Chemical Safety Headlines =46rom Google
Friday, May 20, 2011 8:15:01 AM

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Table of Contents (23 articles)

PICTURES, AUDIO: MASSIVE FIRE AT DANDENONG SOUTH CHEMICAL FACTORY
Tags: Australia, industrial, fire, response, petroleum

VIC MAN DIES AFTER EXPOSURE TO CHEMICALS
Tags: Australia, industrial, release, death, ag_chems, phenol

LOCAL NEWS: CHEMICAL CAUSES FUMES AT WASTE TRANSFER STATION
Tags: us_GA, public, release, response, corrosives, waste

MANGALOREAN.COM- SERVING MANGALOREANS AROUND THE WORLD!
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, injury, explosives

FIRE CHIEF: 26 FIREFIGHTERS EXPOSED TO CHEMICALS DURING HARBORCREEK 
PLANT FIRE
Tags: follow-up

CREWS EXTINGUISH FLAMES AT OIL PUMPING SITE
Tags: us_OH, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical

CHEMICAL EXPLOSION KILLS MAN IN LAVERTON
Tags: Australia, industrial, explosion, death, phenol

58-YEAR-OLD MAN KILLED IN HARTLEPOOL CAR EXPLOSION
Tags: United, Kingdom, public, explosion, death, unknown_chemical

POLICE AND FIRE BRIEFS FOR MAY 19, 2011
Tags: follow-up

FIRE BREAKS OUT AT CHEMICAL COMPANY
Tags: us_OH, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical

EVACUATION WARNING FOR MOBILE HOME PARK NEAR HAZMAT SITUATION
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, ammonia

HAZMAT CREWS DEAL WITH CHEMICAL SPILL AT TRANSFER STATION
Tags: us_WA, industrial, release, response, waste

LSUPD INVESTIGATING HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL SPILL AT CHOPPIN HALL
Tags: laboratory, release, response, butyllithium

WESTMINSTER BUILDING EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL REACTION
Tags: us_CA, education, release, injury, cleaners

SPORTS CENTRE IS EVACUATED AFTER =91MINOR=92 CHEMICAL ALERT
Tags: United, Kingdom, public, release, response, pool_chemicals

TRUCK CARRYING POISONOUS CHEMICAL TIPS OVER, HAZMAT RESPONDS
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical

HAZMAT CREWS IDENTIFY MYSTERIOUS VAPORS AT EVERETT TRANSFER STATION
Tags: us_WA, industrial, release, response, waste

ROLLOVER CRASH SPILLS YELLOW PAINT ACROSS LOCAL ROAD
Tags: us_PA, transportation, release, environmental, paints

CHEMICAL SPILL LEADS TO EVACUATIONS
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, release, injury, unknown_chemical

SEYMOUR 'BLEACH BOMB' UNDER INVESTIGATION
Tags: us_CT, public, discovery, response, chlorine

PROPANE ODOR SHUT DOWN HOSPITAL ER FOR HOURS
Tags: us_MD, public, release, response, propane

LSP HAZMAT TEAM WORKS FUEL LEAK IN WEST MONROE
Tags: us_LA, public, release, environmental, gasoline

RADIATION ALERT FIZZLES OUT
Tags: us_MA, public, discovery, response, radiation

---------------------------------------------

PICTURES, AUDIO: MASSIVE FIRE AT DANDENONG SOUTH CHEMICAL FACTORY

http://cranbourne-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/massive-fire-at-dand
enong-south-chemical-factory/
Tags: Australia, industrial, fire, response, petroleum

DANDENONG South residents are being warned to stay inside after a fire 
broke out at a Dandenong South factory last night.

The CFA has issued warnings to people living in Dandenong South, 
Cranbourne North, Hampton Park and Lynbrook to close all windows to 
avoid the thick black smoke.

