From: Ralph Stuart <rstuartcih**At_Symbol_Here**ME.COM>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (23 articles)
Date: March 7, 2012 8:02:52 AM EST
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: <AB7EFA3D-00AF-401D-822B-F56B7741E6B7**At_Symbol_Here**me.com>

Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, March 7, 2012 8:02:15 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 (23 articles)

DYNAMITE FOUND IN BARN IN GARFIELD
Tags: us_GA, public, discovery, response, explosives

HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL SPILLED IN 18-WHEELER CRASH ON I-10
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, response, pce

CHEMICAL SPILL STARTS FIRE AT COMPOSITE CENTER
Tags: us_OH, laboratory, fire, response, propanol

PAIR OF FLASH EXPLOSIONS REPORTED AT EAST AKRON CHEMICAL COMPLEX; NO ONE HURT
Tags: us_OH, public, explosion, response, unknown_chemical

FIRE AT PETROL BUNK SPARKS PANIC
Tags: India, public, fire, response, gasoline

SUSPECTED METH LAB EXPLODES; MAN BEING EVICTED SUSPECTED OF SETTING FIRE
Tags: us_TX, public, explosion, response, meth_lab

AMMONIA SPILL CLOSES HIGHWAY IN WHITTEN
Tags: us_IA, public, release, response, ammonia

BEL AIR: 3 TAKEN TO HARFORD HOSPITAL AFTER BEING OVERCOME BY CHEMICAL ODOR AT SCHOOL
Tags: us_MD, education, release, injury, cleaners

HAZ-MAT SCARE IN LOWER POTTSGROVE
Tags: us_PA, transportation, release, response, waste

FACTORY DAMAGED IN SATURDAY FIRE
Tags: us_VA, industrial, fire, response, plastics

CHLORINE LEAK FORCES EVACUATION OF VANCOUVER SCHOOL
Tags: Canada, education, release, injury, pool_chemicals

CREWS CLEAR HAZMAT CALL AT UT WELCH HALL, "NOTHING FOUND," OFFICIALS SAY
Tags: us_TX, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical

MARINA FIRE: HAZMAT INCIDENT ON SUNDAY
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, flammables

MYFOX8.COM - GREENSBORO, HIGH-POINT, WINSTON-SALEM NEWS & WEATHER FROM WGHP TELEVISION FOX8
Tags: us_NC, public, discovery, response, illegal, wastes

SYNCRUDE RUNNING AT TWO-THIRDS CAPACITY AFTER FIRE
Tags: Canada, industrial, fire, response, petroleum

FIRE AT CHEMICAL FACTORY IN WAI
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical

HOSPITAL FLOOR EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SCARE
Tags: Canada, public, release, injury, cleaners

CHEMICALS REMOVED FROM SCHOOL AND HOME IN MARSHFIELD
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, discovery, response, picric_acid, time-sensitive, Potassium

UPDATE 2-CITGO CORPUS CHRISTI REFINERY ALKY UNIT SHUT AFTER RELEASE
Tags: us_TX, industrial, release, response, hydrofluoric_acid

UPDATE: FUEL SPILL TIES UP TRAFFIC ON INTERSTATE 5 IN VALENCIA
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, petroleum

HAZMAT TEAMS CONTAIN LEAK AT DUPO RAIL YARD
Tags: us_IL, transportation, release, response, hydrofluoric_acid

POLICE, FBI IN MERCURY PROBE
Tags: us_NY, public, follow-up, response, illegal, mercury

ABBOTSFORD POLICE RESPOND TO POSSIBLE CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: Canada, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical


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

DYNAMITE FOUND IN BARN IN GARFIELD
http://www.forest-blade.com/news/community/article_71b7d706-67d6-11e1-8f87-001871e3ce6c.html
Tags: us_GA, public, discovery, response, explosives

