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Next by Date: Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (15 articles) Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2022 06:19:24 -0400 Author: Ralph Stuart |
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, March 25, 2022 at 7:21:23 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 (6 articles)
FIREFIGHTERS PREVENT TOXIC LEAK THANKS TO HAZMAT TRAINING
Tags: us_ME, industrial, fire, response, ammonia
FIRE AT JADAVPUR UNIVERSITY LAB MELTS TOOLS WORTH CRORES
Tags: India, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
5 PEOPLE INJURED IN EXPLOSION, FIRE AT SHERBROOKE FOOD-PROCESSING HUB
Tags: Canada, industrial, explosion, injury, natural_gas, propane
MELBOURNE TRANSPORT AND WAREHOUSING SAYS IT IS BEHIND THE SPILL THAT KILLED HUNDREDS OF FISH IN ALTONA WATERWAYS
Tags: Australia, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ag_chems
SULFURIC ACID SPILLS FROM STORAGE TANK AT SHELL ETHANE CRACKER PLANT
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, sulfuric_acid, waste
MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS RESPOND TO LARGE FIRE IN WILLIAMSON
Tags: us_NY, industrial, follow-up, environmental, runoff
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FIREFIGHTERS PREVENT TOXIC LEAK THANKS TO HAZMAT TRAINING
https://www.wmtw.com/article/belfast-firefighters-were-able-to-prevent-toxic-leak-at-potato-plant-after-epa-citation-and-hazmat-training/39533279
Tags: us_ME, industrial, fire, response, ammonia
When it comes to toxic chemicals, only first responders with hazmat training are allowed to help with emergency response. Belfast fire department has that training and it became essential when Penobscot McCrum potato processing plant went up in flames.
"If they don't have the hazard material training they're actually not supposed to respond," said Dale Rowley, the director of Waldo County Emergency Management Agency. "Legally, they shouldn't have shown up if they were only 'hazmat awareness' level so it did make a big difference."
Belfast firefighters are outfitted with hazmat training and equipment that was paid for by Penobscot McCrum LLC following a 2016 EPA citation. After a 2014 inspection, the EPA filed a report citing eight possible violations at the facility. The report said the company violated Clean Air Laws and did not meet Emergency Risk Management regulations. According to that report, if an ammonia leak were to occur, the closet team equipped to respond was located an hour away.
Penobscot McCrum agreed to implement stronger emergency protocols and pay $143,900 in fines. Most of that went towards local emergency response training.
"Part of the fine could be spent on local projects, and they helped to provide hazard materials response equipment to the Belfast fire department," said Rowley.
The facility regularly stores over 10,000 pounds of ammonia on site for refrigeration and freezing. Ammonia exposure can cause serious health issues and even death. The potato plant is close to residential areas, schools, and a nursing home so any leakage could have a disastrous impact. Ammonia is also flammable, so a leak could result in an explosion. First responders successfully kept those risks at bay.
"All indications are that they handled it like any type of hazmat team would deal with that situation," said Nathan Thompson, Hazard and Oil Responder with Maine Department of Environmental Protection. "So yes, we're very impressed."
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FIRE AT JADAVPUR UNIVERSITY LAB MELTS TOOLS WORTH CRORES
https://www.telegraphindia.com/my-kolkata/news/fire-at-jadavpur-university-lab-melts-tools-worth-crores/cid/1857500
Tags: India, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
A fire broke out in a laboratory of Jadavpur University's electrical engineering department early on Thursday and destroyed instruments worth nearly Rs 4 crores.
The blaze destroyed the lab in the illumination section of the department around 12.30am, an official said.
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The lab is named after Manick Sorcar, a lighting design wizard based in Denver, Colorado (US), and eldest son of magician P.C. Sorcar.
In March 2011, Sorcar had assisted the university in the opening of a laser animation lab under the university's School of Illumination Science.
Parthasarathi Satbhaya, a professor of the school, said instruments like chroma meter, oscilloscope, thermal imager, flux meter and other high value instruments used for measuring temperature, literally melted because of the heat.
Research scholars who were working in other parts of the building that houses the lab, alerted the firemen and three engines were deployed to contain the fire.
It took the firemen more than half-an-hour to contain the blaze.
'In the initial estimate instruments worth Rs 3 to 4 crores have been destroyed. All these gadgets were procured over the past two-and-a-half decades. The loss of data stored in the computers is also a matter of concern,' said Satbhaya.
This has dealt a blow to the research of the scholars, said a JU teacher.
'Funds were sourced from different state and central grants to buy these instruments. We have to start from the scratch,' said Saswati Mazumdar, head of the electrical engineering department.
A JU official said, both the school and the department use the infrastructure of the lab.
'Since the school does not have an infrastructure of its own, it used the lab for experiments on light communication,' he said.
