From: Ralph Stuart <rstuartcih**At_Symbol_Here**ME.COM>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (10 articles)
Date: February 6, 2012 8:38:26 AM EST
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: <94BBEFC1-882B-491C-9707-30F39B301C7F**At_Symbol_Here**me.com>

Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, February 6, 2012 8:37:58 AM

A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
Connecting Chemistry and Safety at http://www.dchas.org
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Table of Contents (10 articles)

TECH STRIVES TO RAISE AWARENESS, MINIMIZE RISKS AFTER SERIES OF LABORATORY EXPLOSIONS
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, follow-up, response

SOME TEXAS TIER-ONE SCHOOLS LEARN FROM TECH'S ACCIDENTS
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, follow-up, response

WAFF.COM: NORTH ALABAMA NEWS, RADAR, WEATHER, SPORTS AND JOBS-
Tags: us_AL, industrial, fire, injury, fireworks

DRYER CAUSES ISLAND LAKE BOWLING ALLEY FIRE
Tags: us_IL, public, fire, response, cleaners

UPDATE: FIRE BREAKS OUT AT CENTRAL MOSCOW NUCLEAR RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Tags: Russia, industrial, fire, response, radiation

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION OF...
Tags: New_Zealand, public, fire, injury, oils

FRIENDSHIP HAZMAT CALL JUST CLEANING CHEMICALS
Tags: us_PA, public, release, response, bleach

FIRE GUTS HOSPITAL LAB IN GOMBE
Tags: Nigeria, laboratory, fire, response, kerosene

NORTH FOND DU LAC SCHOOL EVACUATED DUE TO FUMES; STUDENTS RETURN LATER IN DAY
Tags: us_WI, education, release, response, cleaners

SANTA ROSA AUTO SHOP MAY FACE CHARGES OVER CHEMICAL SPILL THAT SICKENED NEIGHBORS
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, gasoline, illegal


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TECH STRIVES TO RAISE AWARENESS, MINIMIZE RISKS AFTER SERIES OF LABORATORY EXPLOSIONS
http://lubbockonline.com/education/2012-02-04/tech-strives-raise-awareness-minimize-risks-after-series-laboratory-explosions#.Ty_XhlFSbqg
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, follow-up, response

January 2010. Texas Tech University. A lab accident. A doctoral student left severely injured, national headlines and a government investigation. October 2011. Two back-to-back lab explosions. No injuries.

The January 2010 accident left a Tech doctoral student minus three fingers and with an injured eye. He suffered burns on his hands and face from the accident in a campus lab.

The incident also brought to Tech's campus investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board to probe into the accident.

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SOME TEXAS TIER-ONE SCHOOLS LEARN FROM TECH'S ACCIDENTS
http://lubbockonline.com/education/2012-02-04/some-texas-tier-one-schools-learn-techs-mistakes#.Ty_XU1FSbqg
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, follow-up, response

Texas Tech's laboratory explosion in January 2010 caught the attention of universities across the country.

The University of Texas at Austin's environmental health and safety director, Peter Schneider, said UT has followed the Tech incident closely.

"I just think that there's always lessons to be learned when there's an incident like this. ... If you are committed, the way we are here, to continuously improving your safety program, then you really have to pay close attention to these kind (of incidents)," Schneider said.

One thing UT does to prevent lab accidents is investigate even the small incidents, he said.

"Looking at smaller incidents is important and looking at what we call Ônear-misses,' where something almost happens, someone was almost hurt," he said. "These small things and near-misses can be very useful in learning lessons and avoiding big problems."

The most recent major laboratory incident Schneider could recall at UT was a fire in a fume hood a couple of years ago. No one was hurt, but the laboratory suffered a lot of damage, he said.

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WAFF.COM: NORTH ALABAMA NEWS, RADAR, WEATHER, SPORTS AND JOBS-
http://www.waff.com/story/16677294/woman-injured-in-chemical-fire-at-huntsville-plant
Tags: us_AL, industrial, fire, injury, fireworks

OWENS CROSSROADS, AL (WAFF) -
One woman is injured in a chemical fire at a Huntsville fireworks plant.

Emergency and fire crews responded to Luna Tech Inc. on 148 Moon road in Owens Crossroads Saturday morning.

Fire crews were able to put the fire out.

"Upon arrival, one of the buildings where they mix the pyrotechnics caught on fire and had one person that had second degree burns to the face and hands," said Aaron Pearson, Chief Deputy Fire Marshal.

The woman was taken to UAB Burn center by ambulance for treatment.

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DRYER CAUSES ISLAND LAKE BOWLING ALLEY FIRE
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120204/news/702049803/
Tags: us_IL, public, fire, response, cleaners

Wauconda Fire District officials are blaming chemicals on unwashed material for a fire that started in a dryer at an Island Lake bowling alley Saturday.

Battalion Chief Scott Schrayer said firefighters were called to 3-D Bowl and Sideouts Restaurant at 4018 Roberts Road at 1:45 p.m. Saturday for report of a smoke detector being triggered. Firefighters encountered heavy smoke in the rear of the building and a small fire in a standard household-type dryer the bowling alley owners use for drying various materials.

It is believed someone put items in the dryer that had been doused with a cleaning chemical and not properly washed first. Schrayer believes the heat from the dryer ignited the chemicals, which caused the fire.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze and removed the dryer from the building. The dryer was a total loss, Schrayer said.

