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From: DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (11 articles)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2020 07:37:51 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Message-ID: 5D8DC1DC-968D-49FF-9477-3A180AC1C2F8**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, August 14, 2020 at 7:37:32 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)
2 MD. EMS PROVIDERS, DEPUTY HOSPITALIZED AFTER CHEMICAL EXPOSURE
Tags: us_MD, public, release, injury, other_chemical
FIREFIGHTERS PRAISED AFTER KEMH CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: Bermuda, industrial, release, response, formaldehyde
FIRE CREWS BLOCK HOT TAR LEAKING FROM OVERTURNED TANKER FROM SPILLING INTO GREAT MIAMI RIVER
Tags: us_OH, transportation, release, response, other_chemical
FIRE BREAKS OUT IN NDSU CHEMISTRY LAB
Tags: us_ND, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
US HAS NEW THEORY ON CAUSE OF LEBANON BLAST
Tags: Lebanon, industrial, follow-up, death, other_chemical
NYC STUDENT'S $59M AWARD AFFIRMED IN 'HORRIFIC' BURN CASE
Tags: us_NY, education, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
POLICE CHARGE MAN AFTER CLAN LAB UNCOVERED DURING FIRE
Tags: Australia, public, fire, response, meth_lab
SHIPS CARRYING AMMONIUM NITRATE TO SINGAPORE, PORT STORAGE FACILITIES INSPECTED AS PART OF REGULATIONS: MPA
Tags: Singapore, transportation, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
U.S. IS AT RISK OF BEIRUT-LIKE EXPLOSION, EXPERTS WARN
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
BEIRUT DISASTER HIGHLIGHTS DANGEROUS AMMONIUM NITRATE STOCKPILES IN REGIONAL AUSTRALIAN CITY
Tags: Australia, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
EPA SETTLES GOLD KING MINE DISASTER FIVE YEARS LATER
Tags: us_UT, public, follow-up, environmental, metals
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2 MD. EMS PROVIDERS, DEPUTY HOSPITALIZED AFTER CHEMICAL EXPOSURE
https://www.ems1.com/hazmat/articles/2-md-ems-providers-deputy-hospitalized-after-chemical-exposure-EdWRbrSYUaO79PaJ/
Tags: us_MD, public, release, injury, other_chemical
FOREST HILL, Md. ‰?? A large amount of the moisture reducer DampRid was responsible for the chemical odor that sent two EMS providers and a sheriff‰??s deputy to the hospital Tuesday, after they responded to a home in Forest Hill where a man had died, police said.
The cause of death for Steven Ray Price Jr., 36, remains under investigation, said Kyle Andersen, a spokesperson for the sheriff‰??s office. There are no signs of foul play, he said.
Price was found dead in the living room of his trailer on the 2600 block of Chestnut Hill Road. To Andersen‰??s knowledge, nothing suspicious was located at the residence. Nobody else was home when deputies found Price.
Calcium chloride, the active ingredient in DampRid, can cause skin and eye irritation and can be dangerous if inhaled or ingested, according to OSHA-required safety data sheets for the chemical and the product.
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FIREFIGHTERS PRAISED AFTER KEMH CHEMICAL SPILL
http://mobile.royalgazette.com/news/article/20200813/firefighters-praised-after-kemh-chemical-spill
Tags: Bermuda, industrial, release, response, formaldehyde
Firefighters kitted out in protective suits dealt with a hazardous materials spill at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital yesterday.
Acting Sergeant Ivan Dyer said that crews responded to a call about a spillage of formalin, a toxic water solution of formaldehyde.
He added that a member of hospital staff was able to provide information on the risks from the chemical.
Mr Dyer said: ‰??It‰??s very important that we know that stuff so that we can dress accordingly and so that we have the right personal protective equipment.
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FIRE CREWS BLOCK HOT TAR LEAKING FROM OVERTURNED TANKER FROM SPILLING INTO GREAT MIAMI RIVER
https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/miami-township-hamilton/fire-crews-block-hot-tar-leaking-from-overturned-tanker-from-spilling-into-great-miami-river
Tags: us_OH, transportation, release, response, other_chemical
MIAMI TOWNSHIP, Ohio ‰?? Fire and hazmat crews acted quickly to contain hot tar leaking from an overturned tanker and keep it from polluting the nearby Great Miami River Thursday morning, officials said.