No one was working at the lab when the fire broke out, said another JU official. 'Otherwise, the scale of damage could have been greater,' he said.
JU registrar Snehamanju Basu said, although the reasons of the fire are not clear, it could be a case of short circuit.
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5 PEOPLE INJURED IN EXPLOSION, FIRE AT SHERBROOKE FOOD-PROCESSING HUB
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/sherbrooke-food-lab-fire-1.6394381
Tags: Canada, industrial, explosion, injury, natural_gas, propane
Five people were injured Wednesday morning in an explosion and a major fire at a hub for industrial food preparation and processing in Sherbrooke, Que.
Fire crews and paramedics responded to the Centre de valorisation de l'aliment de l'Estrie (CVA) after reports of an explosion around 8:30 a.m.
"They're dealing with burns, but we still don't know the extent of the injuries," St̀©phane Simoneau, director of the Sherbrooke fire department, told Radio-Canada.
It's not clear if any of the injuries are life-threatening.
Dr. Marie-Maud Couture, chief of the emergency department at the Sherbrooke University Hospital Centre (CHUS), said five patients were treated at the ER. Some, with more serious injuries were transferred to other specialized health centres.
The building, with nearly the footprint of a CFL football field, includes several industrial kitchens, food processing warehouses, workshops, event spaces and other food-related businesses.
Around 40 firefighters from six different stations are on site, and Simoneau expects crews to be there all day.
"There was a lot of combustible material inside," he said, adding that the explosion appears to have damaged the building's sprinkler system and prevented it from activating.
It's still too early to determine the origin of the explosion but "it seems obvious" hazardous materials were in play, Simoneau said.
"It was likely caused by propane or natural gas, " said Simoneau. "That's what the investigation will show us."
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MELBOURNE TRANSPORT AND WAREHOUSING SAYS IT IS BEHIND THE SPILL THAT KILLED HUNDREDS OF FISH IN ALTONA WATERWAYS
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-23/melbourne-group-lake-fish-kill-pollution-identified/100932824
Tags: Australia, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ag_chems
A representative from Melbourne Transport and Warehousing says it is the company behind a significant chemical spill which polluted waterways in Melbourne's west.
Key points:
The EPA says about 12,000 litres of a chemical spilling into the waterways resulted in the fish kill
Dead fish were seen at multiple Altona locations downstream, including Cherry Lake and beaches
A Melbourne Transport and Warehousing Group representative told community members a fire at its Laverton North premises led to the spill
Hundreds of dead fish were seen floating to the surface of Cherry Lake in Altona last week.
Environmental authorities believe more than 12,000 litres of chemicals were spilt from a site that stores agricultural fertilisers, with some of that pollution leaking into a stormwater drain.
From that drain the chemicals made their way into Cherry Creek near the Laverton North industrial area.
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SULFURIC ACID SPILLS FROM STORAGE TANK AT SHELL ETHANE CRACKER PLANT
https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2022/03/24/sulfuric-acid-spills-from-storage-tank-at-shell-ethane-cracker-plant/
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, sulfuric_acid, waste
A faulty piece of equipment on a storage tank caused a 2,000-gallon chemical spill at Shell's Beaver County ethane cracker over the weekend, the company said.
The spill was discovered Saturday morning at 9:30 during a routine inspection, and all chemicals spilled were contained on site. Shell said in a statement the tank was part of the facility's waste water treatment plant, and contained a mixture of water and sulfuric acid. The company said the chemicals were captured within a built-in secondary containment area.
The company said the spill appears to have been caused by a faulty flange ' a collared mechanical fitting often used to join two pieces of equipment together.
'Maintaining environmental compliance and timely reporting of potential incidents are top priorities for Shell,' spokesman Curtis Thomas said in a statement. 'We will continue to keep the environmental authorities apprised as we continue our investigation of this matter.'
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MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS RESPOND TO LARGE FIRE IN WILLIAMSON
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/rochester/public-safety/2022/03/23/multiple-departments-respond-to-large-fire-at-williamson-chemical-company
Tags: us_NY, industrial, follow-up, environmental, runoff
WILLIAMSON, N.Y. ' A large fire that broke out at an industrial building in Wayne County is still under investigation, but officials believe the cause is accidental.
The assistant chief with the Williamson Fire Department said crews responded to Thatcher Company of New York on Route 104 just before 7 a.m. on Tuesday and when they arrived, flames were burning through the roof. The company deals in chemical manufacturing and distribution.
According to the fire official, the fire broke out in an area of the building used for storing empty totes and drums after they have been washed out. Crews were able to contain the fire to that area and prevented it from spreading to the rest of the building.
A section of Route 104 was temporarily shut down while firefighters battled the flames.
The Williamson assistant chief says there were no chemicals present in the area of the building that burned. Despite that, the DEC is checking runoff at the site for possible contamination as a precaution.
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