Friday, March 2, started out as a normal warm spring day. All that changed in the late afternoon. A report was received that old dynamite had been found in a barn next to Highway 23 in Garfield. This triggered a response by the Swainsboro/Emanuel County Hazmat team and the Garfield Fire Department. A command center was established next to the fire station.
A hazmat technician made entry into the barn and determined that 3 sticks of commercial grade dynamite wrapped in a 1970's newspaper were in the building. Once this was confirmed, Chief Mike Strobridge notified the GBI bomb squad and requested their response to the scene. While the bomb squad was enroute from Savannah, plans were developed for the mitigation of the hazard. The final plan was to destroy the dynamite by burning it in the open.
Upon the arrival of the specially equipped bomb squad truck, final preparations were made. Highway 23 was shut down to all traffic, charged fire hose lines were put in place. Bales of hay were prepared to be burnt with the dynamite placed inside. After a final check by the GBI bomb technicians, an announcement "Fire in the hole" was given three times, followed by a small igniter charge starting the hay bales on fire. Within 10 minutes the fire had been reduced to a pile of glowing embers and the hazard destroyed.

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

HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL SPILLED IN 18-WHEELER CRASH ON I-10
http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Hazardous-chemical-spilled-in-18-wheeler-crash-on-3386761.php
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, response, pce

An 18-wheeler hauling a flammable and potentially hazardous chemical has overturned in the westbound lanes of Interstate 10. The accident site is near the downtown Beaumont exit.

Beaumont Fire Captain Earl White said that the driver picked up a load of tetrachloroethylene (also known as perchloroethylene or perc) from Lake Charles, La.

Approximately 20 gallons of the chemical has been contained by Beaumont Hazmat, but it is the responsibility of the trucking company to clean up the spill, said Officer Carol Riley with Beaumont Police Department.

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

CHEMICAL SPILL STARTS FIRE AT COMPOSITE CENTER
http://www.newstalkradiowhio.com/news/news/local/chemical-spill-starts-fire-composite-center/nLMhY/
Tags: us_OH, laboratory, fire, response, propanol

KETTERING, Ohio Ñ A chemical spill that occurred during research at the National Composite Center on Tuesday night led to an alcohol-based fire in one of the laboratories on the center's campus.
Fire crews were dispatched at about 6:30 p.m. to the center in the Kettering Business Park, 2000 Composite Drive, on a report of a fire.
Three employees were running an experiment when the spill occurred, said Tom Butts, shift commander, Kettering Fire Department.
"They were doing research unknown to us," Butts said, and an estimated 20 gallons of isopropanol ("high based 100 percent rubbing alcohol") that spilled sought out an electric ignition source and caught fire.
The alcohol was "consumed in the fire," Butts said. The building's suppression system put out the fire.

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

PAIR OF FLASH EXPLOSIONS REPORTED AT EAST AKRON CHEMICAL COMPLEX; NO ONE HURT
http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/pair-of-flash-explosions-reported-at-east-akron-chemical-complex-no-one-hurt-1.268877
Tags: us_OH, public, explosion, response, unknown_chemical

Akron fire crews had pour water on an empty tank that exploded Tuesday afternoon at a chemical facility near the Goodyear complex in East Akron.

The clean up at Eliokem, owned by Omnova Solutions, was completed and traffic to the area resumed by late afternoon, Akron police Capt. Sylvia Trundle said.

Akron Fire Battalion Chief Dennis Stoneman said workers were welding around a tank that once contained a form of methylstyrene when two "flash explosions" occurred about 1 p.m.

The explosions sent workers scurrying for safety and scores of Akron firefighters rushing to the scene off Kelly Avenue. Stoneman said no one was hurt.

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

FIRE AT PETROL BUNK SPARKS PANIC
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/article2967775.ece
Tags: India, public, fire, response, gasoline

R. Madina of Pudunagar A block in Vyasarpadi termed Tuesday morning Ôfrantic.' The reason - the homemaker and hundreds of other residents, including children in the locality, had to run for their lives following a scare that a fuel station on fire nearby was going to explode.

"This is the fifth time that there is a fire in the petrol bunk. We are scared and want the bunk to be shifted," said Ms. Madina, who along with other residents, staged a road roko outside Prema Service Station, an IOC fuel station on MKB Nagar Main Road in Vyasarpadi. They demanded its immediate closure.