Fire crews battled the giant factory blaze, which was fuelled by 700,000 
litres of engine oil, for more than eight hours

The fire, at the TriTech Lubricants on Williams Rd, started about 8pm, 
with 130 firefighters fighting through the night.
...
CFA Operations officer Mark Kennedy said the main chemical involved was 
engine oil and took more than eight hours to control.

---------------------------------------------

VIC MAN DIES AFTER EXPOSURE TO CHEMICALS

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/vic-man-dies-after-exposure-
to-chemicals-20110519-1euly.html
Tags: Australia, industrial, release, death, ag_chems, phenol

A man has died after being exposed to a toxic chemical used to make weed 
killer at a Melbourne agricultural chemicals plant.

Four colleagues tried in vain to resuscitate the 54-year-old when he 
collapsed while trying to wash off the chemical, while another man 
suffered a minor chemical burn to his wrist.

The dead man had been working on an exterior pipeline at the Nufarm 
chemical plant in Laverton North when he was sprayed with the toxic 
chemical on Thursday morning.

Advertisement: Story continues below
Police said the man ingested some of the acid-based solvent.

WorkSafe spokesman Michael Birt said the man was exposed to phenol, a 
substance used in the manufacture of herbicides.

---------------------------------------------

LOCAL NEWS: CHEMICAL CAUSES FUMES AT WASTE TRANSFER STATION
http://heraldnet.com/article/20110518/NEWS01/705189808/-1/news01
Tags: us_GA, public, release, response, corrosives, waste

EVERETT -- Fumes that rose from a Snohomish County waste transfer 
station on Wednesday morning apparently were caused by a corrosive 
chemical dumped in with garbage.

Hazardous material crews from several fire departments responded to the 
chemical spill inside a county waste transfer station near Paine Field.

Snohomish County Fire District 1 spokeswoman Leslie Hynes said tests 
showed the chemical was potassium hydroxide. It has a number of 
industrial uses, but it also is sometimes used in the manufacture of 
illegal drugs.

Firefighters located two five-gallon plastic buckets with residual 
amounts of potassium hydroxide in the area where the vapor cloud was 
seen, Hynes said.

"Potassium hydroxide had to react with some other substance to generate 
a vapor cloud like the one described by the transfer station employees," 
Hynes said.

---------------------------------------------

MANGALOREAN.COM- SERVING MANGALOREANS AROUND THE WORLD!
http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=239641
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, injury, explosives

Nagpur, May 19 (IANS) At least four people were critically injured in a 
major fire that broke out following a blast at an explosives factory 
near Nagpur in Maharashtra, police said here Thursday.

"The fire broke out following a chemical blast in Dhaga village premises 
of AMA Industries that manufactures explosives," an official from 
Kalmeshwar police station told IANS.

According to an eyewitness, the entire factory building has collapsed 
due to the blast that took place at one of the chemical tankers lodged 
at the factory.

Police, however, said they were looking into the exact cause of the fire 
and awaiting more details.

---------------------------------------------

FIRE CHIEF: 26 FIREFIGHTERS EXPOSED TO CHEMICALS DURING HARBORCREEK 
PLANT FIRE

http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110519/NEWS02/3051999
44/-1/news
Tags: follow-up

Firefighters who fought a blaze that heavily damaged a Harborcreek 
Township biodiesel plant Saturday night were exposed to a mixture of at 
least nine chemicals, Fairfield Hose Co. Chief Jim Hawryliw said 
Wednesday.

Authorities also said as of Wednesday evening, at least 26 of the 
estimated 100 firefighters at the blaze had sought medical treatment in 
the past few days for a variety of respiratory-related problems.

None of the symptoms are life-threatening, and no firefighters have been 
admitted to a hospital, said Carrie Colleran, medical director for 
prehospital services at Saint Vincent Health Center.

"I know there were at least 10 firefighters from both companies in North 
East -- Fuller and Crescent Hose -- who were treated,'' Colleran said.

