From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (12 articles)
Date: May 2, 2012 8:22:19 AM EDT
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: <04955614-0619-4D23-B48C-95F6C3BFAFED**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org>

Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 8:21:50 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 (12 articles)

RESPONDERS HANDLE HAZMAT INCIDENT SATURDAY
Tags: us_TX, industrial, release, response, ag_chems

BLOWN TRANSFORMER LEADS TO EMCORE EVACUATION
Tags: us_NM, public, release, response, unknown_chemical

ARIZONA CHEMICAL FIRE EXTINGUISHED QUICKLY
Tags: us_FL, industrial, fire, response, flammables

INJURIES AFTER CANTERBURY UNIVERSITY EXPLOSION
Tags: New_Zealand, laboratory, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical

UVM, BURLINGTON FINED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL VIOLATIONS
Tags: us_VT, laboratory, follow-up, environmental

HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO OVERTURNED MILK TANKER
Tags: us_OR, transportation, release, response, milk

BIG RIG CARRYING HIGHLY FLAMMABLE CHEMICALS CRASHES ON HIGHWAY...
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, batteries, diesel, flammables

SUSSEX COUNTY SCHOOL FIRE CAUSED BY ACCIDENTAL CHEMICAL MIX, OFFICIALS CONFIRM
Tags: us_NJ, laboratory, follow-up, response, wastes, zinc

BNSF CHEMICAL FIRE DOES $75,000 DAMAGE
Tags: us_KS, laboratory, fire, response, diesel

DEQ: CHEMICAL SPILL NOT A THREAT TO NEW RIVER
Tags: us_VA, industrial, release, environmental, unknown_chemical

FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO EARLY MORNING FIRES AT SHERWIN-WILLIAMS, VACANT HOME
Tags: us_OH, public, explosion, response, paints

PUNJAB FACTORY FIRE
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, death, unknown_chemical


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RESPONDERS HANDLE HAZMAT INCIDENT SATURDAY
http://www.news-journal.com/mineola/news/area-responders-handle-toxic-poison-incident-saturday/article_1eafc2f7-31e3-5c6f-a7e0-dc443a4c5aee.html
Tags: us_TX, industrial, release, response, ag_chems

The initial call to the Mineola Fire Department began at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Saturday with a request to assist ETMC EMS on Farm-to-Market 1799 in Wood County. It was reported that the incident involved a man being exposed to a toxic substance. The toxic substance was reported to emergency service personnel as Temik, which MFD Public Information Officer Steve Finley said is reported by some resources as one of the most toxic poisons that may have ever been produced.
At approximately 7:30 p.m., the Quitman Fire Department was called to respond to ETMC Quitman to assist with the clean up efforts inside the emergency room after the patient was treated there.
After Quitman Fire Department assessed the situation they requested the assistance of the Mineola, Hainesville and Longview Fire Departments. The Longview Fire Department was specially requested for their Haz-Mat team and expertise in these operations.
Through a combined effort, the emergency responders determined that the threat of potential contamination to the emergency personnel who treated the exposed patient warranted immediate action. Additionally, the evaluation of the incident necessitated the temporary closure of the ETMC Quitman emergency room.

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

BLOWN TRANSFORMER LEADS TO EMCORE EVACUATION
http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s2602928.shtml
Tags: us_NM, public, release, response, unknown_chemical

A blown transformer at Emcore caused employees to evacuate and hazmat teams to respond to the business at around noon on Tuesday.

According to the Albuquerque Fire Department, a transformer blew and caused a power outage at the building near Sandia Laboratories.

When the back-up generator came on, some sort of gas was released and it set off the "gas alarms' in the building.

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

ARIZONA CHEMICAL FIRE EXTINGUISHED QUICKLY
http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/149699405.html
Tags: us_FL, industrial, fire, response, flammables

A fire at the Arizona Chemical plant in Springfield Tuesday was quickly put out.

But there are still questions over how the fire started.

Around one o'clock, emergency workers responded to a fire originally reported at Rock-Tenn paper mill. The location was quickly changed to Arizona Chemical.

Firefighters from Springfield and Panama City quickly jumped into action to put out to blaze.

Both units, along with Arizona Chemical's in-house fire and rescue team, had the fire under control within twenty minutes.