Police said, a dispensing unit in the bunk which also has an auto LPG dispensing facility, caught fire at 7 a.m. "Some workers shouted out to all residents to flee. A chemical stench emanated, and woman, children and elders from Pudunagar A block and Salaima Nagar located behind the bunk, ran to safety," said K. Velavan, a resident.

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

SUSPECTED METH LAB EXPLODES; MAN BEING EVICTED SUSPECTED OF SETTING FIRE
http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2012/mar/05/sl_meth_lab_030612_169439/?news&police-courts
Tags: us_TX, public, explosion, response, meth_lab

When Victoria County Constable Richard Castillo tried to serve an eviction notice Monday morning, he didn't expect his week to get off to such an explosive start.

"I was serving a writ of possession. We serve civil papers on a routine basis, but you never know what you'll find," Castillo said.

What Castillo found was a suspected methamphetamine lab at 1994 Boehm Road near DaCosta.

After the resident refused to answer Castillo's knocks or verbal requests to open the door, Victoria County Sheriff's Office deputies arrived to provide assistance.

The suspect, Scott Allen Fisher, 49, was hiding in an outbuilding and is thought to have set the suspected meth lab in the building on fire, causing an explosion, said Victoria County Sheriff T. Michael O'Connor.

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

AMMONIA SPILL CLOSES HIGHWAY IN WHITTEN
http://www.timesrepublican.com/page/content.detail/id/547497/Ammonia-spill-closes-highway-in-Whitten.html?nav=5005
Tags: us_IA, public, release, response, ammonia

WHITTEN - A hazardous material team has been dispatched to the Mid-Iowa Co-Op, in Whitten after an apparent valve malfunction caused three tanks of ammonia to begin leaking around 10 a.m. Tuesday.

The tank was still gushing as of 11:30 a.m., said Grundy County Sheriff Rick Penning, but the Hazmat team should arrive within an hour.

Although the Beaman and Conrad Fire Departments and Beaman-Conrad First Responders were on scene, the incident did not cause a fire or any injuries.

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

BEL AIR: 3 TAKEN TO HARFORD HOSPITAL AFTER BEING OVERCOME BY CHEMICAL ODOR AT SCHOOL
http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/harford/news/ph-ag-hazmat-incident-0307-20120306,0,7754919.story
Tags: us_MD, education, release, injury, cleaners

Three adults were taken to the hospital Tuesday morning after being overcome by chemical fumes at St. Margaret School in Bel Air, Harford County emergency officials said. No children were injured.

A chemical odor in the building was reported at 8:30 a.m. Harford County's hazardous materials team and Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company responded and evacuated the building at 205 Hickory Ave., Rich Gardiner, a spokesman for Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association, said.

Three faculty members feeling ill from the odor were taken to Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air, while three other adults at the scene refused treatment. Two of the three taken to the hospital had fainted at the school, according to a press release from the Archdiocese of

No children complained of symptoms from the odor, which was attributed to the cross-contamination of cleaning solutions, according to the press release. Sean Caine, from the archdiocese, said people reported a strong bleach-like odor.

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

HAZ-MAT SCARE IN LOWER POTTSGROVE
http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20120306/NEWS01/120309756/-1/news/haz-mat-scare-in-lower-pottsgrove
Tags: us_PA, transportation, release, response, waste

LOWER POTTSGROVE Ñ A recycling truck's crew got a scare during their rounds Monday after a distinct chemical odor and a white "cloud" emerged from their truck's back while it was compacting a load.
Caution tape surrounded the red J.P. Mascaro truck at the top of a hill on Deer Ridge Drive near Quail Lane around 2 p.m. Monday. The displaced crew stood together around a Mascaro pickup truck just inside the tape. "They picked up some (stuff) in the neighborhood and with some kind of container with a chemical in it," Lt. Mike Foltz of the Lower Pottsgrove Police said. "They smelled this chemical's fumes, there was a cloud and they called it in." The Sanatoga and Ringing Hill Fire Companies responded to the call. Fire police blocked off most of the street, although residential traffic was allowed to move through the area not taped off, which consisted of the area between Quail Way and Laurel Way.