A tanker carrying 5,800 gallons of tar heated to 350 degrees overturned about 11 a.m. on Lawrenceburg Road just west of Shawnee Lookout Road, according to officials. Nearly 2,000 gallons leaked into a ditch but "caused minimal environmental damage due to the response," according to a release from Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil.
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FIRE BREAKS OUT IN NDSU CHEMISTRY LAB
https://www.inforum.com/news/fires/6616425-Fire-breaks-out-in-NDSU-chemistry-lab
Tags: us_ND, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
FARGO ‰??Officials are working to learn what caused a fire to break out in a North Dakota State University chemistry laboratory Thursday afternoon, Aug. 13.
About 12:43 p.m., dispatchers received a report of a fire at Ladd Hall, 1231 Albrecht Blvd. N. It took firefighters about 20 minutes to extinguish the fire, which was contained in a laboratory on the first floor of the building, according to the Fargo Fire Department.
Crews then ventilated the building to clear any smoke or potentially dangerous fumes, officials said.
No injuries were reported in the fire and the lab was not occupied when it was discovered, the fire department said.
Officials said the fire caused significant damage to the laboratory, though a cost estimate was not available Thursday.
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US HAS NEW THEORY ON CAUSE OF LEBANON BLAST
https://www.newser.com/story/294906/welding-probably-sparked-the-beirut-blasts-investigations.html
Tags: Lebanon, industrial, follow-up, death, other_chemical
(NEWSER) ‰?? A US review has found that maintenance work probably triggered the deadly explosion in Beirut last week. The State Department is in agreement on the cause with Lebanese investigators, the Wall Street Journal reports, though President Trump had blamed "a bomb of some kind" immediately after the blast. US and Lebanese officials think welding at a warehouse at the city's port set materials on fire, which then touched off a chemical stockpile. Videos show an explosion at the port before the larger blast shook Beirut. More than 160 people were killed in the Aug. 4 explosions; at least 60 remain missing. The State Department has found no signs that an attack or any crime was behind the explosions. Trump backed away from the bomb claim the next day, saying, "They don‰??t really know what it was."
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NYC STUDENT'S $59M AWARD AFFIRMED IN 'HORRIFIC' BURN CASE
https://www.law360.com/articles/1301105/nyc-student-s-59m-award-affirmed-in-horrific-burn-case
Tags: us_NY, education, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
NYC Student's $59M Award Affirmed In 'Horrific' Burn Case
Law360 (August 13, 2020, 9:44 PM EDT) -- A New York state judge has upheld a jury's $59 million award to a former Manhattan high school student who was "literally ‰?| burned alive" during a chemistry class demonstration gone awry, rejecting the New York City Department of Education's argument that the damages award was excessive. In a 38-page ruling on Monday, New York Supreme Court Judge Alexander M. Tisch rejected the city's argument that verdict awarded to the Yanes family last August was unreasonably large. Judge Tisch wrote that the equal $29. 585 million awards the jury gave Alonzo Yanes for his past and future suffering were warranted.
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POLICE CHARGE MAN AFTER CLAN LAB UNCOVERED DURING FIRE
https://www.miragenews.com/police-charge-man-after-clan-lab-uncovered-during-fire-beaumont-hills/
Tags: Australia, public, fire, response, meth_lab
have charged a man after a clandestine laboratory was discovered following a fire in Sydney‰??s west yesterday.
About 5pm (Wednesday 12 August 2020), emergency services were called to a home on Ben Place, Beaumont Hills, after reports of a fire.
When crews from Fire & Rescue NSW extinguished the blaze, they found a sophisticated clandestine drug lab in the garage of the property.
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SHIPS CARRYING AMMONIUM NITRATE TO SINGAPORE, PORT STORAGE FACILITIES INSPECTED AS PART OF REGULATIONS: MPA
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/ammonium-nitrate-beirut-explosion-singapore-port-regulations-13014362
Tags: Singapore, transportation, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
SINGAPORE: Ships passing through Singapore ports occasionally carry ammonium nitrate, said the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) on Wednesday (Aug 12) as it outlined how the explosive chemical is regulated for safety.