While the location and source of the fire are known, the cause is not.

"We're going to do a root cause find out what the problem is and make sure that this doesn't happen again to the best of our ability. But the good thing is no injuries, no incidences, no destruction, and everyone is safe." said DeVaughn Stephens of Arizona Chemical.

At the time of the fire, there was supposedly a lot of tall-oil in the pond, which is quite flammable.

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INJURIES AFTER CANTERBURY UNIVERSITY EXPLOSION
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/6845393/Injuries-after-university-explosion
Tags: New_Zealand, laboratory, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical

Two students were taken to Christchurch Hospital after an explosion at Canterbury University.

Police, St John and the Fire Service rushed to the University of Canterbury's Rutherford building after reports of a "small explosion" at 12.36pm, a Fire Service spokesman said.

Science vice-chancellor Professor Paul Fleming said a male research student was working in a laboratory on the sixth floor of the Rutherford building when a flask exploded.

"He has some injuries to his hand," he said.

A female student in the lab suffered neck injuries.

A St John spokesman said the two students were taken to Christchurch Hospital with minor injuries.
....
Burford did not know what type of chemical was involved, but there was no risk to people in the area.

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

UVM, BURLINGTON FINED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL VIOLATIONS
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20120501/NEWS02/120430028/UVM-Burlington-fined-environmental-violations-?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE
Tags: us_VT, laboratory, follow-up, environmental

The University of Vermont and the city of Burlington have been fined by the Department of Environmental Conservation over environmental violations.

In August 2010, inspections by a DEC hazardous waste inspector found records violations at several of the university's laboratories, which are subject to the state's waste regulations.

The university was fined $19,660.The inspector found that records of self-inspections in the sampled laboratories were not consistently maintained, that the records used for laboratory self-assessments were not those that are required, that some storage containers were mislabeled and that laboratories didn't take adequate corrective actions after learning of violations.

The university subsequently implemented corrective actions for all labs involved in the DEC inspections and implemented a new healthy and safety policy and compliance oversight procedure.

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

HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO OVERTURNED MILK TANKER
http://www.kptv.com/story/17932490/hazmat-team-responds-to-over-turned-milk-tanker
Tags: us_OR, transportation, release, response, milk

GLADSTONE, OR (KPTV) -
A milk tanker-truck crashed Sunday afternoon on Southeast 82nd Drive near Interstate 205, spilling about 100 gallons of milk on the roadway.

The truck was rounding the curve on the exit from Interstate 205 northbound to Southeast 82nd Drive when the milk in the rear trailer sloshed and caused it to tip.

The milk was considered a hazardous material because it was not pasteurized and therefore may have contained E. Coli.

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

BIG RIG CARRYING HIGHLY FLAMMABLE CHEMICALS CRASHES ON HIGHWAY...
http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/traffic/big-rig-carrying-highly-flammable-chemicals-crashe/nNM3P/
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, response, batteries, diesel, flammables

PLEASANTON, Calif. Ñ A big rig carrying flammable chemicals slammed into the center divider of Highway 680 near Pleasanton late Sunday, jackknifing and triggering a traffic slowdown that lasted for nearly seven hours, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Battalion Chief Jack Neiman-Kimel said the accident required the deployment of a hazmat team because included among the truck's load was "a couple drums of some hazardous material. He has a drum of lithium and a drum of Trimethylgallium."
Both chemicals are used in the production process of semiconductors and electric batteries and can catch fire when exposed to air.
Neiman-Kimel said about 100 gallons of diesel fuel did leak out of the truck and also had to be cleaned up.

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

SUSSEX COUNTY SCHOOL FIRE CAUSED BY ACCIDENTAL CHEMICAL MIX, OFFICIALS CONFIRM
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/04/sussex_county_school_fire_caus.html
Tags: us_NJ, laboratory, follow-up, response, wastes, zinc

SPARTA Ñ Water from wet paper towels that accidentally mixed with a chemical compound used during a chemistry experiment at the Sussex County Technical School has been determined to be the cause of a fire at the Sparta school in March, the county prosecutor's office said today.
Zinc metal powder was being used in an electroplating experiment when it was mixed in a 30-gallon plastic trash container with wet paper towels used by students during the cleanup of the experiment, said First Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Mueller.
The mishap occurred despite a warning on the jar containing the zinc metal powder that says there is a danger of spontaneous combustion if the chemical becomes damp and comes in contact with air, he said.
No charges have been filed in connection with the blaze.
The fire broke out in a science lab on the second floor of the school at about 8:30 p.m. on March 14 when a fire alarm was activated by smoke alarms, police said. The Sparta school was closed from March 15 to March 26, postponing graduation until June 21.