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

FACTORY DAMAGED IN SATURDAY FIRE
http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2012/03/factory-damaged-in-saturday-fire.php
Tags: us_VA, industrial, fire, response, plastics

FRONT ROYAL -- A fire at Toray Plastics Factory Saturday night caused significant damage, county fire officials said.

At about 9:50 p.m., firemen were dispatched to an alarm at 500 Toray Drive in Front Royal, Fire Marshal Gerry Maiatico said.

The official cause of the fire is unknown and currently under investigation. Maiatico said it appears the fire started because of a mechanical malfunction.

"Officially it looks like an accidental fire, nothing suspicious," he said.

The original fire -- or flash fire -- had been extinguished by indoor sprinklers by the time firemen arrived on the scene. However, Maiatico said it took about an hour to extinguish various hot spots that had ignited as a result of the original blaze.

"The materials that were involved and the location of the fire in the industrial plant posed several unique challenges to our staff," he said.

Maiatico said that because of a number of the industrial facility's trade secrets, he cannot release a lot of information about the type of equipment that caught fire, or the exact location.

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

CHLORINE LEAK FORCES EVACUATION OF VANCOUVER SCHOOL
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/03/05/bc-stgeorges-school-chlorine.html
Tags: Canada, education, release, injury, pool_chemicals

One person was hospitalized because of a chlorine leak at St. George's School in Vancouver on Monday.

According to Vancouver fire officials, the Hazmat team was called in and the school was evacuated but students were allowed to return early Monday afternoon.

Officials say the leak was related to work being done on a decomissioned pool, which resulted in a small amount of chlorine spilling.

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

CREWS CLEAR HAZMAT CALL AT UT WELCH HALL, "NOTHING FOUND," OFFICIALS SAY
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2012/03/05/crews_respond_to_possible_emer.html
Tags: us_TX, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical

Austin fire emergency crews have cleared the scene of a hazardous material call at Welch Hall on the University of Texas campus after nothing was found at the scene, said Battalion Chief Thayer Smith.
Earlier:
Austin emergency workers have responded to a hazardous-materials call at Welch Hall on the University of Texas campus this afternoon, Austin fire and school officials said.
Emergency medical service workers initially responded around noon to a call of a University of Texas police officer who had fallen ill while checking on an alarm in a tunnel below Welch Hall, said UT spokeswoman Rhonda Weldon.
Now, that call has been upgraded to a hazardous0material call as Austin fire workers look to check the air quality in the tunnel area and whether it may have triggered the officer to fall ill, Weldon and an Austin fire official said.

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

MARINA FIRE: HAZMAT INCIDENT ON SUNDAY
http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20120305/NEWS01/120305011/Marina-Fire-Hazmat-incident-Sunday
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, flammables

The Marina Fire Department responded to a hazardous material incident at 10:32 a.m. Sunday in the area of Eighth Street and the railroad tracks on the former Fort Ord, according to the Marina Fire Department.

An unknown substance was leaking from a 5-gallon container and upon arrival, fire personnel found several 55-galloon drums and 5-gallon containers on a loading dock and roadway, firefighters said.

One 5-gallon container was leaking a flammable product, firefighters said.

The road leading to Fort Ord Dunes Park was closed for approximately 20 minutes while crews assessed the situation, firefighters said.

The products were identified as construction materials which appeared to have been pushed off the loading dock, firefighters said.

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

MYFOX8.COM - GREENSBORO, HIGH-POINT, WINSTON-SALEM NEWS & WEATHER FROM WGHP TELEVISION FOX8
http://myfox8.com/2012/03/05/chemical-dumping-arrest-could-have-been-avoided-guilford-co-officials-say/
Tags: us_NC, public, discovery, response, illegal, wastes

GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. Ñ A man has been charged with illegally dumping chemicals in High Point, but Guilford County officials said the suspect could have avoided arrest by dropping them off at a site for free.
Juan Antonio Cardenas faces one count of felony littering and two misdemeanor counts.
High Point Fire Marshall Mike Levins alleges Cardenas left hundreds of gallons of paint, lacquer and thinner all over the city. More charges are pending, Levins said.
Dozens of buckets were found in two places in the city-the Old Miller Desk Factory on Lincoln Road and another property on Anderson Place, Levins said.
It didn't stop there, Levins said.
"They sold some paint. They gave some paint to other individuals, and what they couldn't get rid of they basically just dumped on the side of the road," Levins said.

