Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2011 08:23:40 -0400
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From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety"

Subject: Chemical Safety Headlines From Google (13 articles)

Chemical Safety Headlines =46rom Google
Friday, July 1, 2011 8:15:01 AM

  ;  A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
   Connecting C hemistry and Safety at http://www.dchas.org
   All article summaries and tags a re archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas

Table of Contents (13 a rticles)

TEAR GAS FAIL-SAFE TURNS CHURCH THEFT INTO HAZMAT SCENE
Tags: us_PA, public, rel ease, response, tear_gas

AGING ACID FOUND IN MEMORABILIA COULD EXPLODE IF MOVED
Tags: us_CO, publ ic, discovery, response, picric_acid

CCSO: CARBON MONOXIDE CAUSED LOCAL WOMAN AND CHILDREN TO LOSE CONSCIOUSNESS
Tags: us_FL, public, release, injury, carbon_monoxide< /font>

RESID ENT, COPS CONTAMINATED BY HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
Tags: us_NJ, public, discovery, injury, u nknown_chemical

BOMB SQUAD RESPONDS TO CHEMICAL SCARE AT CEDAR CREEK PARK
Tags: us_NY, publ ic, discovery, response, unknown_chemical

STUDENT TREATED FOR CHEMICAL INJURY< /div>
Tags: us_IN, labo ratory, release, injury, unknown_chemical

UPDATE: METH EXPLOSION LEAVES MAN BURNED, FI REFIGHTER INJURED, WOMAN IN JAIL
Tags: us_IN, public, explosion, injury, meth_lab

CORRODED TA NKER CAUSES HAZMAT SITUATION AT FEDERAL WAY TRUCK SCALE
Tags: us_WA, transportation, d iscovery, response, liquid_nitrogen

MAN KILLED IN WILLIAMSTOWN ACCIDENT
Tags: us_MA, trans portation, release, death, acids

DIESEL RELEASE IN TRUCK ACCIDENT
Tags: us_PA, transportation , release, environmental, diesel

UPDATE: GIRL SCOUTS GAUZE SCARE DIFFUSED
Tags: us_MA, public , discovery, response, flammables

PROPANE GAS LEAK AT SCRAP METAL FACILITY< /div>
Tags: us_IN, indu strial, release, response, propane

JUVENILE CHARGED IN CONNECTION WITH HOMEMADE CHE MICAL BOMB
Ta gs: us_AZ, public, explosion, response, bomb


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

TEAR GAS FAIL-SAFE TURNS CHURCH THEFT INTO HAZMAT SCENE
Tags: us_PA, public, release, r esponse, tear_gas



 IRWIN, Pa. -- Thieves who broke into a church building and stole thousands of dollars were likely sprayed with tea r gas, leading to a hazmat situation, police said.

Channel 4 Action News' Jennifer Miele reported that Irwin police said more than $7,000 was stolen from Imma culate Conception Church's administration building.

Police told Miele the thieves g ot in through a basement door and rode the elevator to the business office t o get to the safe, then brought the safe down to the basement in the elevato r.

Pol ice said the burglars knocked over a refrigerator when they were in the proc ess of moving it so they could reach the safe.

Investigators originally believed t he fridge was leaking Freon, because of a burning chemical smell, and they c alled in hazmat crews to deal with what they thought was a dangerous chemica l.

It t urned out that the smell was really tear gas that was part of a "booby trap" on the older-model safe.

"After doing some research on this particular safe, thes e safes were equipped with a fail-safe. If someone breached them, tear gas w ould be released," Police Chief Joe Pocsatko said.

"If it hit their skin, it proba bly burned them,"

Miele reported that officers found 11 water bottles scattered ar ound the damaged safe and believe the suspects used them to rinse their eyes and throats after being sprayed with the gas.

"I was in there myself -- eyes sta rted burning. We couldn't go back in until the fire department ventilated th e building," Pocsatko said.

Police believe three or four people must have been inv olved in the theft, as the safe is extremely heavy. No arrests have been mad e.

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

AGING ACID FOUND IN MEMORABILIA COULD E XPLODE IF MOVED
Tags: us_CO, public, discovery, response, picric_acid

DENVER - Bomb squads along the Front Range have been visiting some unlikely places: museums and the ho mes of collectors. The same volatile chemical keeps turning up.

Carol and Ernie Al tvater of Denver did not expect they would find it in their basement among t heir Girl Scout memorabilia.

The Altvaters have been collecting the memorabilia for 20 years. They did not know that a piece of their collection could cau se an explosion: a first aid kit with gauze pads soaked in picric acid.

"When you hear words like picric acid it's similar to when you hear structure fir e or child choking. Your adrenaline goes a little higher," Capt. CJ Haberkor n with the Denver Fire HazMat team said.

