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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, December 1, 2021 at 6:52:36 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)
EXPLOSION, FIRE AT CLEVELAND CLIFFS STEEL MILL ROCKS BURNS HARBOR, IND. COMMUNITY, OFFICIALS SAY
Tags: us_IN, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
2 INJURED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT HAVERHILL WAREHOUSE
Tags: us_MA, industrial, release, injury, cleaners
EXTRA-ALARM CHEMICAL FIRE AT INDUSTRIAL BUILDING IN ROUND LAKE TAKES FIREFIGHTERS 2 HOURS TO EXTINGUISH
Tags: us_IL, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
CANAL UNDER WATCH AFTER FIRE
Tags: Thailand, industrial, fire, response, solvent
INVESTIGATORS SAY PAINT FACTORY EXPLOSION CAUSED BY EQUIPMENT ISSUE.
Tags: us_OH, industrial, follow-up, death, flammables
ORCUTT HAZMAT SPILL
Tags: us_CA, transportation, fire, response, acids
IDAHO MAN SENTENCED AFTER ILLEGAL TANK REPAIR THAT LED TO 2018 EXPLOSION
Tags: us_ID, transportation, follow-up, injury, flammables, illegal
NURDLES: THE WORST TOXIC WASTE YOU‰??VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD OF
Tags: Sri_Lanka, transportation, follow-up, environmental, plastics
NEW RULES FOR OIL FIELD TANK BATTERIES AFTER RAGLEY TEEN'S DEATH
Tags: us_LA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, batteries, flammables, petroleum
PALAMPUR: FIRE BREAKS OUT AT LABORATORY IN INSTITUTE OF HIMALAYAN BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY
Tags: India, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
FIREFIGHTERS, ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES PUSH FOR SAFER FOAM
Tags: us_MI, industrial, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO TWO-ALARM FIRE ON CITY‰??S NORTHSIDE
Tags: us_TX, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
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EXPLOSION, FIRE AT CLEVELAND CLIFFS STEEL MILL ROCKS BURNS HARBOR, IND. COMMUNITY, OFFICIALS SAY
https://abc7chicago.com/fire-explosion-steel-mill-plant/11285502/
Tags: us_IN, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
BURNS HARBOR, Ind. (WLS) -- A massive explosion at a steel mill rocked the and the surrounding community in Northwest Indiana Tuesday afternoon.
Residents and business owners said the explosion shook their homes and shops at around noon.
Cleveland-Cliffs spokeswoman Patricia Persico said the blast took place in a slag pit at the mill along the Lake Michigan lakeshore in Porter County. The mill itself was not involved. Steel slag is a molten liquid byproduct of the steelmaking process, and it is taken to pits where it solidifies as it cools.
William Arney is the fire chief in Burns Harbor, a town of 1,200 surrounding the big former ArcelorMittal plant, Cleveland Cliffs bought it last December. It sits adjacent to the Indiana Dunes National Park.
"I was sitting in my office and felt the building shake, went outside, saw the plume of smoke, immediately started to head that way," said Arney.
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2 INJURED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT HAVERHILL WAREHOUSE
https://patch.com/massachusetts/northandover/2-injured-after-chemical-incident-haverhill-warehouse
Tags: us_MA, industrial, release, injury, cleaners
HAVERHILL, MA ‰?? Two people were injured in Haverhill Tuesday after an accident at an electronic parts sourcing company, the Haverhill Fire Department reported.
At the Fusion Worldwide plant in Haverhill, a small glass bottle of cleaning solution material was mixed by a cleaning crew, then pressurized and broke, Haverhill Fire Chief Robert O'Brien told Patch. The spilled material let out potentially toxic chemicals, and one worker got glass in his eye while another got burned on his hands, O'Brien said.
Both workers were transported to Lawrence General Hospital by Trinity EMS, Haverhill Fire reported on Facebook. The building was evacuated as fire, police, and state hazmat teams investigated. As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, the building is still evacuated, O'Brien said. Though the Facebook post describe the incident as a "mass casualty event," O'Brien said that it was not.