---------------------------------------------

CREWS EXTINGUISH FLAMES AT OIL PUMPING SITE
http://www.wtov9.com/news/27945793/detail.html
Tags: us_OH, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical

PERRYSVILLE, Ohio -- A sizable fire at an oil pumping site about 20 
miles south of Carrollton has been extinguished.
A Carroll County dispatcher told NEWS9 there were five fire departments 
dispatched to the fire at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.
At least one of those crews used a chemical fire suppressant foam on the 
flames.
The pumping station is on Plum Road, near the community of Perrysville 
near state Route 43.
The area is sparsely populated, but the fire was reported by a resident 
of one of the four closest houses.

---------------------------------------------

CHEMICAL EXPLOSION KILLS MAN IN LAVERTON

http://media.theage.com.au/news/national-news/chemical-explosion-kills-man
-in-laverton-2372162.html
Tags: Australia, industrial, explosion, death, phenol

Chemical explosion kills man in Laverton (01:22)
A worker at the Nufarm factory in Laverton, in Melbourne's west, dies 
after a pipe explodes and covers him with carbolic acid.
19/05/11

---------------------------------------------

58-YEAR-OLD MAN KILLED IN HARTLEPOOL CAR EXPLOSION

http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/05/19/58-yea
r-old-man-killed-in-hartlepool-car-explosion-61634-28721649/
Tags: United, Kingdom, public, explosion, death, unknown_chemical

EMERGENCY services in the region were last night dealing with a major 
chemical contamination scare, following a car explosion which left a man 
dead.

The University Hospital of Hartlepool was put on high alert following a 
blast in the town, which claimed the life of a 58-year-old local man.

The body was found in a burned out Nissan Micra, on the town=92s Old 
Cemetery Road in the early hours of yesterday. Police are not looking 
for anyone else in connection with the incident.

A nearby block of flats was evacuated and a 250m cordon was put in place 
around Navigation Point, in Hartlepool Marina, after unknown chemicals 
were understood to have been found in the back of the car.

Emergency services working at the scene had to be decontaminated after 
coming into contact with the substance, while two police officers and 
three ambulance staff had to be taken to hospital. They were later 
discharged.

---------------------------------------------

POLICE AND FIRE BRIEFS FOR MAY 19, 2011

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/Police-and-fire-briefs-for-May-19-2011.ht
ml
Tags: follow-up

LSU=92s Choppin Hall reopened Wednesday evening after a chemical leak 
caused an evacuation, according to a Fire Department news release.

The building was closed after the hazardous substance N-Butyllithium 
leaked in a lab, according to LSU=92s website.

No one was injured.

The substance leaked from a glass 800-milliliter container that broke 
during shipping, said Curt Monte, a Fire Department spokesman.

The substance is =93extremely flammable when exposed to air,=94 
according to a Fire Department news release.

Professors in the lab eventually contained the leak with a metal can 
filled with sand, the release said.

The building was evacuated about 4:45 p.m., when LSU=92s emergency 
operations center sent students and faculty a text message and an email, 
warning them to avoid the area.

 Few people appeared to be in the building at the time of the 
evacuation, Monte said.

The Fire Department=92s Hazardous Materials Unit was called to the 
scene, Monte said.

---------------------------------------------

FIRE BREAKS OUT AT CHEMICAL COMPANY
http://www.fox19.com/story/14675401/fire-breaks-out-at-chemical-company
Tags: us_OH, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical

WINTON HILLS, OH (FOX19) -
A fire broke out last Wednesday night at a chemical company in Winton 
Hills.

It happened around 11:45 p.m. at Emery Industries on Este Avenue.

When firefighters arrived, they found a 250-gallon vessel with heavy 
fire from the top that was threatening a building next to it.

It was determined that the product in the tank was Dowtherm, a heat 
transfer fluid.  It was determined that streams would be directed on the 
tank to cool it and a misting spray was placed on the flames to keep 
them from entering the building but not extinguishing them.

Once the tank was cooled down the vapors stopped escaping and the fire 
went out.

