From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (18 articles)
Date: January 18, 2012 7:33:00 AM EST
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: <B4417D68-E82C-4B25-BD5C-CC72D61584ED**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org>

Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 7:31:46 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 (18 articles)

HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO SHIPYARD BUILDING
Tags: us_ME, industrial, release, response, petroleum

AMAZON FULFILLMENT CENTER IN PHOENIX EVACUATED
Tags: us_AZ, transportation, release, response, ammonia

HAZMAT TEAM DISPATCHED TO CLAREMONT RD. IN RIDGEWOOD
Tags: us_NJ, transportation, release, environmental, unknown_chemical

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA HAS RE-OPENED THE FLOOR OF SISLER HALL WHERE A CHEMICAL EXPLOSION INJURED A GRADUATE STUDENT
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, follow-up, injury, sodium_azide

AIR TANK EXPLOSION INJURIES THREE
Tags: us_TX, industrial, explosion, injury, other_chemical

UF TO REVIEW CHEMISTRY LABORATORY SAFETY POLICIES
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, follow-up, injury, sodium_azide

CHEMICAL LEAKING AT CARTERET FUEL REFINERY
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, release, environmental, other_chemical

BLAZE GUTS CHEMICAL FACTORY, ONE DEAD
Tags: India, industrial, fire, death, unknown_chemical

CHEMICAL ACCIDENT INJURES 39 PEOPLE IN GERMANY
Tags: Germany, industrial, release, injury, chlorine

OFFICIAL: DUST CLOUD, HEATER CAUSED EDMOND PLANT EXPLOSION
Tags: us_OK, industrial, follow-up, injury, kerosene

FIRE ON COLLEGE CAMPUS
Tags: us_MD, education, fire, response, unknown_chemical

WHITE-POWDER SCARES STEADILY MOUNT IN PALM BEACH COUNTY
Tags: us_FL, public, follow-up, response, dust

APPLE: EXPLOSIONS CAUSED BY ALUMINIUM DUST
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, death, aluminum_dust

A PAIR OF EXPLOSIONS IN THE SAME UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA LAB
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, follow-up, injury, sodium_azide

SMALL CHEMICAL SPILL REPORTED AT UNION PACIFIC RAIL YARD IN AVONDALE
Tags: us_LA, transportation, release, response, pesticides

FIRE OUT ON MARSHALL COUNTY WELL SITE
Tags: us_WV, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical

MOERDIJK CHEMICAL FIRE WAS DUE TO MANAGEMENT FAILINGS: REPORT
Tags: Netherlands, industrial, follow-up, response, unknown_chemical

STOWMARKET: SECOND CHEMICAL LEAK IN THREE DAYS AT FACTORY
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical


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

HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO SHIPYARD BUILDING
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120118/NEWS/201180364/-1/NEWSMAP
Tags: us_ME, industrial, release, response, petroleum

KITTERY, Maine Ñ A chemical reaction at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard brought its hazardous response team to Building 357 on Tuesday morning.

According to shipyard public affairs officer Dana Eddy, the team responded at about 9:30 a.m. About one pound of calcium hypochlorite had been placed in a hopper that had previously contained oily rags, she said.

This caused a chemical reaction within the hopper, which was immediately removed from the building. Eddy said the reaction subsequently ended, and there were no personal injuries.

Calcium hypochlorite is used to disinfect drinking water systems and is closely related to household bleach or pool chemicals, she said.

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

AMAZON FULFILLMENT CENTER IN PHOENIX EVACUATED
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/business/amazon-fulfillment-center-in-phoenix-evacuated-1-17-2012
Tags: us_AZ, transportation, release, response, ammonia

PHOENIX - Workers at the Amazon warehouse in southwest Phoenix were evacuated Tuesday after a hazmat scare.

According to the Phoenix Fire Department, three workers became lighthanded while unloading a 53-foot trailer.

Hazmat crews were dispatched to the scene and measured high ammonia readings inside the trailer. The building was evacuated as a precaution

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

HAZMAT TEAM DISPATCHED TO CLAREMONT RD. IN RIDGEWOOD
http://ridgewood.patch.com/articles/hazmat-team-dispatched-to-claremont-rd-in-ridgewood#photo-8915891
Tags: us_NJ, transportation, release, environmental, unknown_chemical

A "non-toxic" leak from a truck spraying foam insulation into a home on Claremont Road prompted response from the county HAZMAT team Tuesday afternoon.

According to Ridgewood Fire Department Captain Paul Monton, run off from the leak spilled into two separate storm drains.

