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From: DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (12 articles)
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2020 07:52:56 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Message-ID: A6C32DB5-8E41-4862-9907-4A4A647487C8**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, September 4, 2020 at 7:52:40 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 (12 articles)
SAFETY CONCERNS CITED IN MASHPEE CONTROLLED DETONATION
Tags: us_MA, public, explosion, environmental, bomb, fireworks
AUTHORITIES RESPOND TO HAZMAT SITUATION IN SW OKC; 3 IN CRITICAL CONDITION
Tags: us_OK, public, release, response, drugs
CHEMICAL LEAK ONBOARD ARRIVING SHIP AT PORT OF TAURANGA, TWO FIRES CREWS ON SCENE
Tags: New_Zealand, transportation, release, response, solvent
FIREFIGHTERS CALLED TO CHEMICAL SPILL AT IPSWICH HOSPITAL
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, release, response, other_chemical
NEARLY 15,000 CHEMICAL DEPOTS STILL IN OLD DHAKA: TIB
Tags: Bangladesh, industrial, follow-up, environmental, explosives
CODE CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE DESIGN OF LABORATORIES WHICH WILL ALSO HOUSE PILOT PLANTS
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental
HAZMAT SITUATION AT ORLANDO UTILITY COMPANY SICKENS WORKERS
Tags: us_WA, industrial, release, injury, sulfur_dioxide
DEC CONTINUES MONITORING CHEMICAL LEAK FROM PLASTICS FACILITY IN SELKIRK
Tags: us_NY, transportation, release, response, styrene
PRE-HURRICANE CHEMICAL PLANT RELEASES CALLS FOR STRICTER CONTROL
Tags: us_TX, industrial, release, environmental, benzene, carbon_dioxide, gasoline, petroleum
BFD RESPONDS TO CHEMICAL INDUCED STRUCTURE FIRE TUESDAY MORNING
Tags: us_CA, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD CHAIR OFFERS RATIONALE FOR QUORUM OF ONE
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
STUDY ON AUTOCATALYTIC DECOMPOSITION OF DIMETHYL SULFOXIDE (DMSO)
Tags: Japan, laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
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SAFETY CONCERNS CITED IN MASHPEE CONTROLLED DETONATION
https://www.capecodtimes.com/news/20200903/safety-concerns-cited-in-mashpee-controlled-detonation
Tags: us_MA, public, explosion, environmental, bomb, fireworks
‰??In retrospect, knowing what I know now, I should have notified the superintendent,‰?? Collins told the School Committee. ‰??I didn‰??t realize that this was going to result in craters. I did not realize that it was going to result in the scattered debris that it did.‰??
Collins came to the meeting to outline what happened in response to School Committee Chairman George Schmidt‰??s appearance before the Board of Selectmen on Monday, expressing his displeasure about the miscommunication.
‰??For an event to happen, and wait 24 hours before the school superintendent was notified, is unacceptable,‰?? Schmidt said. ‰??I don‰??t understand what went wrong. I don‰??t expect it to happen again.‰??
Collins spoke about the safety and security considerations behind the controlled detonation.
‰??I will attempt to put this into a clear perspective for you, but shall not compromise an ongoing investigation that may lead to criminal charges,‰?? he said.
On Aug. 28, the Mashpee Police and Fire departments responded to a residence after a report of a person with facial burns, Collins said. They found materials that required calling investigators from the state fire marshal‰??s office.
Members of the Explosive Ordnance Division also responded, and personnel seized, stabilized and secured items that Collins said were considered to be improvised explosive devices or homemade fireworks.
‰??I give full credit to these true professionals who walk into the face of potential danger and take their responsibilities seriously, and then make decisions and take actions to ensure public safety is preserved,‰?? Collins said.
Collins said the explosive devices required safe removal as well as detonation.
‰??Had this not occurred swiftly, the consequences at the residences were dangerous and potentially devastating,‰?? he said.
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AUTHORITIES RESPOND TO HAZMAT SITUATION IN SW OKC; 3 IN CRITICAL CONDITION
https://www.newson6.com/story/5f51a6ea50952e0bc06f5cbb/authorities-respond-to-hazmat-situation-in-sw-okc-3-in-critical-condition
Tags: us_OK, public, release, response, drugs
Police responded to a hazmat situation Thursday night in southwest Oklahoma City.
Three people were found in critical condition at a home located in the 1500 block of SW 82nd St.
EMSA units responded to the scene. Officials with the Oklahoma City Fire Department said it appears the three victims may have overdosed on drugs.
Hazmat continues to investigate, but said there are no gas leaks.