---------------------------------------------

EVACUATION WARNING FOR MOBILE HOME PARK NEAR HAZMAT SITUATION

http://www.ksby.com/news/evacuation-warning-for-mobile-home-park-near-hazm
at-situation/
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, ammonia

Residents of a local mobile home park have been warned they may have to 
evacuate their homes as crews check out a possible hazardous materials 
incident in the Oceano area Thursday morning.

Crews were called to the 900 block of Pacific Boulevard, behind the 
Oceano Dunes State Park's maintenance building, at about 8:00a.m. 
Thursday. Workers had reported smelling a strong odor of ammonia.

Emergency crews say there is an evacuation order in effect for the state 
park maintenance facility, and evacuation warnings for the County Mobile 
Home Park and anyone living in homes on State Park property around the 
maintenance building.

---------------------------------------------

HAZMAT CREWS DEAL WITH CHEMICAL SPILL AT TRANSFER STATION

http://everett.komonews.com/news/911/hazmat-crews-deal-chemical-spill-tran
sfer-station/641880
Tags: us_WA, industrial, release, response, waste

Fire department hazmat crews spent Wednesday morning at the transfer 
station near the south end of Paine Field after a chemical spill.

"They were moving garbage from this truck into a hopper and they saw a 
cloud of this chemical come out and immediately called 911 and 
evacuated, which was the right thing to do," said Snohomish County Fire 
District 1 spokeswoman Leslie Hynes.

They determined almost right away the chemical cloud did not escape from 
the building and posed no danger to the public.

Four workers and a waste truck driver that were inside where the spill 
occurred were OK.

"The employees are fine," said Snohomish County spokesperson Christopher 
Schwarzen. "No reports of any eye irritation or any problem breathing."

---------------------------------------------

LSUPD INVESTIGATING HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL SPILL AT CHOPPIN HALL

http://www.lsureveille.com/lsupd-investigating-hazardous-chemical-spill-at
-choppin-hall-1.2576530
Tags: laboratory, release, response, butyllithium

LSUPD and the Baton Rouge Fire Department Hazardous Materials Division 
are investigating a hazardous spill at Choppin Hall, according to Sgt. 
Blake Tabor, LSUPD spokesman.

Tabor said LSUPD believes a University student was conducting an 
authorized experiment on the seventh floor when a hazardous substance 
fell or leaked.

A University email identified the substance as N-Butyllithium.

Tabor said no injuries were reported.

The building was evacuated following the spill. Tabor said he does not 
know when the building will be reopened.

---------------------------------------------

WESTMINSTER BUILDING EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL REACTION
http://www.ocregister.com/news/evacuated-301003-chemicals-six.html
Tags: us_CA, education, release, injury, cleaners

WESTMINSTER - Six floors in a building were evacuated Wednesday 
morning after people inside reacted to a mixture of chemicals, officials 
said.

Firefighters and the Orange County Fire Authority's hazmat team were 
called to the 5400 block of Garden Grove Boulevard at 8:47 a.m. after 
employees inside said they had a negative reaction to cleaning 
chemicals, said Capt. Greg McKeown.

Six floors of the building were evacuated as a precaution, he said. 
About 150 people were escorted out of the building.

A maintenance crew was mixing cleaning materials when firefighters were 
called, he said.

A total of 12 people were treated by paramedics at the scene, but they 
all declined to be taken to a nearby hospital, he said.

Hazmat personnel were sent inside the building to take samples and make 
sure the building is safe for employees to return, McKeown said.

---------------------------------------------

SPORTS CENTRE IS EVACUATED AFTER =91MINOR=92 CHEMICAL ALERT

http://www.lutterworthmail.co.uk/news/local/sports_centre_is_evacuated_aft
er_minor_chemical_alert_1_2692236
Tags: United, Kingdom, public, release, response, pool_chemicals

A SPORTS centre in Lutterworth was evacuated after chemicals used to 
help keep swimming pools clean were spilt.