"They have two parts that they mix together in the back of a box truck," Monton explained. "One of the hoses leaked from one of the barrels of the chemicals, spilled into the truck and there was a stream of the product coming out onto the roadway and into the storm drains."

The chemicals were a "non-toxic" product but the contractor was still required to have the county HAZMAT response team clean the estimated 10-gallon spill because there exists potential for environmental harm, Monton said. The foam was found as far as Glen Rock, he added.

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

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA HAS RE-OPENED THE FLOOR OF SISLER HALL WHERE A CHEMICAL EXPLOSION INJURED A GRADUATE STUDENT
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120117/ARTICLES/120119594
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, follow-up, injury, sodium_azide

The University of Florida has re-opened the floor of Sisler Hall where a chemical explosion injured a graduate student last week.

A contractor on Monday removed the remnants of the chemical involved in the explosion, sodium azide, said UF Environmental Health and Safety Director William Properzio. An extensive decontamination and cleaning lasting most of the day also were done, he said.

Sisler Hall was closed following the explosion but three of the hall's floors re-opened Friday. The second floor of the hall and UF chemistry professor Alan Katritzky's laboratory, where the explosion took place, were opened Tuesday as classes resumed following the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.

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

AIR TANK EXPLOSION INJURIES THREE
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2012/jan/17/no-headline---explosion2/
Tags: us_TX, industrial, explosion, injury, other_chemical

SAN ANGELO, Texas Ñ Three people were sent to Shannon Medical Center after a pressurized-air tank explosion in the 3800 block of Christoval Road.

San Angelo firefighters and EMS were notified about 8:25 a.m. Monday to a industrial accident, Captain Fred Barnett said Tuesday morning.

"They were pressure testing a tank that had been built and it broke loose and exploded," Barnett said. "Three people were injured and transported to the hospital."

Barnett described the tank as being six feet in diameter and about 20 feet tall.

It was unclear how close the three were to the tank. A firetruck responded, which is standard with a call about serious injuries, but there was no gasoline or chemical explosion.

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

UF TO REVIEW CHEMISTRY LABORATORY SAFETY POLICIES
http://www.alligator.org/news/campus/article_dface386-4199-11e1-b109-001871e3ce6c.html
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, follow-up, injury, sodium_azide

Several UF departments are reviewing lab safety policies after two students were injured in separate incidents in the last three months. The second put a graduate student in the hospital.
UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes said hazardous materials teams responded to six incidents Ñ three explosions, two spills and one reported odor Ñ on campus in the last year.
The chemical explosion on Wednesday in Sisler Hall that injured graduate student Khanh Ha, 27, and Gainesville Fire Rescue firefighter Andrew Marsh, 25, is still under investigation, she said.
The chemistry department and UF's Environmental Health and Safety division are working diligently to ensure students' safety in labs and to minimize the risk of accidents, Sikes said.
In October, an explosion caused by a set of chemical reactions surprised the department, said Daniel Talham, chair of the chemistry department.
Last week's explosion, which Talham said was caused by similar reactions, surprised the University Police Department.
"For our agency to respond to two similar incidents involving the same chemical in the same building in three months is fortunately not something that we routinely see," said UPD spokesman Maj. Brad Barber.
In both cases, the reactions involved sodium azide, but Talham said that particular chemical was not necessarily the culprit.
The director of Environmental Health and Safety, William Properzio, said sodium azide is routinely used in labs. He said UF has about 3,000 labs on campus.
Since the October explosion, EHS has worked with the chemistry department to ensure researchers follow safety procedures, he said.

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

CHEMICAL LEAKING AT CARTERET FUEL REFINERY
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/01/carteret_chemical_leak_at_refi.html
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, release, environmental, other_chemical

CARTERET Ñ Emergency workers are still trying to stop a leak today at a Carteret fuel refinery that has released 3,000 gallons of combustible liquid, authorities said.
All of the liquid spilling from a tank at the BP Products refinery, 76 Roosevelt Ave., was contained in a dyked area, Carteret Fire Chief Brian O'Connor said.
O'Brien said the product, reformate, which is used in blending fuel products, was first discovered leaking from a storage tank flange about 8 a.m. today. The tank holds 3 million gallons of the product, the chief said.
He said the liquid was being transferred another tank, and an environmental cleanup company was at the scene to remove the liquid that leaked from the flange.

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

BLAZE GUTS CHEMICAL FACTORY, ONE DEAD
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/north/blaze-guts-chemical-factory-one-dead-428
Tags: India, industrial, fire, death, unknown_chemical

One person was killed and six others seriously injured in a fire that broke out at a chemical factory.