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

SYNCRUDE RUNNING AT TWO-THIRDS CAPACITY AFTER FIRE
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/syncrude-running-at-two-thirds-capacity-after-fire-2012-03-05
Tags: Canada, industrial, fire, response, petroleum

CALGARY (MarketWatch) -- The Syncrude oil-sands project in northeastern Alberta is operating at reduced capacity after a fire at its refinery, a spokeswoman for the project's largest stakeholder said Monday.

A fire late Friday at one of three coking units at the Syncrude project will reduce Syncrude's production to two-thirds of its normal capacity of 350,000 barrels of oil a day, said Siren Fisekci, a spokeswoman for Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. .

There is no word yet on when the coker will be restarted, or what caused the damage, Fisekci said.

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

FIRE AT CHEMICAL FACTORY IN WAI
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Fire-at-chemical-factory-in-Wai/articleshow/12155490.cms
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical

SATARA: A massive fire broke out at a chemical factory in the Wai industrial estate in Satara district at 1 am on Sunday wherein one employee of the company sustained severe burns.

Four fire tenders from Satara fire brigade and Kisanveer sugar factory managed to control the fire after four hours. It took more than 10 hours for the fire to be completely doused, because of the chemicals in the unit. Meanwhile, employees of neighbouring companies also rushed to the spot to help control the fire.

Shift in-charge Ramesh Borate (40) of Karad sustained severe burns and is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Satara.

The Wai police said that during processing, a chemical tank began to overflow. Borate tried to stop the chemical from overflowing when the fire broke out and a small blast also took place. The workers present stopped the chemical supply to the tank and rushed down the stairs.

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

HOSPITAL FLOOR EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SCARE
http://www.timescolonist.com/Hospital+floor+evacuated+after+chemical+scare/6256859/story.html
Tags: Canada, public, release, injury, cleaners

Patients on the fifth floor of the Victoria General Hospital were evacuated Monday evening after a strong-smelling cleaning agent wafted through the vents, alarming staff members.

More than a dozen firefighters from View Royal and Colwood fire departments were called around 7: 35 p.m. after nurses on the fifth floor reported a strong chemical smell that was causing eye irritation, said Dr. Martin Wale, executive medical director of quality and patient safety.

While it was initially suspected to be smoke from a patient smoking crack cocaine, that was ruled out. The odour was actually caused by a cleaner using a floor-stripping compound before waxing the floor of a sixth-floor room, Wale said.

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

CHEMICALS REMOVED FROM SCHOOL AND HOME IN MARSHFIELD
http://www.wickedlocal.com/marshfield/newsnow/x1785611453/Chemicals-removed-from-school-and-home-in-Marshfield#axzz1oL9azkqo
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, discovery, response, picric_acid, time-sensitive, Potassium

MARSHFIELD Ñ A State Police bomb squad and a hazardous-materials response team on Monday removed explosive chemicals from two locations in town.

Chemicals were taken from the basement of a Church Street home and then from the high school's chemistry lab.

The Marshfield Fire Department said all of the dangerous chemicals found at both locations were removed and disposed of. No injuries were reported.

As of Monday night, classes at the high school, at 167 Forest St., had not been suspended or canceled as a result of the chemical removal.

The chemical removed from the high school was potassium, a substance commonly used in fireworks and pyrotechnics, said John Hall, chairman of Marshfield's board of selectmen. By 7:30 p.m., the potassium was transported to the town landfill off Clay Pit Road, where it was disposed of.

Earlier in the day, picric acid, an explosive agent once used by military forces, was removed from a Church Street home, Marshfield Fire Chief Kevin Robinson said.

Robinson said the chemical operation at the high school occurred Monday afternoon only because the hazardous-materials team was already in town for the Church Street incident.

