From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (11 articles)
Date: January 4, 2013 8:46:13 AM EST
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: <8B51C603-FD1C-48FA-B595-E2E6C7FF400B**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org>

Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, January 4, 2013 8:44:36 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 (11 articles)

DEEPWATER HORIZON OWNER SETTLES WITH U.S. OVER OIL SPILL IN GULF OF MEXICO
Tags: us_LA, public, follow-up, death, illegal, oils

SHELL OIL RIG AGROUND OFF ALASKA IS NOT LEAKING, OFFICIALS SAY
Tags: us_AK, public, discovery, response, diesel

HEALTH AND SAFETY GONE MAD
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, follow-up, response

MAN SUFFERS SEVERE BURNS IN RYDE DRUG LAB FIRE
Tags: Australia, public, fire, injury, drugs

NBC RIGHT NOW/KNDO/KNDU TRI-CITIES, YAKIMA, WA |
Tags: us_WA, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical

HAZMAT CALLED IN TO CLEAN UNIDENTIFIED LIQUID
Tags: us_TN, public, release, response, unknown_chemical, waste

BEVERLY CHEMICAL STORAGE FIRE CAUSES MINIMAL DAMAGE, NO INJURIES
Tags: us_MA, industrial, fire, response, potassium_permanganate

CHLORINE LEAK EVACUATES SEWAGE PLANT IN GLASSPORT
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, chlorine

US STUDY FINDS NEW USE FOR SLUDGE FROM ACID MINE REMEDIATION
Tags: industrial, follow-up, environmental, waste

FIRE DEPARTMENT KNOCKS DOWN CHEMICAL FIRE ON SOHIER ROAD
Tags: us_MA, industrial, fire, response, oxidizer

SAFETY SURVEY REVEALS LAB RISKS
Tags: laboratory, follow-up, environmental

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DEEPWATER HORIZON OWNER SETTLES WITH U.S. OVER OIL SPILL IN GULF OF MEXICO
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/04/business/energy-environment/transocean-settles-with-us-over-oil-spill-in-gulf-of-mexico.html?smid=tw-nytimesscience&seid=auto
Tags: us_LA, public, follow-up, death, illegal, oils

The driller whose floating Deepwater Horizon oil rig blew out in 2010, causing a massive oil spill, has agreed to settle civil and criminal claims with the federal government for $1.4 billion, the Justice Department announced Thursday.
Enlarge This Image

The Deepwater Horizon exploded, burned and sank in April 2010. Eleven men were killed and millions of gallons of oil flowed into the Gulf of Mexico and fouled the shores of coastal states. The well, known as Macondo, was owned by British oil giant BP, which settled its own criminal charges and some of its civil charges in November for $4.5 billion.

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

/SHELL OIL RIG AGROUND OFF ALASKA IS NOT LEAKING, OFFICIALS SAY
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/04/us/shell-oil-rig-aground-off-alaska-is-not-leaking-officials-say.html?smid=tw-nytimesscience&seid=auto&_r=0
Tags: us_AK, public, discovery, response, diesel

A Shell Oil drilling rig that ran aground in the Gulf of Alaska has incurred water damage to its deck and electrical systems but is otherwise stable, officials with the response team handling the accident said Thursday.

Twitter List: Reporters and Editors
The Coast Guard and company officials said there was no sign that any of the roughly 150,000 gallons of diesel fuel and lubricants aboard the vessel had leaked or of other environmental damage caused by the rig, the Kulluk.

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

/HEALTH AND SAFETY GONE MAD
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/occams-corner/2013/jan/04/1?CMP=twt_fd
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, follow-up, response

It's a war out there
What's the most dangerous thing in a standard molecular biology lab? Is it the phenol? The radioactive compounds? Perhaps the methanol, or the concentrated acids? The liquid nitrogen tanks? The centrifuges, with their dense metal buckets spinning at the speed of sound?

Or maybe it's you.

A survey reported in this week's Nature seems to find that the biggest barriers (according to practising scientists) to improving lab safety are "time and hassle" and "apathy"

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

/MAN SUFFERS SEVERE BURNS IN RYDE DRUG LAB FIRE
http://northern-district-times.whereilive.com.au/news/story/man-suffers-severe-burns-in-ryde-lab-fire/
Tags: Australia, public, fire, injury, drugs

A man has suffered severe burns in a house fire at a suspected drug lab in Ryde.

Neighbours noticed smoke coming from the house on Quarry Rd, Ryde, about 4.40am today (Friday), police said.

A 45-year-old man has been taken to Royal North Shore Hospital in a critical condition with severe burns.

A woman, who managed to escape the fire, was taken to Concord Hospital with minor burns.