Kanpur DIG Rajesh Rai said the fire broke out at six in the morning in Sumit chemical factory in the Panki area.

The fire spread rapidly as many chemical tankers were kept nearby and the situation turned serious trapping the workers one of whom was

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

CHEMICAL ACCIDENT INJURES 39 PEOPLE IN GERMANY
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/17/world/europe/germany-chemical-accident/index.html
Tags: Germany, industrial, release, injury, chlorine

Berlin (CNN) -- A chemical accident involving chlorine gas injured nearly 40 people Tuesday at a plant for security technology in Bruhl.
Of the 39 victims, seven were seriously injured, according to Markus Brachschoss, a spokesman for the local fire department. Around 300 people were inside the plant at the time of the accident.
The incident occurred when two chemicals -- sodium hypochlorite and hydrochloric acid -- came into contact, emitting chlorine gas.

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

OFFICIAL: DUST CLOUD, HEATER CAUSED EDMOND PLANT EXPLOSION
http://www.edmondsun.com/local/x1929695096/Official-Dust-cloud-heater-caused-Edmond-plant-explosion
Tags: us_OK, industrial, follow-up, injury, kerosene

EDMOND Ñ A dust cloud and a kerosene heater caused an explosion that injured four employees Thursday morning at an Edmond manufacturing business, a fire official said.

Edmond Fire Maj. Kelly Lewis said shortly before 9 a.m. one of the machines at NOV Tuboscope, 3600 S. Kelly, near the 33rd Street-Kelly intersection, became clogged and maintenance workers were attempting to clear the obstruction.

A pipe became disconnected and the polymer, a type of powdery substance, was released, creating a dust cloud, Lewis said. The cloud reached an industrial space heater that runs on kerosene and had an open flame, he said.

Four employees suffered burns from the fire caused by the explosion, Lewis said. One has been released from the Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City, he said. Two others with less severe burns were admitted to the hospital's Paul Silverstein Burn Center. An employee with more severe burns is in the intensive care unit, Lewis said.

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

FIRE ON COLLEGE CAMPUS
http://wbal.com/article/85571/3/template-story/Fire-On-College-Campus
Tags: us_MD, education, fire, response, unknown_chemical

A fire at the University of Maryland College Park is now under control.

The Prince George's County Fire Department tells WBAL Radio the blaze started around 3:15 this afternoon in the J.M. Patterson building.

Fire officials say no one was injured.

Mark Brady, a spokesman with the Prince George's County Fire Department, says firefighters found a fire in the electrical room on the second floor of the chemistry building.

The fire had spread to the attic of the building.

Brady says the sprinklers and firefighters were able to bring the fire under control in about fifteen minutes.

He says as a precaution the Hazmat team was called because of the use of chemicals in the building.

Students are still on winter break.

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

WHITE-POWDER SCARES STEADILY MOUNT IN PALM BEACH COUNTY
http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_c_palm_beach_county/white-powder-scares-steadily-mount-in-palm-beach-county
Tags: us_FL, public, follow-up, response, dust

Hazmat crews in Palm Beach County have suited up at least six times in the past three months to determine whether white powder found in letters, on an airplane and even in an envelope from India contained anthrax - the cause of a Lantana photo editor's death more than 10 years ago.

While the spate of recent white powder incidents might seem to signal they are increasing, the number has remained about 300 incidents per year nationally since 2008, according to FBI statistics.

Recent incidents at the state attorney's office in West Palm Beach and the Ocean Ridge home of Vice President Joe Biden's brother drew more notice, authorities say

"The ones recently are a little more high--profile," said Boynton Beach Fire Rescue Chief Ray Carter. "So they attract a little more attention."

Though a few powder incidents are deliberate hoaxes or threats, most are unintended and harmless, fire-rescue officials said.

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

APPLE: EXPLOSIONS CAUSED BY ALUMINIUM DUST
http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/apple-explosions-caused-by-aluminium-dust-54447
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, death, aluminum_dust

Apple on Friday said that explosions at two of its parts suppliers last year were caused by airborne aluminium dust created during the milling and polishing of products such as iMacs, MacBooks and iPads.

The company made the disclosure as part of its sixth annual ÒSupplier Responsibility Progress ReportÓ, in which it also for the first time listed all of its major suppliers. The report covers issues such as worker safety, labour rights and environmental impact.

Explosions

The explosions took place at a Foxconn plant in Chengdu, China, in May and RiTeng Computer Accessory, subsidiary of Pegatron, in Shanghai in December. The Foxconn explosion killed four workers and injured 18, while the Pegatron incident injured between 59 and 61 workers.

