Check out Safety Emporium for your N95, N99, and face shield needs.
From: DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (13 articles)
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 05:48:55 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Message-ID: 4D4FB1A0-33BA-4E7C-B757-C587FC4B26E5**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, September 30, 2020 at 5:48:39 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)
HAZMAT TEAM CALLED TO THIRD MERCURY SPILL AT STANLEY PARK THIS MONTH
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, mercury
CHARGES FILED IN OSCODA METH LAB EXPLOSION CASE
Tags: us_IA, public, explosion, death, illegal, meth_lab
HAZMAT CREW RESPONDS TO OUR LADY OF FATIMA HOSPITAL
Tags: us_RI, laboratory, release, response, xylene
SAFETY LESSONS FROM THE BEIRUT BLAST
Tags: Lebanon, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
CHEMICAL PLANTS AT RISK FROM STRONGER, FREQUENT HURRICANES
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, petroleum
HAZMAT SPILL ON RT. 202 WAS SUNOCO'S VOLATILE PENTANE: DEP
Tags: us_PA, transportation, release, response, pentane
HAZMAT TEAM CALLED TO A TRACTOR TRAILER ACCIDENT ON I-81 SOUTH IN BOTETOURT COUNTY
Tags: us_VA, transportation, release, response, batteries
DULUTH DEER WILL BE TESTED FOR CANCER-CAUSING CHEMICAL
Tags: us_MN, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
CRACKER UNIT ACCIDENT LEAVES 1DEAD
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, death, fireworks
URGENT HAZMAT OPERATION UNDERWAY AFTER DANGEROUS CHEMICAL SPILLS OUT OF A TRAIN IN SYDNEY
Tags: Australia, transportation, release, response, ammonium_nitrate
EPA SLAPS OAHU REFRIGERATED FOOD WAREHOUSE WITH FINE
Tags: us_HI, industrial, release, response, ammonia, illegal
EP.46 IS RISK COMPENSATION A REAL THING?
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental
HAZMAT TEAM CALLED TO STANLEY PARK FOR MERCURY SPILL IN PUBLIC WASHROOM
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, mercury
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT TEAM CALLED TO THIRD MERCURY SPILL AT STANLEY PARK THIS MONTH
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/stanley-park-mercury-hazmat-call-1.5743993
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, mercury
Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services' hazardous materials team has been called to three incidents where mercury was spilled in Stanley Park in a matter of weeks, with the most recent incident taking place at the Stanley Park Brewing Restaurant on Tuesday.
The hazmat team was called to the restaurant around 3 p.m.
"It seems consistently that the source at all of instances is either a broken thermometer or broken thermostat," said Vancouver Fire spokesperson Jonathan Gormick.
"Mercury is very, very toxic and the vapours are very, very toxic, so we have to take this extremely seriously," said Gormick, who expected crews to take at least a couple hours to completely clean up the tiny droplets of metal.
---------------------------------------------
CHARGES FILED IN OSCODA METH LAB EXPLOSION CASE
http://www.iosconews.com/oscoda_press/news/article_ea33d5b4-025e-11eb-aeb7-4f697af54a55.html
Tags: us_IA, public, explosion, death, illegal, meth_lab
OSCODA ‰?? An Oscoda woman faces multiple felony charges related to a June 3 meth lab fire in Oscoda, which ultimately resulted in the death of one of the alleged participants.
Angline Marie Martin, 33, is out of jail on a $5,000 bond, but faces three felonies ‰?? operating/maintaining a laboratory involving methamphetamine and conspiracy to commit controlled substance - delivery/manufacture of methamphetamine. She also faces a felony charge of purchasing ephedrine/pseudoephedrine to make meth. If convicted she could face up to 20 years in prison.
Danny Lalonde, a 34-year-old Oscoda man involved in the alleged meth lab, received severe burns from an alleged explosion of the lab in a trailer home located on Van Etten Dam Road. He was hospitalized, but eventually succumbed to his injuries, according to Iosco County Prosecutor James Bacarella, who said charges against Lalonde were dropped as a result of his death.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT CREW RESPONDS TO OUR LADY OF FATIMA HOSPITAL
https://turnto10.com/news/local/hazmat-crew-responds-to-our-lady-of-fatima-hospital
Tags: us_RI, laboratory, release, response, xylene
A Hazmat crew responded to Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in North Providence on Tuesday morning.
According to the North Providence Fire Department, the call came in around 9:05 a.m. after a minor chemical spill in the pathology lab.