Just after noon Tuesday, HFD reported on Facebook that the chemical appears to be contained.
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EXTRA-ALARM CHEMICAL FIRE AT INDUSTRIAL BUILDING IN ROUND LAKE TAKES FIREFIGHTERS 2 HOURS TO EXTINGUISH
https://www.lakemchenryscanner.com/2021/11/30/extra-alarm-chemical-fire-at-industrial-building-in-round-lake-takes-firefighters-2-hours-to-extinguish/
Tags: us_IL, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
A second-alarm fire early Tuesday morning at an industrial building in Round Lake took firefighters about two hours to extinguish and caused over $150,000 in damage.
The Greater Round Lake Fire Protection District responded at 12:29 a.m. Tuesday to Northern Insulation, Inc., 702 Magna Drive in Round Lake, for an automatic fire alarm activation.
Greater Round Lake Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Anthony Carraro said that emergency crews arrived and found smoke coming from the building.
The automatic sprinkler system was also activated, indicating a working structure fire, Carraro said.
Carraro said the fire involved industrial chemicals stored inside a box truck in the building.
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CANAL UNDER WATCH AFTER FIRE
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2224507/canal-under-watch-after-fire
Tags: Thailand, industrial, fire, response, solvent
Authorities are carefully monitoring the water quality in Klong Om Yai after a fire broke out on Monday afternoon at a chemical depot in Nakhon Pathom's Sam Phran district.
The fire at Prapakorn Oil Company's depot, where about 100,000 litres of lubricants and solvents were stored, began at 12.30pm. One person was injured by the blaze, which was brought under control around 4pm.
Police are still investigating the cause of the fire.
Director-general of the Pollution Control Department, Attapol Charoenchansa, said a special unit of environmental protection officers from Nakhon Pathom's Environment Office Region 5 had been dispatched to the area.
The team, he said, would assess the extent of chemical pollution in the area, particularly along Klong Om Yai, which runs beside the depot.
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INVESTIGATORS SAY PAINT FACTORY EXPLOSION CAUSED BY EQUIPMENT ISSUE.
https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/crime/2021/11/30/investigators-say-paint-factory-explosion-caused-equipment-issue/8812380002/
Tags: us_OH, industrial, follow-up, death, flammables
Investigators have concluded that malfunctioning equipment caused an April explosion and fire at the Yenkin-Majestic Paint and OPC Polymers Corp. factory on the Near East Side that left one man dead, injured several others and caused more than $1 million in property damage.
The official determination of the cause of the April 8 blast and fire, which heavily damaged the facility in the 1900 lock of Leonard Avenue, was reached by the Columbus Division of Fire, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Health Investigation Board and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
‰??The investigation shows the explosion and resulting fire was accidental‰?|,‰?? according to a press release from the Columbus Division of Fire. ‰??In this instance, there is no evidence of any criminal or intentional act.‰??
Specifically, investigators determined an agitator that mixed products in a 3,000 gallon kettle stopped working, causing a chemical reaction that eventually released a highly flammable gas inside the factory. The fumes then ignited, resulting in the massive explosion that could be seen miles away and fire.
---------------------------------------------
ORCUTT HAZMAT SPILL
https://www.920kvec.com/2021/11/29/orcutt-hazmat-spill/
Tags: us_CA, transportation, fire, response, acids
A hazmat spill near Orcutt led to a road closure over the holiday weekend. It happened Friday afternoon at around 2:15. At ford pickup truck hauling N Phuric acid caught fire near the intersection of Telephone Road and Cambridge Way. Fire crews had the flames out in minutes, but about 150 gallons of N Phuric acid spilled. A hazmat crew contained and clean up the spill. No injuries were reported from the spill or the fire.