Picric acid once was used as an antiseptic a nd anesthetic. When picric acid ages and crystallizes, it turns into a compo und that can explode.

Haberkorn says his HazMat team trains for encounters with it.

"What 's the biggest problem with picric acid if it's crystallized?" Haberkorn ask ed a class of Denver firefighters on Tuesday.

"Explosion," Haberkorn answered, pick ing up a cup to demonstrate. "Shock sensitive. If this is picric acid and it 's crystallized and we go up and grab it we could actually blow it right the re."

De nver firefighters see six to 12 picric acid calls a year.

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

CCSO: CARBON MONOXIDE CAUSED LOCAL WOMAN AND CHILDREN TO LOSE CONSCIOUSNESS
Tags: us_FL, public, release, injury, carbo n_monoxide

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla.- UPDATE: Accidental carbon monoxide poisoning is be lieved to be what caused a woman and two children to lose consciousness in t heir car in a Charlotte County Publix parking lot on Wednesday, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office. 

A woman and two children are consciou s and under observation at an area hospital after they were found passed out in a vehicle at a grocery store parking lot.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Charlotte C ounty Sheriff's Office received a call that bystanders had found the family i n the parking lot of Publix, located at 24123 Peachland Boulevard in Port Ch arlotte.

Witnesses reported that the woman appeared to be in her 40's, with two y oung girls in the car with her.

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

RESIDENT, C OPS CONTAMINATED BY HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
Tags: us_NJ, public, discovery, injury, unknown_chemical

A Westfield resident and two police officers were contaminated by hazardous materials in Westfield's Brightwood Park on Thursday morning when they came across a makes hift structure containing unknown chemicals, Westfield Police Captain David W ayman said.

The resident, whom police declined to identify but described as a woman in her early 20s, was transported by ambulance to Overlook Hospital in Summ it. She reportedly called 911 at 10:33 a.m., stating that she coul d not breathe. By the time officers arrived at the park, they found that she had passed out.

Upon discovering the structure, officers evacuated and cordoned- off the park, which borders Scotch Plains. Two officers reportedly came in c ontact with the chemicals, Wayman stated, which sent one of them to the hosp ital.

As of 2:30 p.m., officials had not stated whether they had identified the chemicals

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

BOMB SQUAD RESPONDS TO CHEMICAL SCARE AT CEDAR CREEK PARK
Ta gs: us_NY, public, discovery, response, unknown_chemical

Nassau County detectives w ere called to assist the Nassau County Fire Marshall and the Nassau County H ealth Department at Cedar Creek Park in Seaford Wednesday afternoon after a chemical scare at one of the storage buildings in the park.

According to N assau County Police, the fire marshall and health department were in the pro cess of removing and disposing of chemicals from a storage building, when th ey located chemicals that were stored in two unmarked glass containers that t hey deemed to be hazardous.

Upon arrival and investigation it was determined by th e Nassau County Arson/Bomb Squad that the unidentified chemicals, due to the ir crystallized state, would be sensitive to heat, shock and friction, polic e said. The chemicals were mitigated at the scene.

According to police, no air con taminants were present in the environment and the health department took soi l samples, which will be tested for contaminants.

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

STUDENT TREATED FOR CHEMICAL INJURY
Ta gs: us_IN, laboratory, release, injury, unknown_chemical

SOUTH BEND -- An ambulanc e from the South Bend Fire Department took a 20-year-old Notre Dame student t o a hospital Wednesday after a chemical splashed into his eyes, university s pokesman Dennis Brown said.

The student was conducting an experiment in a third-fl oor laboratory in the Stepan chemistry building, Brown said. When a beaker c ontaining the chemical broke, the liquid splashed into his eyes.

After the student f lushed his eyes in the laboratory, Brown said, he still complained of minor i rritation and was taken to the hospital for an examination.

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

UPDATE: METH EXPLOSION LEAVES MAN BURNED, FIREFIGHTER INJURED , WOMAN IN JAIL
Tags: us_IN, public, explosion, injury, meth_lab

EVANSVILLE =E2=80=94 A woman wa s arrested, her residence deemed a total loss, a firefighter was injured and another man was seriously burned following a meth lab explosion late Wednes day, Evansville police said.

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

CORRODED TANK ER CAUSES HAZMAT SITUATION AT FEDERAL WAY TRUCK SCALE
Tags: us_WA, transportation, discovery, response, liquid_nitrogen

A corroded t anker truck potentially carrying liquid nitrogen caused officials to evacuat e the I-5 Federal Way weigh station Wednesday afternoon.
< br>
The truck pulled in to the weigh station around noon and state patrol inspectors spotted corrosi on on the exterior of the truck.

They immediately ordered an evacuation of the immed iate area and called in hazardous materials crews.

Troopers said the plaque on the tanker denoted it was carrying liquid nitrogen, but they are still trying t o determine how much, if any, of the substance is in the truck.