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

UPDATE 2-CITGO CORPUS CHRISTI REFINERY ALKY UNIT SHUT AFTER RELEASE
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/03/06/refinery-operations-citgo-corpuschristi-idUKL2E8E60E120120306
Tags: us_TX, industrial, release, response, hydrofluoric_acid

(Reuters) - Citgo Petroleum Corp's 163,000 barrel per day (bpd) Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery shut its hydrofluoric acid alkylation unit after a malfunction late on Monday released chemicals into the air, a local emergency agency and media said.

Water cannons surrounding the alkylation unit went off on detection of a chemical release from the unit, media reported.

No injuries were reported due to the release and air monitors set up around the refinery's East Plant detected no chemicals in the air at locations outside the refinery.

Several streets around the refinery were blocked off after the release, media reported. The Citgo Corpus Christi Refinery East Plant has residential neighborhoods nearby.

Hydrofluoric acid is used in the alkylation unit to make gasoline blendstocks called alkylates that boost octane.

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

UPDATE: FUEL SPILL TIES UP TRAFFIC ON INTERSTATE 5 IN VALENCIA
http://www.the-signal.com/section/36/article/61112/
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, petroleum

The southbound Interstate 5 at McBean Parkway was closed temporarily Sunday after a truck containing fuel overturned on the freeway, according to officials.

For an unsubstantiated reason, a 2000 Freightliner truck crashed into an embankment and overturned, coming to a rest on its left side at about 1 p.m. according to a statement for the California Highway Patrol. The highly pressurized liquid-petroleum-gas tank it was pulling released some of its contents in gas form.

California Highway Patrol officers, Los Angeles County firefighters and hazmat trucks responded to the crash, and closed Interstate 5 for 50 minutes, Officer Tatiana Sauquillo said.

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

HAZMAT TEAMS CONTAIN LEAK AT DUPO RAIL YARD
http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/308050/3/Hazmat-teams-contain-leak-at-Dupo-rail-yard
Tags: us_IL, transportation, release, response, hydrofluoric_acid

Dupo, IL (KSDK) --The St. Clair County hazmat team was called to a Dupo rail yard Sunday to clean up chemicals leaking from a Union Pacific rail car.

Crews thought they had stopped the leak on Saturday but it started up again overnight.

The car was leaking hydrogen fluoride, which can be dangerous if it's released in a cloud or comes in contact with the skin.

Dupo Mayor Ron Dell says there was no need to worry. But he is concerned about how long it took Union Pacific hazmat crews to notify Dupo police.

"There was about an hour and a half to two hour lapse before we found out about it," said mayor Dell. "We want to meet with the railroad to find out why we weren't notified originally."

The leak has been sealed. The chemicals were moved to another container.

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

POLICE, FBI IN MERCURY PROBE
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Police-FBI-in-mercury-probe-3381305.php
Tags: us_NY, public, follow-up, response, illegal, mercury

ALBANY Ñ City police are treating the discovery of mercury in Albany Medical Center's cafeteria as a criminal matter, saying there is a possibility that the toxic metal was intentionally placed in the hospital's food.

The criminal investigation, which is being aided by State Police and the FBI, began Friday night, when a hospital employee found a tiny metal ball on her food tray that was tested and found to be mercury, said Officer James Miller, a city police spokesman.

The cafeteria was quickly closed as a hospital's hazmat team combed the room, where they found more minuscule balls of mercury in food containers and other portions of the cafeteria, Miller said.

Miller could not say how much mercury was found, but said the fact that the rare metal was found in the food is the reason why law enforcement is considering that the chemical was specifically placed there.

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

ABBOTSFORD POLICE RESPOND TO POSSIBLE CHEMICAL LEAK
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Abbotsford+police+respond+possible+chemical+leak/6248921/story.html
Tags: Canada, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

Abbotsford police and firefighters were called to the Fraser Valley Inn early this morning after staff reported a strong chemical smell in parts of the building.

The problem was a leak in the heating, air conditioning and ventilation unit, said acting Sgt. Kim Jones of the Abbotsford police. Fire officials stayed onsite until a refrigeration company had the leak repaired.

There were reports that two people were taken to hospital and two drove themselves to hospital, but Jones said she was not able to confirm those details.

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