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IDAHO MAN SENTENCED AFTER ILLEGAL TANK REPAIR THAT LED TO 2018 EXPLOSION
https://www.bulktransporter.com/hazmat-safety/article/21182347/idaho-man-sentenced-after-illegal-tank-repair-that-led-to-2018-explosion
Tags: us_ID, transportation, follow-up, injury, flammables, illegal
The owner of an Idaho tank trailer testing and repair company recently was sentenced to a month in federal prison and a $15,000 fine for lying to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and for making an illegal, uncertified repair to a cargo tank in violation of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act.
According to the U.S. Attorney‰??s Office in Idaho, Loren Kim Jacobson‰??s conduct came to light through the investigation of a 2018 explosion that occurred during a tank repair at KCCS Inc. that severely injured him and another worker.
Jacobson, 65, pleaded guilty to both offenses May 20. He was sentenced Nov. 19.
‰??This tragic accident could have been prevented had the defendant adhered to OSHA workplace safety requirements,‰?? said Rafael M. Gonzalez. Jr., acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho. ‰??It is vital that companies follow all health and safety guidelines and ensure a safe workplace for its employees. By callously focusing on financial gain, the defendant created the conditions that led to the explosion.‰??
Jacobson also was sentenced to five months‰?? home confinement and three years‰?? supervised release.
According to the plea agreement, the KCCS employee‰??s welder flame pierced the skin of the tanker, and ignited residual flammable material inside. After the explosion, an OSHA investigator interviewed Jacobson about the circumstances surrounding the accident, as part of an investigation into whether Jacobson had violated OSHA safety standards for cargo tanker repair work. Jacobson made a materially false statement to the OSHA investigator during that interview, namely that the welder was merely an ‰??observer,‰?? not an employee, and that KCCS did not have any employees, as OSHA requirements only apply to ‰??employers.‰??
---------------------------------------------
NURDLES: THE WORST TOXIC WASTE YOU‰??VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD OF
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/29/nurdles-plastic-pellets-environmental-ocean-spills-toxic-waste-not-classified-hazardous
Tags: Sri_Lanka, transportation, follow-up, environmental, plastics
hen the X-Press Pearl container ship caught fire and sank in the Indian Ocean in May, Sri Lanka was terrified that the vessel‰??s 350 tonnes of heavy fuel oil would spill into the ocean, causing an environmental disaster for the country‰??s pristine coral reefs and fishing industry.
Classified by the UN as Sri Lanka‰??s ‰??worst maritime disaster‰??, the biggest impact was not caused by the heavy fuel oil. Nor was it the hazardous chemicals on board, which included nitric acid, caustic soda and methanol. The most ‰??significant‰?? harm, according to the UN, came from the spillage of 87 containers full of lentil-sized plastic pellets: nurdles.
I‰??ve seen some of the dolphins and they had plastic particles inside. There are 20,000 families who had to stop fishing
Hemantha Withanage, environmental campaigner
Since the disaster, nurdles have been washing up in their billions along hundreds of miles of the country‰??s coastline, and are expected to make landfall across Indian Ocean coastlines from Indonesia and Malaysia to Somalia. In some places they are up to 2 metres deep. They have been found in the bodies of dead dolphins and the mouths of fish. About 1,680 tonnes of nurdles were released into the ocean. It is the largest plastic spill in history, according to the UN report.
Nurdles, the colloquial term for ‰??pre-production plastic pellets‰??, are the little-known building block for all our plastic products. The tiny beads can be made of polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride and other plastics. Released into the environment from plastic plants or when shipped around the world as raw material to factories, they will sink or float, depending on the density of the pellets and if they are in freshwater or saltwater.
---------------------------------------------
NEW RULES FOR OIL FIELD TANK BATTERIES AFTER RAGLEY TEEN'S DEATH
https://www.americanpress.com/2021/11/29/new-rules-for-oil-field-tank-batteries-after-ragley-teens-death/
Tags: us_LA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, batteries, flammables, petroleum
BATON ROUGE ‰?? Louisiana regulators have established new rules for oil field tank batteries after an explosion killed a 14-year-old Ragley girl earlier this year, and plan to identify all such storage tanks across the state to encourage compliance.