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CHEMICAL LEAK ONBOARD ARRIVING SHIP AT PORT OF TAURANGA, TWO FIRES CREWS ON SCENE
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503343&objectid=12362383
Tags: New_Zealand, transportation, release, response, solvent
Two fire appliances are at the Port of Tauranga after an arriving container ship had a chemical leak from one of its containers on board.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said two fire crews from Tauranga and Greerton stations were called to the Port of Tauranga at 3.23 pm to investigate a possible chemical leak.
Port of Tauranga communication manager Rochelle Lockley said the chemical leak happened onboard the container ship Spirit of Auckland before it arrived from Panama this afternoon.
Lockley said the leak was from a valve on one of the containers and the ship's crew fixed the leak and contained the solvent spill onboard the ship.
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FIREFIGHTERS CALLED TO CHEMICAL SPILL AT IPSWICH HOSPITAL
https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/ipswich-hospital-chemical-spill-1-6821802
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, release, response, other_chemical
Firefighters were called at 4.04am this morning to the Heath Road site after reports of hazardous materials being spilt.
A cleaning material, which is used to disinfect wards by fogging them with a fine mist, had spilled but there were no casualties.
Seven fire engines and a total of 11 special appliances attended the scene with over 30 firefighters in attendance.
Nick Hulme, chief executive of the East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust, said on BBC Radio Suffolk this morning: ‰??We use a powerful cleaning material to do what we call fogging which is effectively a fine mist.
‰??We seal the doors and put the machine in there for a few hours as it cleans the room.
‰??What has happened is there‰??s been a spillage of some of the cleaning material and as a precaution we have moved seven of the patients to another part of the hospital.
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NEARLY 15,000 CHEMICAL DEPOTS STILL IN OLD DHAKA: TIB
https://www.newagebd.net/article/115320/nearly-15000-chemical-depots-still-in-old-dhaka-tib
Tags: Bangladesh, industrial, follow-up, environmental, explosives
Nearly 15,000 chemical depots continue business at residential areas of the Old Town of Dhaka, said Transparency International Bangladesh in a study unveiled on Thursday.
The report says that the chemical warehouses are still there as the government agencies, including city corporations, fire service and department of explosives, have not implemented the recommendations of a committees formed to investigate the deadly fire in the densely populated area.
The study titled Nimtoli, Churihatta and Afterwards: Governance Challenges in Ensuring Fire Safety in Old Dhaka and Way-out.
TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman at the report launching event said that for the lack of political will the hazardous chemical businesses from Old Dhaka was not relocated.
He said that agencies failure and corruption both facilitate the business.
TIB gave a 10-point recommendation to stop deadly incidents like Nimtoli in 2010 and Churihatta in 2019.
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CODE CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE DESIGN OF LABORATORIES WHICH WILL ALSO HOUSE PILOT PLANTS
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.chas.0c00053
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental
With the increased cost of research and the improvements in instrumentation and analytical devices, the size of pilot plants has decreased significantly over the past several decades. The smaller the pilot plant, the less costly it is to construct and operate, and the faster it is to build, start up, and commission reducing the lead time to productive results. It is now common to have pilot plants small enough to fit in a standard laboratory, even in a fume hood. This is desirable as it often reduces staffing requirements, shrinks the building footprint, and reduces facility operating costs. Shared equipment and resources are more feasible. Staffing often is more flexible. Overall, it seems to be a very good idea particularly for a newer organization without the deep pockets to afford a larger and more expensive facility. Placing pilot plants inside a research laboratory, however, creates some issues unfamiliar to many laboratory designers and raises issues that pilot plant !
designers may not recognize exist. First and foremost is code compliance without which you cannot get a permit to construct the lab. This paper will try and discuss some of the implications of designing a laboratory which will have pilot plants incorporated in its use to meet these code requirements. The paper will try to address the issues that need to be evaluated and addressed in the overall design of the laboratory to ensure that installing pilot plants is done safely and in compliance with the code. While this is very feasible, it does require the laboratory designer to address several aspects of the codes that can significantly affect either the design of the laboratory or how to best design the pilot plants to fit safely into an existing laboratory.
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HAZMAT SITUATION AT ORLANDO UTILITY COMPANY SICKENS WORKERS
https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/business/article245442350.html
Tags: us_WA, industrial, release, injury, sulfur_dioxide
Three people doing maintenance work at an Orlando Utility Company power plant were taken to a hospital Wednesday morning after they came in contact with sulfur dioxide, officials said.
Crews were called to the Stanton Energy Center around 10 a.m. Wednesday, Tim Trudell, a spokesman for the utility told the Orlando Sentinel.
The workers became sick and the plant's emergency response team was called in and then Orange County Fire Rescue responded, the newspaper reported.
The three workers were taken to the hospital with injuries that are not considered life threatening.
Officials said the cause of the hazmat situation was not immediately known.
