From: Secretary ACS DCHAS <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (11 articles)
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 07:28:48 -0400
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Table of Contents (11 articles)

STATES FIGHT CHEMICAL INDUSTRY OVER PROPOSED RULES
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental

CHEMICAL REACTION CONTAINED AT GRAND RAPIDS PLANT
Tags: us_MI, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical

STRETCH OF I-59 IN HATTIESBURG TO REOPEN FOLLOWING CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_MS, transportation, release, response, acrylonitrile, flammables

WORKER INJURED BY CHEMICAL SPILL, DC HIGH SCHOOL EVACUATED
Tags: us_DC, industrial, release, injury, acids

RCMP: CHEMICAL REACTION IN DRUG LAB CAUSED BLAST AT QUALICUM HOME
Tags: Canada, public, explosion, injury, butane, meth_lab

GAS TANK EXPLOSION OVER NIGHT AT AURORA VA HOSPITAL SITE
Tags: us_VA, public, explosion, response, propane

ETHANOL PLANT CLEANING UP AFTER MASSIVE EXPLOSION
Tags: us_ND, industrial, explosion, response, ethanol

UPDATE: FOUR TREATED FOR CHEMICAL EXPOSURE ON BARGE
Tags: us_KY, transportation, release, injury, irritant, methyl_methacrylate

CHEMICAL LEAK SICKENS KIDS AT SWIM SCHOOL
Tags: us_TX, public, release, injury, pool_chemicals

CHEMICAL SPILL SENDS 1 TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_OH, industrial, release, injury, cleaners

(2ND UPDATE) TWO FORD WORKERS TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_MI, industrial, release, injury, sulfuric_acid


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STATES FIGHT CHEMICAL INDUSTRY OVER PROPOSED RULES
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/03/13/states-fight-chemical-industry-over-proposed-rules/
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental

An effort in Congress to modernize a patchwork system of state and federal laws governing chemical safety is generating debate between a bipartisan group of state legislators who say the update would rob states of the ability to regulate sometimes toxic substances within their own borders and businesses who say they need regulatory certainty to grow jobs and the economy.
In a letter sent to the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee chairman and the ranking member, Reps. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) and Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), the National Conference of State Legislators said a draft version of the Chemicals in Commerce Act would take authority to regulate chemicals out of the hands of states and localities. Regulation would be entirely up to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Legislators are particularly concerned with sections that would update rules by which chemical manufacturers would notify the EPA of research on their products and document that science.
Shimkus?s draft version of the bill would vest all authority for rule-making, and for concluding whether a chemical is safe to use, with the head of the EPA, leaving states without input on the process.

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CHEMICAL REACTION CONTAINED AT GRAND RAPIDS PLANT
http://www.wzzm13.com/story/news/local/grand-rapids-west/2014/03/13/chemical-fire-haviland-ann-street-grand-rapids-hazmat/6364837/
Tags: us_MI, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) -- Firefighters say residents were not in danger following a chemical reaction Thursday morning at a plant on the city's West Side.

Around 9:30 a.m. a chemical cloud was seen coming from the Haviland plant, located at 421 Ann Street NW. That's near the intersection of Ann and Turner, just west of U.S. 131.

Firefighters say the cloud was caused by a stable chemical reaction that occurred during a mixing process at the plant. Haviland employees were evacuated and people working and living nearby were told to stay inside as a precaution.

The ramp from southbound U.S. 131 to Ann Street was closed while firefighters, police, and a HAZMAT team responded to the situation; it reopened around 1 p.m.

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STRETCH OF I-59 IN HATTIESBURG TO REOPEN FOLLOWING CHEMICAL SPILL
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20140312/NEWS/303120036/Stretch-59-Hattiesburg-reopen-following-chemical-spill?nclick_check=1
Tags: us_MS, transportation, release, response, acrylonitrile, flammables

Hattiesburg Fire Department firefighters this morning were preparing to reopen a stretch of I-59 near U.S. 11 that was blocked off following a chemical spill Tuesday night.

The northbound and southbound lanes are being cleaned this morning, with plans to reopen before noon a radius of about one-fourth to one-half mile around the site where an 18-wheeler hauling the volatile, flammable chemical acrylonitrile overturned at Exit 60.

Authorities also closed U.S. 11 near exit 60, Hattiesburg Fire Department Battalion Chief Tony Patterson told local media.

There were no injuries when the tanker overturned. Acrylonitrile is a highly flammable liquid that

Tony Patterson said that the roads will not be open until the morning and advised motorists to avoid the area.

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WORKER INJURED BY CHEMICAL SPILL, DC HIGH SCHOOL EVACUATED
http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/24953842/dc-high-school-evacuated-after-hazmat-situation#axzz2vqgmqWub
Tags: us_DC, industrial, release, injury, acids

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Authorities say a construction worker was seriously injured in a chemical spill at a northwest Washington aquatic center and the high school next door was evacuated as a precaution.

Fire department spokesman Tim Wilson says an acid spilled at the aquatic center in northwest Washington on Wednesday morning when the pipe the man was working on ruptured. He was taken to an area hospital

Wilson High School, which is next door to the aquatic center, was not affected, but it was evacuated as a precaution. Officials say students and staff were taken to another school nearby and were sent home because it wasn't safe for them to return to their school.

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RCMP: CHEMICAL REACTION IN DRUG LAB CAUSED BLAST AT QUALICUM HOME
http://www.timescolonist.com/business/rcmp-chemical-reaction-in-drug-lab-caused-blast-at-qualicum-home-1.895039
Tags: Canada, public, explosion, injury, butane, meth_lab

The explosion at a North Qualicum Beach home was a result of a dangerous chemical reaction inside a clandestine drug lab in the basement, Oceanside RCMP said this morning.