The state Department of Natural Resources cited the February death of Zalee Day-Smith when announcing the safety measures last week. The Advocate reported that State Police investigators believe she was sitting on a tank near her mom‰??s house in the rural Ragley community when it blew up, throwing her into the air and killing her.
‰??We may never know exactly what happened on that site when Zalee died and accidents of that kind may be rare, but we have to do what we can to minimize the chances of it ever happening again by doing more to make people aware of potential hazards and keep them off these sites if they don‰??t belong there,‰?? Commissioner of Conservation Richard Ieyoub said in a news release.
Tank batteries store oil wells that aren‰??t connected to major pipelines. They can hold hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil and can emit flammable fumes.
---------------------------------------------
PALAMPUR: FIRE BREAKS OUT AT LABORATORY IN INSTITUTE OF HIMALAYAN BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY
https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/palampur-fire-breaks-out-at-laboratory-in-institute-of-himalayan-bioresource-technology-laboratory-101638132382778.html
Tags: India, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
Laboratory equipment and other property were gutted after a massive fire broke out in the chemistry lab of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research‰??s (CSIR) Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT), Palampur, in the wee hours of Sunday. However, no loss of life has been reported in the incident.
The fire department rushed two fire engines from Palampur to the IBHT campus. However, given the severity of the situation, a third fire engine was summoned from Baijanth.
It took firefighters 3-4 hours to douse the flames. Palampur deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Gurbachan Singh said the police was informed about the fire incident after midnight.
He said a watchman noticed the fire and informed the IHBT authorities who then called the fire department and the police.
A police team and firefighters rushed to the spot immediately, said Singh. He said prima facie short-circuit was said to be the reason behind the fire.
However, the exact reason will be known after a thorough investigation, said the DSP. He said the loss is being estimated and it may run into crores. Meanwhile, it is learnt that the IHBT authorities are likely to constitute a committee for an internal investigation into the incident.
---------------------------------------------
FIREFIGHTERS, ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES PUSH FOR SAFER FOAM
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/environment/2021/11/28/firefighters-environmental-advocates-push-safer-foam/8771353002/
Tags: us_MI, industrial, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
Lansing ‰?? Michigan has disposed of more than 50,000 gallons of potentially harmful firefighting foam since 2019.
Firefighters and environmental advocates say that isn‰??t enough.
The foam targeted for removal contains PFAS, an abbreviation for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a group of manufactured chemicals used since the 1950s, but that scientists now link to harmful effects on people and the environment. Because of this, Michigan is working to limit their use.
Exposure to modern fires means higher cancer risks, said Rep. Jeff Yaroch, R-Richmond. Consistent exposure to PFAS foam increases that risk.
‰??When I was a firefighter, we weren‰??t aware this foam was that bad for us,‰?? Yaroch said. ‰??Now that we know, we need to take action.‰??
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FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO TWO-ALARM FIRE ON CITY‰??S NORTHSIDE
https://news.cctexas.com/news/firefighters-respond-to-two-alarm-fire-on-citys-northside
Tags: us_TX, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX ‰?? Around 10:00 p.m. Saturday, the Corpus Christi Fire Department (CCFD) responded to a structure fire at Repcon Inc., a chemical plant and refinery construction company, in the 7500 block of Up River Road.
Upon arrival, crews encountered heavy fire and smoke. Units from the CCFD and Annaville Fire Department responded to a second alarm to provide additional resources.
Crews engaged in a defensive fire mode and used elevated water streams to attack the blaze. Water pressure was increased in the area due to the large volume needed to fight the flames.
Firefighters were able to limit the damage to one large-building and maintenance shop.
‰??Firefighters were faced with heavy fire and smoke conditions when arriving on scene,‰?? Fire Chief Robert Rocha said. ‰??They were able to suppress the fire with no injuries.‰??
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