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DEC CONTINUES MONITORING CHEMICAL LEAK FROM PLASTICS FACILITY IN SELKIRK
https://www.nny360.com/communitynews/healthmatters/dec-continues-monitoring-chemical-leak-from-plastics-facility-in-selkirk/article_630b0597-8f0e-580b-9635-9d7453803664.html
Tags: us_NY, transportation, release, response, styrene
BETHLEHEM ‰?? The state Department of Environmental Conservation continues to monitor a chemical gas leak from a stationary rail car at the SABIC Innovative Chemicals facility in Albany County.
First reported early Tuesday morning, the leak led to the evacuation of non-essential businesses within a half-mile of the facility, a shelter in place order for those within 1 mile of the area and several road closures this week. The evacuation, shelter in place order and closures were lifted Wednesday morning.
Bethlehem Police and Selkirk Fire departments responded to the incident after an unknown amount of styrene monomer leaked from a tanker on the SABIC property for about an hour, according to the response team, which is comprised of dozens of local and state agencies. Styrene at the facility in Selkirk, a hamlet of Bethlehem, is used in the plastics manufacturing process.
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PRE-HURRICANE CHEMICAL PLANT RELEASES CALLS FOR STRICTER CONTROL
https://www.reformaustin.org/environment/pre-hurricane-chemical-plant-releases-calls-for-stricter-control/
Tags: us_TX, industrial, release, environmental, benzene, carbon_dioxide, gasoline, petroleum
With Hurricane Laura threatening the Gulf Coast region, the oil refineries and petrochemical plants that stretch across the Houston area and Southeast Texas took their customary precautions of shutting down operations. In doing so, they released about 4 million pounds of pollutants into the air.
In reports to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Beaumont Gas to Gasoline Plant announced the release 3.5 million pounds of carbon dioxide, and the Motiva Chemicals plant in nearby Port Arthur reported that it would release more than 130,000 pounds of polluting chemicals, including benzene, a known cancer-causing substance.
Instead, Motiva‰??s emissions totaled nearly 90 tons, including a half-ton of benzene. The plant reported releasing more hazardous pollutants during the hurricane than it did in all of 2018.
Environmental groups are growing increasingly alarmed at the health risks to nearby residents as a result of shutdown and startup pollution releases. The pollution releases due to Hurricane Laura were anticipated to be about half the amount released during Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
Equipment breakdowns, process malfunctions or operator error during the startup and shutdown of equipment can cause unauthorized pollution releases, according to Environment Texas, an environmental watchdog group.
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BFD RESPONDS TO CHEMICAL INDUCED STRUCTURE FIRE TUESDAY MORNING
https://www.bakersfield.com/news/breaking/bfd-responds-to-chemical-induced-structure-fire-tuesday-morning/article_7a1996e0-ed75-11ea-9546-97ad29044099.html
Tags: us_CA, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
The Bakersfield Fire Department responded to a structure fire on Tuesday morning at a plastic and rubber pipe manufacturing facility in southwest Bakersfield.
Firefighters arrived on scene at Georg Fischer Harvel LLC, 7001 Schirra Court, at about 7 a.m. and reported light smoke in the building.
Three fire engines, two ladder trucks, one haz-mat team, two safety officers and two battalion chiefs responded to the scene, according to a BFD news release
Crews made multiple entries into the building and identified an equipment malfunction which resulted in a chemical reaction. The situation was mitigated in about six hours, BFD said.
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CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD CHAIR OFFERS RATIONALE FOR QUORUM OF ONE
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/safety/chemical-safety-board-chair-offers-rationale-for-quorum-of-one
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
The chairwoman and sole member of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board on Wednesday outlined the legal justification for the agency to proceed with her as a quorum of one.
‰??There is no question about the legality of a quorum of one,‰?? Katherine Lemos said during a scheduled dial-in meeting with industry representatives and labor leaders.
Lemos, who began her term April 23, said the most pressing issue for the agency is the need for more board members, but that wouldn‰??t stop the CSB from moving forward. The independent, nonregulatory agency nominally has a five-member leadership panel, including...
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STUDY ON AUTOCATALYTIC DECOMPOSITION OF DIMETHYL SULFOXIDE (DMSO)
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.oprd.0c00113
Tags: Japan, laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is widely used due to its excellent solvent properties; however, several serious incidents have been reported related to the use of DMSO. DMSO can decompose autocatalytically, but we have no consensus with respect to the chemical structure and function of the autocatalyst. Thermal decomposition of DMSO was carried out in an inert atmosphere, and analysis of the nonvolatile fraction indicated the presence of several organic and inorganic acids. DMSO was believed to act as an oxidizer as well as a reactant in the formation of these acids. The same acids were found in an isothermal heating test, and their concentrations increased over heating time. Addition of acids to DMSO before starting isothermal heating significantly shortened the induction period indicating that the acids generated in situ served as autocatalysts for the thermal decomposition of DMSO.
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