
n Aug. 4, a devastating explosion struck the area around a port in Beirut. Lebanese officials are blaming the blast, which has killed over 100 people and left 300,000 homeless, on the common fertilizer compound ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3). The chemistry behind ammonium nitrate‰??s explosive risk is well known, leading some officials to blame the accident on negligence.
According to Lebanese officials, 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate had been stored in a hangar at the city‰??s port. The stores had been there since September 2013 after the ship carrying the material was forced to make an unplanned stop in Beirut where it was then abandoned by its owners and crew.
Before the explosion, a fire had started in the area, creating a plume of white smoke and small explosions. When the ammonium nitrate stores exploded, a white condensation cloud spread out in a sphere from the site, followed by a huge plume of red-orange smoke rising from the hanger. Many chemists on Twitter identified that color as being a signature of NO2 gas, possibly produced from the incomplete decomposition of ammonium nitrate. Others also used the video footage to estimate the detonation velocity of the explosion as being around 3,000 m/s, which is also consistent with an explosion involving ammonium nitrate.
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