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

MAN KILLED IN WILLIAMSTOWN ACCIDENT
http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S2178633.shtml?c at=300
Tags: us_MA, transportation, release, death, acids

One man is killed and another i njured Wednesday morning when a tractor-trailer failed to stop at a intersection in Berkshire County.

    

The accident happened at Taconic Trail and Cold Spring R oad, in Williamstown.

   

Williamstown police tell NewsChannel 13 the tractor trailer went through the barriers at A-Frame Bakery then slammed into the woods.

     

A Hazmat team was called because the tractor-trailer was carrying an acid used in lotions.

      ;

Authorities say t he spilled chemical is not toxic.

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

DIESEL R ELEASE IN TRUCK ACCIDENT
Tags: us_PA, transportation, release, environmental, diesel

In Lebanon County, fire, p olice and hazmat crews worked to pull a truck out of a creek this afternoon.

Just b efore noon, a truck crashed into a car then rolled over the guard rail and i nto the Quittapahilla Creek. It was carrying air conditioning systems and bo ilers.  The crash happened at Belgrove and Syner Roads in North Annvill e Township.

Hazmat was called out to clean up the oil that spilled into the Quittap ahilla Creek. Booms were also placed in the water.

"We did have some oil in the wa ter and at first there was a report of a diesel spill at this point that all seems in tact," commented Belgrove Assistant Fire Chief Joan Sallada.

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

UPDATE: GIRL SCOUTS GAUZE SCARE DIFFUSED< /div>
http://nor thandover.patch.com/articles/gauze-acid-scare-at-girl-scouts< /div>
Tags: us_MA, public, dis covery, response, flammables

Several fire trucks, ambulances, police cruisers, a ha zmat team and a bomb squad were on the scene at the Girl Scouts of Eastern M assachusetts building on Turnpike Street Wednesday afternoon.

Children and st aff were quickly evacuated from the building, and emergency crews stood read y for action. Traffic backed up as concerned commuters gazed at the scene. A couple hours later, the danger was removed and the building was fine.

What terrif ying items were found that caused this panic? Gauze pads.

"A member of the North A ndover Fire Department was called by the staff," Girl Scouts spokesperson Al lison Rubin said. "They were concerned that first aid kits had become a fire hazard."

In the 1930s and 1940s, gauze contained acid, used in treating burns.

"It was very common back then," Rubin said.

But over time, when the material breaks down , it has the potential to become flammable. The chemicals that the Girl Scou ts' gauze were saturated with had crystalized and had become a fire hazard a nd potentially explosive. So the staff at the Girl Scouts called the Fire De partment.

When the first aid kits were taken apart, aking the chemicals more vulne rable to explosion, the Fire Department then brought in a hazmat team -- mad e up of firefighters from several area communities -- and the state bomb squ ad, Fire Lt. Robert Bonenfant said.

"Especially when dealing with chemicals and v olatile substances, we always go on the side of caution," Bonenfant said.

There w ere no fires or injuries, and Bonenfant added that the building is fine now. All of the potentially harmful materials were removed and brought to the lo cal recycling center, where they were destroyed.

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

PROPANE GAS LEAK AT SCRAP METAL FACILITY
Tags: us_IN, industrial, release, res ponse, propane

Indianapolis Fire Department hazmat crews worked through most of t he afternoon Wednesday to prevent any damage from a propane gas le ak at the Omni-Source scrap metal processing facility in the 2100 block of S outh West Street.
IFD Capt. Rita Burris says a crane was lifting a large piece of metal, a portion of which fell onto the 1,000 gallon tank and created a two-inch gas h in the tank, causing the leak. Burris says the tank was about two-thirds f ull when it was hit.
Firefighters evacuated the 75 workers from the facility and moved everyo ne at least a half mile from the site in the event of an explosion. Crews we re not able to close the gash and decided to let the gas dissipate.

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

JUVENILE CHARGED IN CONNECTION WITH HOMEMADE CHEMIC AL BOMB
Ta gs: us_AZ, public, explosion, response, bomb

Oro Valley police officers today ques tioned three local, juvenile males in connection with homemade, chemical-rea ction bottle bombs found in the youths' neighborhood.
One juvenile, determined by police to b e the responsible party, was charged with misdemeanor misconduct involving e xplosives and Class IV felony depositing explosives. The remaining juveniles were remanded to their parents.
At 12:25 p.m., police investigated a chemical bomb explosion i n the 11500 block of North Copper Queen Way. The investigation was prompted b y a call from a homeowner who found remnants of a soda bottle filled with ca ustic chemicals in his front yard that morning; he believed they could be fr agments from a "boom" he had heard the night before in the neighborhood, acc ording to Oro Valley police Lt. John Teachout, public information officer fo r the department.

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