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UPDATE: FIRE BREAKS OUT AT CENTRAL MOSCOW NUCLEAR RESEARCH INSTITUTE
http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2012/Alikhanov_fire
Tags: Russia, industrial, fire, response, radiation

A fire broke out on Sunday at a Moscow nuclear research center that houses a non-operational 60-year-old atomic reactor, emergency officials reported as Russia's nuclear agency Rosatom said the blaze had not been accompanied by any open flames and posed no threat of a radiation leak.

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

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION OF...
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6371536/Oily-cloth-caused-house-fire
Tags: New_Zealand, public, fire, injury, oils

Spontaneous combustion of an oiled cloth used for home renovations was the cause of a house fire in South Auckland yesterday.

Two fire trucks battled flames at the Papatoetoe home after a neighbour, who had spotted the roof ablaze, phoned 111 about 4am.

Fire safety officer Phil Faidley was yesterday at the Wyllie Rd address determining the cause of the blaze which saw one woman admitted to Middlemore Hospital for smoke inhalation.

He said a discarded cloth that had been used to oil doors spontaneously ignited - something he has seen in six fire investigations in the past two years.

A chemical reaction between natural oils and the fabric resulted in heat, which later ignited the fabric.

"The more the heat builds up the more active the reaction becomes and it gets hotter and hotter and hotter until it gets to the point, probably at about 250C, the rag will ignite."

He said linseed oil had fuelled the Papatoetoe fire.

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FRIENDSHIP HAZMAT CALL JUST CLEANING CHEMICALS
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_780191.html?_s_icmp=NetworkHeadlines
Tags: us_PA, public, release, response, bleach

County Hazmat crews were called Sunday night to Harriet Street in Friendship after a strong smell of bleach triggered residents' fear of a drug lab.

Starting around 9:45 p.m., Police, fire and EMS personnel gathered in the 5500 block of Harriet to check out the reports of a strong chemical odor coming from a downstairs apartment. Though Hazmat crews were standing by, no one entered the building while police interviewed residents.

However, when the residents agreed to let police and a DEA agent check the apartment, they found the smell actually was bleach the residents had been using. No one was sickened or injured, and responders left the scene by 11:40 p.m.

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FIRE GUTS HOSPITAL LAB IN GOMBE
http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news-update/35582-fire-guts-hospital-lab-in-gombe.html
Tags: Nigeria, laboratory, fire, response, kerosene

The medical laboratory section of Kaltungo General Hospital in Gombe State was on Thursday razed down by an inferno.
Speaking at the scene of incident on Friday, Principal Medical Officer(PNO) of the hospital, Dr. Joseph Mathew said the fire started around 9:00pm on Thursday and was immediately reported to the fire service office in Kaltungo.
"There were series of explosion in the laboratory and unfortunately before we arrived the damage has been done and only few things were recovered," he lamented.
He explained that the inferno was caused by a kerosene refrigerator donated to the hospital two years ago by a Non-governmental organization.
The PNO said the Emir of Kaltungo, Chairman and other important personalities were at the scene trying to put off the inferno.
Some of the items destroyed are chemistry analyzer, CD4 machine, freezers, desktop computers and blood mixer incubator among other equipments.

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NORTH FOND DU LAC SCHOOL EVACUATED DUE TO FUMES; STUDENTS RETURN LATER IN DAY
http://www.fdlreporter.com/article/20120203/FON0101/202030419/North-Fond-du-Lac-school-evacuated-due-fumes-students-return-later-day?odyssey=mod%7Cdefcon%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE
Tags: us_WI, education, release, response, cleaners

Chemical fumes from cleaning a bubbler drain caused the evacuation of Bessie Allen Middle School on Thursday morning.

Superintendent Aaron Sadoff said a drain cleaner was being used to unplug a bubbler near the cafeteria, and during the process, a chemical reaction occurred in the pipe, causing a bad odor to permeate through the school.

The odor did not dissipate, he said. Students from Bessie Allen Middle School were moved to the Horace Mann High School Performing Arts Center while the North Fond du Lac Fire Department used fans to clear out the odor.

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SANTA ROSA AUTO SHOP MAY FACE CHARGES OVER CHEMICAL SPILL THAT SICKENED NEIGHBORS
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120203/ARTICLES/120209779/1036/business?Title=Santa-Rosa-auto-shop-may-face-charges-over-chemical-spill-that-sickened-neighbors
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, gasoline, illegal

A Santa Rosa Avenue auto repair shop may face criminal charges stemming from an incident in which someone reportedly hosed a chemical spill into a neighboring yard, sending the family who lived there to the emergency room, authorities said.

Santa Rosa fire and police officials began investigating the Jan. 17 incident after several inches of contaminated water flooded the neighbor's back yard, exposing an 8-year-old boy to fumes that caused him to vomit 18 times over the next three days, his father said.

The rest of the family suffered nausea, dizziness and light-headedness that sent them to the hospital, as well.

Their back yard is now cratered while crews clear out contaminated soil. The family's above-ground pool has been drained and ruined, as well.

The fire department has cited Accu Tune & Brake for three permit violations, including unauthorized release of hazardous materials, failure to report the release of hazardous materials, and failure to comply with an order to clean it up, Deputy Fire Chief Tony Gossner said.

Though the investigation is ongoing, police expect to forward a case to the District Attorney's Office seeking criminal charges, police Sgt. Mike Lazzarini said.

Police and fire personnel, as well as Safety-Kleen representative Dan Wienholz, who has been contracted by the city to sample and analyze soil from the neighbor's yard, declined to discuss specific findings, pending completion of the investigation. But Bryan Musco, hired to excavate the site, said he understood the main contaminant was gasoline.

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