Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:34:54 -0400
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Subject: Chemical Safety headlines from Google

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US_PA: HAZMAT FIRE DAMAGES DEVON BUSINESS, http://mainlinemedianews.com/ar ticles/2010/06/21/main_line_suburban_life/news/doc4c1b94f24f9c7166037900.t xt

Tredyffrin and Radnor firefighters responded to the report of an explosion at Environex Inc., 6 Berkley Road in Devon, late Friday morning. This is across from the Whole Foods on Lancaster Avenue. Fire officers arrived to find heavy smoke showing, They requested a second alarm with a special call for a hazmat team.

According to  Environex Inc.'s Web site, it consults in catalytic-reaction engineering, including air-pollution control involving scrubbers in smokestacks.

Willis Kane, who works at a neighboring business, said two chemicals, hydrogen and sulfur chloride, mixed then exploded and began to billow out smoke. That was when his company was evacuated.

Fire officials stated nobody was hurt in the blaze, which was under control by 1 p.m. Chester County fire officials are investigating.

The Berwyn, Radnor, Malvern, Paoli and Newtown Square fire companies, the Gladwyne air unit, the Chester County hazmat team and Narberth Ambulance responded to the alarm.

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US_GA: GAS GENERATOR BLOWS UP AT SAVANNAH HOME, http://www2.wsav.com/news/2010/jun/17/gas-generator-blow s-savannah-home-ar-387026/

Seven people have been treated for carbon monoxide poisoning, after fire officials said a gas generator blew up in their home. 

Savannah firefighters, a HAZMAT crew, and curious neighbors were outside a 42nd Street home Thursday afternoon as emergency crews worked to remove the toxic air. 

Officials said five of the seven victims were under 18.

"Some time yesterday a tree limb fell on the electrical lines to the house. At some point in time they decided to utilize the gas generator. That's what caused the elevated levels of carbon monoxide," said Mark Keller, spokesman for Savannah Fire. 

Officials said having the generator running in a closed space is extremely dangerous. They advise you to put generators outside, away from your house.

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US_IL: 3 CITY WORKERS HOSPITALIZED AFTER HAZMAT INCIDENT, http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2404322,northwest-side-h azmat-061710.article

Three city workers were hospitalized after making contact with chemicals that were leaking from a garbage truck Thursday morning on the Northwest Side.

A Level 1 HazMat response was called about 11 a.m. near Mobile and Estes avenues for a report of chemicals leaking from a garbage truck, according to Fire Media Affairs spokesman Quention Curtis. 

Three city workers inside the garbage truck were taken to Resurrection Medical Center in good condition for precautionary reasons, Curtis said.

The chemical was determined to be muriatic acid, he said.

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CANADA: POLICE BUST CHEMICAL LAB, http://www.bclocaln ews.com/news/96675219.html

RCMP clandestine lab specialists suited up in hazmat suits and swarmed a commercial property in Nanaimo Friday to gather evidence and a stockpile of illegal chemicals.

The activity followed the arrest of a suspect, 36, who Transport Safety Board investigators suspected of transporting dangerous chemicals aboard a commercial airline and tracked him to a complex at 2219-2221 McGarrigle Rd. Thursday.

Const. Gary O=92Brien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesman, said police and Nanaimo Fire Rescue responded to the site at approximately 4:30 p.m.

=93Our members were called to assist Transport Safety Board inspectors,=94 he said.

Several chemicals used in the production of GHB, also known as the date rape drug, were found at the site.

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AUSTRALIA: FOUNDRY FIRE CAUSES EVACUATION, http://www.frasercoastchronicle.com.au/story/2010/0 6/19/foundry-fire-causes-evacuation/

MORE than 60 CQMS foundry employees escaped unharmed after a chemical explosion and fire rocked the Maryborough workplace yesterday.

=93She went off with a bang - it put a shockwave through the place,=94 one worker said.

=93It was a mix-up of chemicals and it went off. It started off as thick white smoke, then it turned black and then it just exploded.=94

Emergency crews were called to the site at Zante Street, which is shared by Downer EDi Rail, just after 11am.

Nearby residents and businesspeople heard a loud bang and saw a plume of smoke in the air. Firefighters were faced with a chemical blaze covering an area about 12 metres by 10 metres.

North Coast chief superintendent John Watson said the fire started when two chemicals were mixed together in the loading area of a shed.

=93The fire was dealt with fairly quickly,=94 he said.

=93Crews in breathing apparatus fought the fire and put it out in about 30 minutes. There was somewhere between 1000 and 2000 litres of chemicals involved.=94

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US_RI: CHEMICAL LEAK LEADS TO EVACUATIONS, http://ww.abc6.c om/Global/story.asp?S=12675212

Emergency crews have now cleared the scene of an ammonia leak at a Pawtucket power plant.

Pawtucket Police and Fire were called to 'Pawtucket Power Associates' on Concord Street just after 5PM Friday, when a supply line to an ammonia tank inside the building ruptured, leading to a spill. The RI Department of Environmental Management was also called to the scene to assist.

Some streets in the area were blocked off for safety reasons, and officials evacuated a nearby day care. All the children inside the day care were safe, and their parents were able to pick them up.

Three Pawtucket firefighters were taken to a nearby hospital to be checked out, but have since been released, and are back to work.

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VIETNAM: TENS OF WORKERS BURNED IN CHEMICAL EXPLOSION, http ://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/Hochiminhcity/2010/6/83073/

Twenty-one workers were serious burned when an explosion rocked a Tan Tan Thanh Company chemical storehouse Ho Chi Minh City June 17.

The explosion caused a fire that burned seven motorbikes and one bicycle at a restaurant located opposite the company in Tan Thoi Nhat Ward, District 12.
 