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

BNSF CHEMICAL FIRE DOES $75,000 DAMAGE
http://cjonline.com/news/2012-04-30/bnsf-chemical-fire-does-75000-damage
Tags: us_KS, laboratory, fire, response, diesel

A fire that ignited accidentally as a chemist was testing diesel fuel did an estimated $75,000 damage early Monday afternoon in a laboratory on BNSF Railway property, authorities said. No one was hurt.

Shift Commander Mike Thompson, of the Topeka Fire Department, said firefighters were called at 12:21 p.m. to the scene, which Investigator Michael Martin identified as being in a ventilation hood within the BNSF Rail Yard Chemical Testing Lab at 100 N.E. Jefferson Trafficway, Building 8.

Thompson said a chemist had been testing fuel when the hood that pulled the exhaust out of the building failed, igniting the blaze. Smoke damage was reported throughout the building, he said.

Martin said fire suppression crews arrived to find heavy black smoke coming from the building's roof vents.

"Fire crews initiated an interior attack of the fire and quickly extinguished the blaze," he said. "A primary and secondary search of the lab revealed the occupants had self-evacuated prior to the arrival of the Topeka Fire Department."

Martin said investigation revealed the fire originated in a fuel testing containment area.

"The fire was determined to be accidental in nature, and associated with the failure of the testing area ventilation system," he said.

Martin said no hazardous or volatile chemicals posed any risk to the public as a result of the blaze.

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

DEQ: CHEMICAL SPILL NOT A THREAT TO NEW RIVER
http://www2.wsls.com/news/2012/apr/28/deq-chemical-spill-not-threat-new-river-ar-1876346/
Tags: us_VA, industrial, release, environmental, unknown_chemical

ROANOKE, Va. --
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality says a small chemical spill at the Celanese plant in Giles County doesn't appear to be a threat to the New River.

The nonhazardous spill occurred on Thursday night.

DEQ has not received any reports that the material leaked into the nearby New River and no damage to wildlife has been observed.

Linda Beheler, a Dallas-based spokeswoman for Celanese, said Friday that fewer than 5 gallons of fire suppression foam leaked into the plant's rainwater drainage system during a routine safety test.

The foam is considered nonhazardous.

She says the company's internal hazardous

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

FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO EARLY MORNING FIRES AT SHERWIN-WILLIAMS, VACANT HOME
http://www.chillicothegazette.com/article/20120429/NEWS01/120430001/Firefighters-respond-early-morning-fires-Sherwin-Williams-vacant-home
Tags: us_OH, public, explosion, response, paints

CHILLICOTHE Ñ Monday started off busy for Chillicothe firefighters who responded to two nearly back-to-back fires.

The first call came in just before midnight at the Sherwin-Williams store at 170 N. Bridge St.

"When they first pulled up, they had fire coming out of the northside door. As they were doing a walk around, the roof collapsed," said Interim Fire Chief Jeff Creed.

Popping noises could be heard in the minutes of the fire, presumably from cans of paint exploding. As of 2:30 a.m., Bridge Street remained closed between Riverside and East Water streets. However, Creed anticipated the street to be open for the morning rush hour.

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

PUNJAB FACTORY FIRE
http://www.ianslive.in/index.php?param=news/385886/LatestNews/31
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, death, unknown_chemical

Chandigarh, April 30: At least four workers were killed and 12 others received burn injuries Monday after a chemical factory caught fire in Punjab's industrial town of Lalru, 30 km from here, police said.

The fire started following a blast in a reactor of the factory, a police officer said.

According to police, four bodies have been recovered so far from the factory.

At least 12 workers, who had received burn injuries, were rushed to nearby hospitals. The seriously injured ones were referred to the Government Medical College and Hospital in Chandigarh's Sector 32, the officer added.

Fire tenders arrived from the industrial town of Derabassi and other places, but it took some time to control the fire, police said.

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

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