The department says Xylene, a chemical used to degrease and clean was spilled.
---------------------------------------------
SAFETY LESSONS FROM THE BEIRUT BLAST
https://www.ehstoday.com/safety-technology/article/21143254/safety-lessons-from-the-beirut-blast
Tags: Lebanon, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ammonium_nitrate
Last month, 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in Beirut, killing around 180 people, bringing down the Lebanese government, and sending officials around the world scrambling to figure out whether similar catastrophes were waiting to happen in their own ports and industrial facilities.
The short answer of course was, ‰??Yes.‰?? Around the world, countless industrial facilities and storage depots store dangerous chemicals in risky ways, including vast quantities of the same agricultural fertilizer that detonated in Beirut. In Dakar, officials found 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate sitting around in warehouses. In Chennai, port officials admitted that they were unsafely storing 800 tons of the chemical. Romanian officials uncovered almost 9,000 tons, including 5,000 tons at a single warehouse.
The United States isn‰??t immune to such slip-ups. In 1947, 600 people died when a boat loaded with 2,300 tons of fertilizer exploded while docked in Texas City, Texas. More recently, we‰??ve learned the hard way that it doesn‰??t take thousands of tons of chemicals to cause a disaster. In 2013, a Texas fertilizer plant caught fire and exploded, killing 15 people and demolishing hundreds of nearby homes; it was later found to have been storing around 50 tons of ammonium nitrate.
The real lesson from Lebanon‰??and Dakar, and Chennai, and Texas‰??is that preventing disasters doesn‰??t just depend on stopping importers and distributors from improperly storing huge quantities of chemicals. Risks are now distributed all through our industrial supply chain, and we need a diligent, joined-up approach to safety to prevent both large-scale disasters and smaller accidents that can be just as tragic for those affected by them.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL PLANTS AT RISK FROM STRONGER, FREQUENT HURRICANES
https://www.npr.org/transcripts/916862969
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, petroleum
HERSHER: ...Every time a major hurricane slams into the petrochemical facilities on the Gulf Coast, local officials and residents and company executives are forced to confront how climate change is making their businesses less secure. And if criminal charges like these ones are on the table or even possibly on the table as a consequence of not planning ahead, then that's a big deal.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT SPILL ON RT. 202 WAS SUNOCO'S VOLATILE PENTANE: DEP
https://patch.com/pennsylvania/westchester/hazmat-spill-rt-202-was-pentane-co-emergency-services
Tags: us_PA, transportation, release, response, pentane
CHESTER COUNTY, PA ‰?? The hazardous material spill that shut down Rt. 202 on Wednesday was pentane, a volatile substance used in the extraction of oil and natural gas from oil shale rock.
The shipment was on its way from Energy Transfer Partners/Sunoco Marcus Hook, Pa. plant to the SXL Montello Terminal in Sinking Springs, the Department of Environmental Protection confirmed today.
DEP's Virginia Cain said DEP evaluated the situation in coordination with the other responding parties and determined that although there was a release."
The release evaporated quickly, Cain said, as opposed to igniting, so "There did not appear to be a significant need for additional resources, evacuation, or elevated concern."
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT TEAM CALLED TO A TRACTOR TRAILER ACCIDENT ON I-81 SOUTH IN BOTETOURT COUNTY
https://www.wfxrtv.com/news/breaking-news/truck-accident-causing-back-up-on-i-81/
Tags: us_VA, transportation, release, response, batteries
UPDATE 11:26 p.m.: A hazmat team was called to mile marker 150 on I-81 South, the Troutville exit, to the scene of a tractor trailer accident involving a shipment of industrial sized batteries.
The trailer toppled over around 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28. Within minutes, first responders were on the scene.
Traffic was held up for miles. There was a detour route set in place by VDOT workers, but traffic flow did not start back up on I-81 South until around 8:30 p.m.
The contents inside this trailer made the crash different from a crash that‰??s typically seen on I-81. What first responders had to do was go into the trailer and move the hazardous material from the toppled trailer to another trailer to be disposed of properly.
---------------------------------------------
DULUTH DEER WILL BE TESTED FOR CANCER-CAUSING CHEMICAL
https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/northland-outdoors/6681749-Duluth-deer-will-be-tested-for-cancer-causing-chemical
Tags: us_MN, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says it is testing deer harvested near the Duluth International Airport and in some Twin Cities suburbs to check for the potentially cancer-causing PFAS family of chemicals.