A view of a chemical storehouse burned to the ground after an explosion at Tan Tan Thanh Company on June 17. (Photo:SGGP)

Residents said they first heard a massive explosion at the warehouse before several more large explosions followed.

The blast also caused damage to several nearby residential and commercial buildings.

The blast occurred as tens of workers were on duty at the facility. The fire swiftly spread and destroyed the company=92s entire 3,000 square-meter property.

Eight fire trucks with nearly 100 fire fighters put the blaze under control, but one fireman fainted during the operation.

The cause of the blast is under investigation.

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US_PA: HAZMAT EVACUATION: HAZMAT EVACUATION, COMPANY PAYS FOR WIND GAP SPILL, http://www.mcall.com/news/local/easton/mc-wind-gap-hazma t-20100618,0,6380030.story

The company responsible for a spill of hydrofluoric acid on Route 33 in Wind Gap last year has paid nearly $139,000 to cover the costs of the incident, Northampton County officials said this week.

The March 2009 spill, which happened when a Honeywell International tanker truck carrying the chemical flipped onto its side, prompted an evacuation and stranded drivers on Route 33 and its offshoots. Police said the truck driver had swerved to try to avoid a deer.

There were no serious injuries, and a Honeywell spokesman said at the time that "less than a quart" of the tanker's 33,000 pounds of undiluted hydroflouric acid spilled. The chemical causes skin and resparatory irritation, and too much exposure to it can be fatal.

Eight agencies had expenses related to the incident, including three volunteer fire companies, county emergency management and the Pen Argyl Area School District, which provided shelter to some of the 5,000 people affected by the nine-hour evacuation.

According to a county news release, the costs eligible for reimbursement by the company included personnel, equipment and operations expenses such as "flares, food, mileage [and] portable lighting."

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us_ok: Chemical spill in Tulsa 
TULSA, OK (KSLA) - Tuesday was a hazardous mess for motorists in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma when an 18-wheeler lost control and fell from one highway ramp onto another. 

The accident caused the truck to spill more than 78 thousand pounds of ammonium nitrate onto the roadway. 

Firefighters and hazmat crews carefully cleaned up the volatile chemical without any problems. We were last told that the driver of the truck was in the hospital in fair condition.

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us_ma: Fire chief: Bleach mishap causes Brockton bomb scare 
BROCKTON =97 
A man mixing cleaning products in his Brockton home caused a bomb scare that shut down Pleasant Street for more than two hours Wednesday night. 

Brockton firefighters and Hazmat crews responded to 211 Pleasant St. at 7:20 p.m. Wednesday after a man called about a plastic bottle that was overheating and expanding. 

Brockton Fire Chief Richard Francis said the second-floor occupant of the house was mixing cleaning chemicals in a plastic spray bottle when the bottle began to heat up and expand. The occupant put the bottle in the bathtub and called the Fire Department, Francis said. 

Because of the possibility of a chemical explosion, a Tier One Hazardous Materials Response was activated, bringing a Hazmat crew and chemical analysis team to the scene. 

Francis said the bomb squad would most likely fire a pellet into the bottle to cause the chemicals to ooze out. The chemical analysis team would then examine the contents. 

Francis said it was unknown at the time what the chemicals were that the man had been mixing. 

In the front yard of the house, Hazmat crews were examining a row of Clorox bleach and what appeared to be other cleaning products. 

Julio Cleverseau, the resident who called the Fire Department, said he had poured Clorox bleach into a plastic bottle that he believed was empty, and shaken it. When the bottle began to heat up and expand, Cleverseau said he became afraid it would explode and called the Fire Department.
us_ma  home  response  unknown_chemical  reaction  
3 days ago   edit   delete
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us_nc: HAZMAT called to UNC campus 
CHAPEL HILL (WTVD) -- A HAZMAT crew was called to a gas leak on UNC Chapel Hill's campus Wednesday. 

Crews were called to the 100 block on Mason Farm Road around 6 p.m. when officials say someone in a chemistry lab accidentally mixed two chemicals that produced a small amount of chlorine gas. 

The cloud of chlorine gas was contained to a lab room inside the Medical Bimolecular Research Building. 

Chapel Hill officials say the leak originated on the sixth floor of the nine-story building and it was evacuated. 

One person drove himself to the emergency room as a precaution, after experiencing mild respiratory symptoms. He is expected to be okay. 

The fire department and UNC Health and Safety crews stayed at the scene until the area was cleared.

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us_tx: Hazmat cleans up spill after wreck in Longview 
Shortly after the hour of 8am Fire Units responded to a motor vehicle accident on Hwy 259 just North of Hawkins Parkway. While conducting a scene assessment Longview Fire Department crews discovered a chemical leaking from an Extermination Company=92s pick-up that was involved in the accident. 

One patient was transported to Good Shepherd Medical center to be treated for injuries sustained as a result of the accident. 

The Longview Fire Department Hazmat team was able to contain and confine the spill of Cyflorine (pesticide) which did not leave the roadway or cause an exposure to either of the drivers or the environment.

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us_wa: Small chemical spill at Kimberly-Clark brings hazmat team, fire crews 
EVERETT =97 A chemical spill at Kimberly-Clark on Wednesday afternoon prompted a large hazmat response. 

Fire crews and a hazmat team were called to the plant about 1:45 p.m. The leak involved a small amount of cooking acid, a chemical used in the pulping process, plant manager Christopher Isenberg said. Nobody was injured. 

The spill was less than 100 gallons, which is considered small, Everett spokeswoman Kate Reardon said. 

A half-dozen fire trucks responded as part of standard procedure. 

Firefighters found the area contained by the plant=92s hazmat technicians, Reardon said. Firefighters evaluated the hazmat technicians for injuries and washed down their protective suits.

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