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

/NBC RIGHT NOW/KNDO/KNDU TRI-CITIES, YAKIMA, WA |
http://www.kndo.com/story/20499469/chemical-leak-causes-hazmat-situation
Tags: us_WA, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical

YAKIMA, Wash.-- Students at Davis High School in Yakima say they were told to leave the campus about 3:30 Thursday because of a gas leak.

Four construction workers who may have come into contact with the gas, then led to a hazardous material situation at Yakima Regional Medical Center.

Hospital staff de-contaminated them as a precaution.

Firefighters say the workers suffered what they call mild to moderate exposure to the chemical.

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

/HAZMAT CALLED IN TO CLEAN UNIDENTIFIED LIQUID
http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/20493042/hazmat-called-into
Tags: us_TN, public, release, response, unknown_chemical, waste

CHATTANOOGA, TN (WRCB) -- The Chattanooga Fire Department's Haz Mat team was called into service Thursday morning help identify an unknown substance that was discovered at a gas station on Amnicola Highway.

The liquid was discovered around 4:30 a.m. when a clerk went to change out the garbage bags at the gas station on the 2500 block of Amnicola Highway.

The liquid was in the dumpster, and spilled out of the bags onto the ground.

The Chattanooga Fire Department was called when they noticed the liquid smoking.

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

/BEVERLY CHEMICAL STORAGE FIRE CAUSES MINIMAL DAMAGE, NO INJURIES
http://www.wickedlocal.com/beverly/news/x1631899657/Beverly-chemical-storage-fire-causes-minimal-damage-no-injuries#axzz2GwrnrzVh
Tags: us_MA, industrial, fire, response, potassium_permanganate

Beverly, Mass. Ñ
The state Hazardous Materials Team responded to Sohier Road on Wednesday morning for a fire at a chemical storage unit. No chemicals caught fire as a result of the incident, which was caused by improper storage of rags used to clean up solution of potassium permanganate, according to Beverly Fire investigators.

At 8:22 a.m. on Wednesday, the Beverly Fire Department received a call for smoke coming from a door of a chemical storage unit on the property of 150 Sohier Road. Truck 1, Truck 2, Engine 3 and Capt. Russell Halloran were dispatched to investigate.

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

/CHLORINE LEAK EVACUATES SEWAGE PLANT IN GLASSPORT
http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourmckeesport/yourmckeesportmore/3227809-74/chlorine-glassport-leak#axzz2GwfWUykJ
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, chlorine

A chlorine leak caused an evacuation at a sewage treatment plant along Harrison Street in Glassport on Wednesday afternoon.

Emergency responders and HAZMAT crews arrived around 2:15 p.m. and quickly had the leak under control.

Officials said the smell of chlorine permeated the air.

No neighboring properties were evacuated.

"Once the command was established, we realized we had a slight odor of chlorine in the sewage department area," Glassport fire Chief Wayne Lewis said.

"(With) the quick response by emergency personnel, we were able to find that packing inside a valve was loose. That was contained very quickly. All additional departments that were on location were just backup for the fire department."

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

/US STUDY FINDS NEW USE FOR SLUDGE FROM ACID MINE REMEDIATION
http://www.hazmatmag.com/news/us-study-finds-new-use-for-sludge-from-acid-mine-remediation/1001964581/
Tags: industrial, follow-up, environmental, waste

Residuals from treating acid mine drainage can be used as effective, inexpensive adsorbents for agricultural and wastewater discharges, a new study by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey Leetown Science Center has found.

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

/FIRE DEPARTMENT KNOCKS DOWN CHEMICAL FIRE ON SOHIER ROAD
http://beverly.patch.com/articles/fire-department-knocks-down-chemical-fire-on-sohier-road
Tags: us_MA, industrial, fire, response, oxidizer

Beverly firefighters responded to a fire in an outside chemical storage unit on Sohier Road Wednesday morning.

Beverly Fire Captain Chris Halloran said units responded to 150 Sohier Road at about 8:30 a.m. for the one-alarm working fire.

"When you're dealing with any chemicals, you don't want to make any quick moves," Halloran said. "We proceeded with the utmost caution."

The chemical in the unit was a sodium permanganate, which Halloran said is an oxidizer that can explode.

The department initially tried to use an outside hookup to the commercial building's interior piping system, using a 2 1/2 inch line to flood the storage unit.

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

/SAFETY SURVEY REVEALS LAB RISKS
http://www.nature.com/news/safety-survey-reveals-lab-risks-1.12121
Tags: laboratory, follow-up, environmental

Scientists may have a false sense of security about the safety of their laboratories, according to early results from the first international survey of researchers' workplace attitudes and practices.

Some 86% of the roughly 2,400 scientists who responded said that they believe their labs are safe places to work. Yet just under half had experienced injuries ranging from animal bites to chemical inhalation, and large fractions noted frequent lone working, unreported injuries and insufficient safety training on specific hazards (see ÔA question of safety').

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