The DNR has already collected liver and muscle samples from some deer taken near the airport, home to the 148th Fighter Wing air base which has been found to be contaminated with the chemicals, likely the result of the foam used to battle aircraft fires.
State wildlife officials also are asking hunters who harvest deer near the Duluth airport to submit deer livers for sampling. And, until test results come back, the DNR suggests hunters not eat the livers of deer taken near the airport.
---------------------------------------------
CRACKER UNIT ACCIDENT LEAVES 1DEAD
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/cracker-unit-accident-leaves-1dead/articleshow/78373111.cms
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, death, fireworks
Madurai: An accident at a fireworks unit left one dead at Sengundrapuram village near Amattur in Virudhunagar district on Monday. The incident took place at a unit of Sree Murugeswari fireworks. The victim has been identified as Krishnakumar, 55.
Inquiries led to suspicion that the unit and sheds were leased to Atlas Fireworks as labels and unfinished fireworks with the brand were found on the premises. It is learnt that the victim was mixing chemicals in the unit when a friction triggered the blast, leaving him wounded. The shed where he was working was razed to the ground.
---------------------------------------------
URGENT HAZMAT OPERATION UNDERWAY AFTER DANGEROUS CHEMICAL SPILLS OUT OF A TRAIN IN SYDNEY
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8783843/Urgent-hazmat-operation-underway-dangerous-chemical-spills-train-Sydney.html
Tags: Australia, transportation, release, response, ammonium_nitrate
An urgent hazmat operation is underway after a dangerous chemical spilled out of a train in Sydney.
Tonnes of liquid ammonium nitrate leaked from the goods train at the Enfield rail yarn in Greenacre at about 12.30pm.
---------------------------------------------
EPA SLAPS OAHU REFRIGERATED FOOD WAREHOUSE WITH FINE
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/09/28/oahu-refrigerated-food-warehouse-improve-chemical-safety-after-epa-inspection/
Tags: us_HI, industrial, release, response, ammonia, illegal
HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Hawaii‰??s largest refrigerated food warehouse has reached a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Unicold Corporation will pay a $210,000 fine for alleged violations of the of the federal Clean Air Act.
An EPA investigation in 2019 found the company violated numerous safety protocols at their facility on Ualena street off Nimitz Highway. The violations included improperly storing anhydrous ammonia, a toxic chemical.
Other violations included failure to label and protect anhydrous ammonia pipes and equipment from potential forklift strikes; failure to prevent ice build-up and corrosion on ammonia pipes; and a lack of eyewash and safety shower systems both inside and outside each of the facility‰??s engine rooms.
‰??Ensuring facilities reduce the risk of releases of toxic substances like anhydrous ammonia is critical,‰?? said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator John Busterud. ‰??We‰??re pleased that Unicold will work to make Hawaii‰??s largest refrigeration facility safer as a result of this settlement.‰??
---------------------------------------------
EP.46 IS RISK COMPENSATION A REAL THING?
https://safetyofwork.com/episodes/ep46-is-risk-compensation-a-real-thing
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental
Topics:
Defining risk compensation.
Risk compensation in road traffic.
Argument by analogy.
What causes people to believe in risk compensation.
Why robust data equals a real effect.
Practical takeaways.
Quotes:
‰??...I think this is the sort of phenomenon that causes people to believe in risk compensation.‰??
‰??Basically, what they‰??re saying is, if there was a real effect, it would be robust regardless of how you crunched the data.‰??
‰??Just because someone does lots of citing of literature or quotes from scientific literature, doesn‰??t mean that their interpretation of that literature is rigorous and scientific.‰??
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT TEAM CALLED TO STANLEY PARK FOR MERCURY SPILL IN PUBLIC WASHROOM
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/hazmat-team-stanley-park-mercury-spill-public-washroom-1.5741239
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, mercury
A hazmat team was called to Stanley Park's Second Beach on Sunday morning after park rangers found mercury in a public washroom.
Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services said park rangers were opening up the washroom when they found a substance that looked like mercury on the ground.
The hazardous materials team responded around 8:45 a.m and confirmed the substance was mercury, an element that even in small amounts may cause toxic effects and serious health problems for humans if contact occurs.
"The mercury was kind of spread around, it was in fine droplets," said assistant chief of operations Trevor Connelly, who noted the toxic substance was spread around the floor and in the toilets.
"It was a tedious process for the hazmat team to clean it up, but after an hour or so they did get it all cleaned up and the washroom was opened."
---------------------------------------------
---
For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional membership chair at membership**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas
Previous post | Top of Page | Next post