Mounties alleged someone in the lab was using butane to extract and produce marijuana oil. The process includes pouring butane into a glass vial packed with marijuana to produce the hash oil.

But butane fumes are very volatile, said Oceanside RCMP spokesman Cpl. Jesse Foreman, and any kind of spark can cause an explosion.

?It?s one of the most dangerous things you can do,? Foreman said. ?You might be working in an environmental like that and not know? how potent the fumes are in the room.

Three men were in the basement when the explosion happened and were severely injured.

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GAS TANK EXPLOSION OVER NIGHT AT AURORA VA HOSPITAL SITE
http://www.aurorasentinel.com/news/gas-tank-explosion-night-aurora-va-hospital-site/
Tags: us_VA, public, explosion, response, propane

AURORA | A gas tank explosion at the Veterans Affairs hospital under construction in Aurora last night shook houses and rattled windows up to a half mile away from the site. Fire officials say no one was hurt in the blast.

The explosion happened around 1 a.m. last night at the construction site, near East Colfax Avenue and Potomac Street. Fire crews say two, 1,000-lb. propane tanks at the site burned and one of the tanks exploded. The tanks are used to heat the building overnight for crews working in the morning.

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ETHANOL PLANT CLEANING UP AFTER MASSIVE EXPLOSION
http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/94539/group/News/
Tags: us_ND, industrial, explosion, response, ethanol

Fargo, N.D. (WDAY TV) -Cleanup is underway in Fergus Falls after a massive explosion and fire tears through a large ethanol plant.

The blaze broke out around 4 Monday afternoon in the dryer and fire crews have been working ever since to try to determine a cause and to make sure everything is safe before the business can reopen.

Here at Green Plains Otter Tail, it's really difficult to see all of the extensive damage from this far away, but fire officials tell me when you get close up, it's a completely different story.

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UPDATE: FOUR TREATED FOR CHEMICAL EXPOSURE ON BARGE
http://www.wsaz.com/home/headlines/Multiple-People-Exposed-To-Chemical-On-Barge-249449031.html
Tags: us_KY, transportation, release, injury, irritant, methyl_methacrylate

CATLETTSBURG, Ky. (WSAZ) ? Four people hospitalized after exposure to a dangerous chemical on board a barge Tuesday are expected to be OK.

The exposure was reported shortly after 10 a.m. Tuesday. Four workers on the barge, which belongs to Ingram Barge Company, were exposed to vapors from the chemical methyl methacrylate, an irritant that can causing burning to the eyes, shortness of breath, and even respiratory failure in extreme cases.

?As weather warms up, certain chemicals produce more and more vapor, depending on how hot it is, what happens in the tank is pressure,? Tom Adams, executive director of Boyd County EMS, said. ?There are safety vents that prevent the tank from rupturing that will vent the gas.?

Adams said he was not sure whether the vents opened in this case or whether workers opened a manhole that released vapors, and representatives from the Ingram Barge Company were not releasing any information about what happened as of Tuesday evening.

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CHEMICAL LEAK SICKENS KIDS AT SWIM SCHOOL
http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/spring/news/article/Chemical-leak-sickens-kids-at-swim-school-5308622.php
Tags: us_TX, public, release, injury, pool_chemicals

An apparent chlorine leak sent nine children to area hospitals after the evacuation of an indoor swimming facility in Spring.

Emergency crews were called to FINS ? also known as Fun In Swimming ? in the 7800 block of Spring Cypress around 6:17 p.m. Tuesday after patrons began experiencing irritations consistent with chemical exposure.

"Occupants of the building started immediately noticing symptoms of respiratory distress, nausea and watery eyes," said Klein Volunteer Fire Department Chief David Bessolo. "At this point, we don't know the cause, but it's most likely a malfunction of the chlorine system."

Youngsters ages 2 to 16 were transported to Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital and St. Luke's Hospital at The Vintage with injuries that Bessolo described as non-life-threatening.

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CHEMICAL SPILL SENDS 1 TO HOSPITAL
http://fox8.com/2014/03/11/chemical-spill-sends-1-to-hospital/
Tags: us_OH, industrial, release, injury, cleaners

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, Ohio ? Brooklyn Heights dispatchers confirmed to Fox 8 News one person was taken to the hospital after a chemical spill.
It happened in the parking lot of Conventya Ink on Van Epps Road around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Brooklyn Heights Fire Chief told Fox 8 News, a 55-gallon drum of cleaning solution was being moved by a forklift. The forklift punctured the drum causing the solution to leak out.
The drum was not full at the time.
The Brooklyn Heights Fire Department determined the chemical was not a health threat.
A cleaning company was called in to clean up the mess.

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(2ND UPDATE) TWO FORD WORKERS TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2014/03/11/news/doc531f3a0e6d42a562457078.txt
Tags: us_MI, industrial, release, injury, sulfuric_acid

BROWNSTOWN TWP. ? Two Ford workers were transported to Oakwood Hospital-Southshore in Trenton this morning after being splashed in the face, chest and legs with a chemical at the Brownstown Parts Redistribution Center.

According to Fire Chief Jeff Drouillard, one man who appeared to be in his 40s and another somewhat younger were transporting sulfuric acid when the liquid splashed on them.

Drouillard said their injuries did not look severe and they were conscious and talking when emergency personnel arrived.

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