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

A PAIR OF EXPLOSIONS IN THE SAME UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA LAB
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/sciencecareers/2012/01/can-anything-go.html
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, follow-up, injury, sodium_azide

What could possibly be good about not one but two explosions in 3 months, both with injuries, in the same academic lab? What could be good is the apparent progress the laboratory made between the two incidents.

In the more recent of two explosions in Alan Katritzky's lab in the chemistry department at the University of Florida (UF), on 12 January, "Preliminary investigation determined that appropriate safety procedures and protective equipment were in use, likely significantly mitigating the effects of the explosion," says UF chemistry department chair Daniel Talham, quoted by Jyllian Kemsley at Chemical & Engineering News.


Graduate student Khahn Ha, 27, who was working with sodium azide, sustained a "gash to his upper body, injuries to his hand and burns to his face" in the January explosion -- but avoided even worse harm because of his safety glasses, the Gainesville Sun reports. A firefighter wearing a face mask also received "minor chemical burns to his face and eyes" but is doing well, the Sun continues.

Three months earlier, an explosion in the same lab, involving the same chemical, injured student Mohamed Ibrahim, who was not wearing appropriate safety gear and suffered cuts to his face. Ha's mishap, troubling as it is, therefore seems to indicate that by the time the second explosion occurred safety was being taken more seriously in the Katritzky lab.

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

SMALL CHEMICAL SPILL REPORTED AT UNION PACIFIC RAIL YARD IN AVONDALE
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/01/south_korean_container_has_sma.html
Tags: us_LA, transportation, release, response, pesticides

A chemical leak was reported Monday morning at Union Pacific Railroad's Avondale rail yard, 100 Avondale Garden Road in Avondale. Initial reports from Jefferson Parish stated that it had occurred at the Avondale Container Yard next door, but container yard officials there said it wasn't in their yard and calls to Union Pacific clarified the incident.

About two ounces of sodium carbonate peroxyhydrate spilled in a container there about 8:30 a.m. Monday, according to Raquel Espinoza, who directs the Omaha-based railroad's corporate relations for Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
No injuries were reported.
....
The chemical is a substance used in fungicides and algaecides. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, sodium carbonate peroxyhydrate is used for treating Òornamental plants, turf grasses, terrestrial landscapes, in commercial greenhouses, garden centers, nurseries and storage areas.Ó

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

FIRE OUT ON MARSHALL COUNTY WELL SITE
http://www.wtrf.com/story/16524461/fire-now-out-on-well-site
Tags: us_WV, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical

Various crews responded to a fire at the Gastar Energy Simms Pad on Rines Ridge Road in Marshall County Saturday morning.

Authorities said it took about two hours to put out the fire.

Marshall County EMA Director Tom Hart said he received a call about the fire around 7:30 a.m.

Hart said two holding tanks containing drip gas caught fire.

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

MOERDIJK CHEMICAL FIRE WAS DUE TO MANAGEMENT FAILINGS: REPORT
http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2012/01/moerdijk_chemical_fire_was_due.php
Tags: Netherlands, industrial, follow-up, response, unknown_chemical

Management failings are to blame for last year's massive fire at a chemicals packaging company in Moerdijk, near Rotterdam, according to a safety council report on the blaze, Nos television reports.

The report, which has not yet been officially published, says Chemie-Pack failed to meet operating permit conditions and did not keep to its own policy or procedures. This led to the company 'failing to take any safety measures to manage the fire,' Nos quoted the report as saying.

The report also criticises the local Moerdijk council which was aware the company was not meeting the conditions of its licence but did not sharpen up supervision, let alone close it down.

Left-wing green party GroenLinks has called for a debate on the findings and their implications for public safety with justice minister Ivo Opstelten.

The cost of the damage and the clean-up operation after the fire is put at Û71m. Chemi-Pack was declared bankrupt in August.

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

STOWMARKET: SECOND CHEMICAL LEAK IN THREE DAYS AT FACTORY
http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/stowmarket_second_chemical_leak_in_three_days_at_factory_1_1177926
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical

A CORDON set up in Stowmarket as fire crews dealt with a chemical leak at a factory has been lifted.

The leak comes three days after a similar incident at PPG Industries, in Needham Road.

Police confirmed there had been another leak at the paint factory this afternoon and that firefighters were on scene.

A road closure was put in place at Needham Road and police had urged residents in the immediate area to stay indoors. At 7pm the cordon and road closure were lifted.

Between 500 and 1,000 litres of hazardous liquid was spilled according to reports from fire crews on scene.

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


Ralph Stuart
secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Secretary
Division of Chemical Health and Safety
American Chemical Society

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