Links to details available at
11 APR 10
us_ga:
Haz-Mat team will bill its users
The City
of Bainbridge government will start getting paid back in full for the
work it does in responding to hazardous materials incidents, including
cleanup of chemical spills and meth labs.
At its
Tuesday meeting, the Bainbridge City Council passed a Hazardous
Materials Cost Recovery ordinance, which aims to help the city
government recoup what it spends to operate its Hazardous Materials
Response team.
Since the team=92s creation in 2004, it has been most
frequently called out after the Sheriff=92s Office or other agencies
discover labs being used to make the illegal drug methamphetamine, also
known as meth or crystal ice. Because the labs have fumes that can
permanently damage breathing, or worse, cause an explosion, firefighters
on the Haz-Mat team have to wear special suits that provide them with
air and keep them safe from contamination and harm. The most-protective
type of suits cost $3,000 each and generally can only be worn once due
to safety regulations,
us_ca: All in a day's work: Hazardous materials team
responds
heir work involves dealing
with substances that can dissolve flesh or blow up in a spray of
chemicals and flames. Sometimes they wear airtight suits that leave them
drenched with sweat after only a few minutes on even a relatively mild
day.
And they think that's a pretty cool
job.
While most people have a clear idea about what police
officers or firefighters do, the job duties of the county's
Environmental Health Services hazardous materials crew may not be as
apparent. But on several recent high-profile incidents, including the
train derailment on the Tehachapi Loop and the evacuation of Meadows
Field because of an unknown substance later identified as honey, the
hazardous materials crew has been among the first to
respond.
"The biggest problem I've got is slowing (the team)
down," said Chief Environmental Health Specialist Brian
Pitts.
us_fl: Meth lab explosion hospitalizes
woman; man sought
PANAMA
CITY BEACH =97 A Friday night explosion from a =93shake-and-bake=94
methamphetamine lab left a woman in critical condition with burns on
more than 30 percent of her body, authorities said.
Vicki
Goodwin, 49, is in a burn center with chemical and flame burns on her
face, arms and legs. Police are looking for her husband, 51-year-old
Larry M. Goodwin, for questioning, Bay County Sheriff=92s Maj. Tommy
Ford said.
The primary renters of the house at 3805 Treasure
Circle told deputies they were in the living room watching a movie when
they heard a =93loud, explosion-type bang and saw flames come from the
back, rear bedroom,=94 according to the BCSO report.
One of
the renters went to the back room and found Vicki, who rents the room
with her husband, on fire. The man helped extinguish the flames but then
left the house because he was =93overcome with some weird smell and
chemical taste,=94 according to the report.
10 APR 10
us_or:
Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue crews respond to chemical spill in
Tigard | OregonLive.com TIGARD -- Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue's Hazardous
Materials unit responded this morning to a small chemical spill that
prompted an evacuation of the Medical Teams International building in
Tigard.
Three
female employees were unloading chemical-filled bottles out of a
cardboard box at about 9:45 a.m., when they smelled a peculiar odor and
then found one of the bottles had broke inside the box, according to
Karen Eubanks, spokeswoman for the fire department. The bottle contained
a chemical that physicians use for disaster deployments to cement bones,
Eubanks said.
Two
employees, who had a small amount of skin irritation, drove themselves
to a local urgent care facility before fire crews arrived on scene, at
14150 SW Milton Court, Eubanks said. Another employee, Eubanks said, had
her skin washed with soap and water on scene and then returned to work.
A private company will clean-up the chemical, Eubanks
said.
us_pa: Chemical spill at North East plant
sends 20 employees to hospital
Chemical
spill at North East plant sends 20 employees to
hospital
NORTH EAST -- Floyd Johnson Jr. was in the melt room
at Electric Materials Co. on Thursday morning when he heard an intercom
message ordering employees to evacuate the building.
When Johnson, 41, of Erie, stepped into a hallway and glanced
toward the plant's plating area, he saw an orange, yellowish, brown
cloud of vapor drifting toward him.
Johnson, who operates a
furnace, ran for the exit after he briefly inhaled what he said smelled
like sulfur.
"It was from the ceiling to the floor, coming up the
hallway,'' Johnson said. "When you see that coming at you, you know it's
not good. I didn't want to stick around.''
One man
was critically injured and another 19 employees of the North East
manufacturing plant were treated for exposure after a chemical spill
Thursday morning.
09 APR 10
us_nj:
Mercer Chemistry Students Cause HazMat Emergency
Hazardous-materials and bomb teams were sent to Mercer
University's campus after some chemistry students accidentally mixed
some volatile chemicals.
Mercer University spokesman Mark Vanderhoek says no
damages or injuries were reported in the incident late Wednesday
afternoon.
"This was accidental, the students did not intend to
create a bomb," said Vanderhoek.
A professor realized what
chemicals were mixed together and the professor called the university's
Environmental Health and Safety office, who then called Hazmat, he
said.
The Bibb County hazmat team, a bomb team and a fire
truck responded, Vanderhoek said.
He would not say how many
students were involved, the type of chemicals mixed or if a professor
was present.
He said no other information is available at this
time.