The accident happened at Lutterworth Sports Centre, in Coventry Road, 
last Wednesday evening at about 8pm.

A chemical used to keep water clean in the centre=92s swimming pool is 
thought to have overflowed, which then sparked an automatic fire alarm.

Justin Butlin, contracts manager for the Harborough District Leisure 
Trust, said: =93The chemicals are fed into a machine which is well away 
from the swimming pool and any areas where members of the public would 
be.

=93It appears that it overflowed into a bund underneath the machine, 
which is designed to collect the chemicals if the machine is ever 
overfilled, and this then triggered the alarm.

---------------------------------------------

TRUCK CARRYING POISONOUS CHEMICAL TIPS OVER, HAZMAT RESPONDS
http://www.ktxs.com/news/27945665/detail.html
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical

ABILENE, Texas -- An 18-wheeler truck carrying more than 1,300 gallons 
of a poisonous chemical caused quite the scene in south Abilene 
Wednesday night after it tipped over.

It happened near South Treadaway and Danville.

The Abilene Fire Department hazardous material team responded because 
there was a leak caused by the accident but fire officials say luckily 
it wasn't a container that had the poisonous material inside.

The truck was carrying 1,320 gallons of a mildly poisonous chemical used 
in oil fields.

Fire officials say had that substance leaked they would have quarantined 
an area half a mile around the wreck.

The Abilene Hazmat team is always called out as a precautionary measure 
when dangerous chemicals are involved and some will stay until the 
containers holding those chemicals are removed from the rig.

The driver of the truck was able to escape the wreck uninjured.

"Luckily this time the containers are made to take a pretty good beating 
so they stayed in tact," said Battalion Chief with Abilene Fire 
Department, Joey Kincaid, "Driver's fine no injuries to the driver and 
he was able to get out on his own before our arrival."

---------------------------------------------

HAZMAT CREWS IDENTIFY MYSTERIOUS VAPORS AT EVERETT TRANSFER STATION

http://www.king5.com/news/local/Hazmat-crews-responding-to-spill-at-Everet
t-transfer-station-122151524.html
Tags: us_WA, industrial, release, response, waste

EVERETT, Wash. -- Snohomish County Solid Waste crews and local fire and 
hazmat investigators have identified a mysterious substance at the 
county's Airport Road Transfer Station in Everett as potassium 
hydroxide.

The transfer station was closed around 7 a.m. Wednesday when work crews 
noticed vapors coming from a load of commercial debris brought to the 
station.

...

Hazmat crews later determined a couple of drops of potassium hydroxide 
had interacted with another substance at the site, creating the vapors. 
There were no injuries and no one was exposed to the chemical.

---------------------------------------------

ROLLOVER CRASH SPILLS YELLOW PAINT ACROSS LOCAL ROAD
http://www.wjactv.com/news/27938875/detail.html
Tags: us_PA, transportation, release, environmental, paints

BRADFORD TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A tractor-trailer rollover crash early 
Wednesday spilled bright yellow paint, caused a potential hazmat 
situation and backed up traffic for hours.

As of noon, crews were still working on the cleanup, but said any steady 
rain may hinder their efforts. Department of Environment officials said 
the load was water-based paint, which means it will have minimal if any 
environmental impact.

"We contained it. It did get into some drainage ditches and we've 
contained it at the end of the drainage ditches. It didn't make it to 
any waterways. Environmental damage is going to be very contained and 
very isolated," said Emergency Management Agency Director Jerry Pollock.

---------------------------------------------

CHEMICAL SPILL LEADS TO EVACUATIONS
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_18084626?nclick_check=1
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, release, injury, unknown_chemical

About 30 people were briefly evacuated from an office building in the 
Parktown Plaza shopping center in Milpitas on Tuesday afternoon after a 
chemical spill at a dental office, fire officials said.