Vessels carrying ammonium nitrate have to inform port authorities of their cargo before arrival. They will only be able to unload or store the material when approval is given, MPA said in response to queries from CNA.
"MPA carries out inspections on-board vessels to ensure that regulations are being complied with," it added.
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U.S. IS AT RISK OF BEIRUT-LIKE EXPLOSION, EXPERTS WARN
https://www.npr.org/transcripts/901859860?t=1597320952432
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
Investigators believe the catastrophic explosion in Beirut last week was likely an accident caused by fire and negligent storage of nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate. That is a chemical compound used in some fertilizers. The blast killed more than 200 people; it wounded thousands more and badly damaged half the city. As NPR's Eric Westervelt reports, the Beirut disaster has renewed calls here in the U.S. to strengthen oversight of the chemical.
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BEIRUT DISASTER HIGHLIGHTS DANGEROUS AMMONIUM NITRATE STOCKPILES IN REGIONAL AUSTRALIAN CITY
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/13/oric-a13.html
Tags: Australia, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
Last week‰??s catastrophic explosion of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate at Beirut port has drawn fresh attention to the storage of up to four times this amount at Orica‰??s Kooragang plant in New South Wales (NSW). The facility is 800 metres from residential areas in the Newcastle suburb of Stockton and just three kilometres from the regional port city‰??s central business district.
The disaster in Lebanon, which killed over 200 people and injured 5,000 others, shows that the potential exists for a similar catastrophe in Newcastle. Orica stores between 6,000 and 12,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate at its Kooragang facility.
Industrial explosives expert Tony Richards, a former blast operations manager for Orica and BHP, told the Newcastle Herald last week: ‰??It doesn‰??t matter how small the risk is, the consequences are catastrophic when you are dealing with something that can turn solid iron mountains into mounds of rubble.‰?? Richards estimates 40,000 people live within the blast zone, if an explosion was to occur in Newcastle.
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EPA SETTLES GOLD KING MINE DISASTER FIVE YEARS LATER
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/epa-settles-gold-king-mine-disaster-five-years-later/4012265.article
Tags: us_UT, public, follow-up, environmental, metals
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reached a $220 million (å£169 million) settlement with Utah over the agency‰??s botched investigation of the abandoned Gold King mine in Colorado. The settlement comes exactly five years to the day since a dam was accidentally breached at the mine, releasing 11 million litres of contaminated water into major US waterways in Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. The leaked wastewater contained lead, cadmium, manganese, iron, zinc, copper and arsenic, as well as mercury, and it turned downstream waters orange.
The spill started in Cement Creek in Colorado‰??s San Juan mountains and flowed downstream into the Animus River and the San Juan River, turning their waters orange.
Under the agreement, the EPA will fund efforts to address contamination at the Bonita Peak Mining District Superfund Site, which includes the Gold King mine and other abandoned mines in Utah. This could involve monitoring and cleaning mining areas located in other states. In addition, the EPA will initiate assessments at multiple sites across Utah to determine if further remediation is necessary, and the agency will bear the cost, which may exceed $200,000 per site.
‰??After years of intense litigation and negotiations, we are very pleased that millions of dollars can now be spent towards mitigation, remediation and assuring water quality in Utah rather than years of more litigation, trial and appeals,‰?? said Utah‰??s attorney general, Sean Reyes. ‰??We are highly encouraged the EPA has stepped up and committed hundreds of millions of dollars toward cleaning up several dangerous mining districts containing billions of gallons of potentially harmful substances that threaten Utah if they are released.‰??
Reyes, who referred to the agreement as a ‰??landmark settlement‰??, said Utah‰??s Department of Environmental Quality has been monitoring the San Juan River and Lake Powell since the 2015 incident, and there is no evidence that the metals from the release are impacting public health or the environment.
Native American tribes and the state of New Mexico have also taken legal actions against the agency to recover damages sustained as a result of the incident. The San Juan River is a key water source for the Navajo and Southern Ute Indian Nations, and the wastewater spill began in the Animas River that flows into New Mexico where it joins the San Juan River. New Mexico‰??s case is expected to go to trial in 2021. Colorado state has decided not to sue the EPA over the spill.
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