The small amount of liquid chemical being used at a dental lab in a 
poorly ventilated area permeated offices on the top floor of a two-story 
building at 1788 Clear Lake Ave., said Battalion Chief Americo Silvi of 
the Milpitas Fire Department.

Silvi did not know the chemical that caused about 10 people to have 
trouble breathing and experience mild nausea. All were evaluated at the 
scene and none were taken to hospitals, he said.

The incident was reported about 4:15 p.m. Traffic backed up on Landess 
Avenue as police and fire vehicles directed cars away from the area. 
Building tenants were allowed back into their offices by about 5:30 p.m.

---------------------------------------------

SEYMOUR 'BLEACH BOMB' UNDER INVESTIGATION

http://valley.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/Seymour_Ble
ach_Bomb_Under_Investigation
Tags: us_CT, public, discovery, response, chlorine

Police, the fire marshal=92s office and the state Department of 
Environmental Protection are investigating who left a potentially 
dangerous chemical mixture in a bottle in downtown Seymour =97 and why 
it was left there in the first place.

=93We don=92t know if this was accidental or intentional. We don=92t 
know precisely what the substance was. That=92s why there is an 
investigation,=94 said Deputy Fire Marshal Timm Willis. =93We=92re 
following up to determine whether this was a crime or an accident.=94

A business owner called 911 at 9:50 a.m. saying there was a chlorine 
bottle on the sidewalk along First Street that appeared =93swollen,=94 
according to information from police spokesman Lt. Paul Satkowski.

Emergency crews responded to the scene to check it out.

---------------------------------------------

PROPANE ODOR SHUT DOWN HOSPITAL ER FOR HOURS

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Propane-Odor-Shut-down-Hospital-fo
r-Hours-121990859.html
Tags: us_MD, public, release, response, propane

Southern Maryland Hospital in Clinton, Md., shut down its emergency room 
for two hours Monday night while HAZMAT crews searched for the source of 
a strong odor.

The administrator worried it could have been a natural gas leak.

 
After two hours, HAZMAT crews determined the smell came from the 
building=92s propane storage tanks.
 
The hospital called in the propane supplier to make repairs, and the 
hospital was given the all clear.

---------------------------------------------

LSP HAZMAT TEAM WORKS FUEL LEAK IN WEST MONROE
http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20110518/NEWS01/105180317
Tags: us_LA, public, release, environmental, gasoline

The Louisiana State Police Hazardous Materials Response Team worked 
Tuesday to contain a gasoline leak in West Monroe.

The team was called out Monday to respond to the leak near the 
intersection of North Seventh Street and Arkansas Road at a convenience 
store. Troop F spokesman Trooper Mark Dennis said gasoline from a 
previous leak at the site had been pushed up toward the surface of the 
ground because of saturated soil from recent heavy rains.

A portion of Arkansas Road that was closed while the site was cleaned 
reopened Tuesday night.

"It is going to take another day or two to devise an extraction well and 
get the remainder of the gas out of there," Dennis said. "This isn't an 
underground rupture."

Dennis said the ground moisture pushed existing gasoline in the soil 
into an underground phone line junction box. Dennis said no water or 
sewer lines had been contaminated by the seeping gasoline.

---------------------------------------------

RADIATION ALERT FIZZLES OUT

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2011_0517radiation_alert_f
izzles_out/srvc=home&position=also
Tags: us_MA, public, discovery, response, radiation

A =93very old=94 piece of surveying equipment inside the Tip O=92Neill 
Building triggered a Level 3 Hazmat Response late this afternoon on 
Causeway Street after it caused radiation-detecting badges worn by two 
federal protective service officers in the building to go off, fire 
officials said.

The dosimeters went off around 4:10 p.m., prompting the officers to call 
fire officials, said spokesman Steve MacDonald.

The piece of shoebox-sized equipment, which is now boxed up and in the 
process of being removed from the site, was sitting on a first floor 
storage room shelf, MacDonald said.

---------------------------------------------

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