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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: Wed, 1 Oct 2014 07:49:08 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 481AAE59-2616-4524-9B6E-937091091847**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, October 1, 2014 at 7:48:58 AM
A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas
Table of Contents (11 articles)
MARTIN COUNTY ROAD REOPENS AFTER LEAKY BARREL FOUND
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
UTAH MAN ATTACKED WITH CHEMICAL LYE
Tags: us_UT, public, release, injury, sodium_hydroxide
OFFICIALS INVESTIGATE REPEATED BLAZES AT PAINT RECYCLING PLANT
Tags: us_TX, industrial, fire, response, solvent, waste
COMPANY HIRES HAZMAT CREW TO CLEAN POLLUTANTS
Tags: us_NM, public, release, response, hydraulic_fluid, illegal, oils
STATE GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES INQUIRY INTO TOXIC CHEMICAL USE BY FORMER LANDS DEPARTMENT WORKERS
Tags: Australia, industrial, release, environmental, toxics
LUBBOCK FIRE CONTAINS CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_TX, industrial, release, response, hydrochloric_acid
AUDITORS FAULT EPA FOR LAX CHEMICAL SAFEGUARDS
Tags: industrial, release, environmental, toxics
5 HOSPITALIZED AFTER CHEMICAL EXPOSURE AT EASTERN FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE, OFFICIALS SAY
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, release, injury, ammonia, waste
CRITICISM OF CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD CONTINUES
Tags: public, follow-up, environmental
CHEMICAL FIRE DAMAGES POOL SHED
Tags: New_Zealand, public, fire, injury, chlorine
CHEMICAL LEAK BRINGS HAZMAT TEAM, SICKENS OCCUPANTS
Tags: us_NC, public, release, injury, flammables
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MARTIN COUNTY ROAD REOPENS AFTER LEAKY BARREL FOUND
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
PALM CITY, Fla. - A hazmat team in Martin County was busy Monday night investigating a leaky barrel that closed an intersection.
A deputy found a barrel in the middle of Martin Highway and SW High Meadow Avenue that was leaking an unknown substance.
Traffic had to be diverted until the barrel was removed. Crews later determined the substance was not toxic but did not say what the barrel contained.
---------------------------------------------
UTAH MAN ATTACKED WITH CHEMICAL LYE
Tags: us_UT, public, release, injury, sodium_hydroxide
SALT LAKE CITY ? A Utah man is facing assault and mayhem charges, accused of attacking another man by spraying him in the face with chemical lye.
Richard Gilmore, 42, of Tooele thought the victim stole his wife's car, prosecutors said. Gilmore is charged with knocking on the victim's door about 2 a.m. and spraying him with the toxic substance.
When police arrived at the home on Sept. 7, the lye had turned the man's eye white and made some of his hair fall out, according to charging documents. He was flown to University of Utah hospital by medical helicopter, where he was treated for first- and second-degree burns on his face, scalp and neck.
Doctors don't know whether the man will regain vision in his left eye, the charges state.
Hours after the attack, detectives found the lye sprayer and a pair gloves on a dirt road near Middle Canyon after talking to an unnamed person who reported Gilmore was the attacker.
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OFFICIALS INVESTIGATE REPEATED BLAZES AT PAINT RECYCLING PLANT
Tags: us_TX, industrial, fire, response, solvent, waste
State and county officials are investigating a Tuesday morning fire at a paint recycling plant near Bruceville-Eddy, which brought in firefighters from several area departments and a hazardous materials team and bomb squad.
The alarm went out just after 9 a.m. at the Southern Enterprises of Envirocare plant, 1551 Old Moody Road. Initial pictures from the area showed black cones of smoke coming from the building.
The fire, which started in the recycling area of the plant and later ignited some paint thinner, was under control within an hour, Waco-McLennan County Emergency Management coordinator Frank Patterson said.
In the past eight months, area fire departments have been called to the property several times, he said.
The business takes automotive paint and separates out a paint thinner component for resale. The business had 250 to 300 gallons of new and recycled paint thinner on hand, and some of the chemical was ignited when plastic storage containers melted.
Patterson said officials still are investigating the cause of the fire but suspect it was electrical.
State fire marshals are investigating the blaze in the context of other recent fires in the facility, he said.
---------------------------------------------
COMPANY HIRES HAZMAT CREW TO CLEAN POLLUTANTS
Tags: us_NM, public, release, response, hydraulic_fluid, illegal, oils
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A large corporate company is now scrubbing up chemicals found leaking into the Rio Grande. It is in response to an On Special Assignment report exposing the problem.
AutoZone hired a Hazardous Material response team to clean-up a large oil and chemical spill outside it?s store near 4th and Bridge in Albuquerque.
Last week KRQE News 13 found buckets and containers of oils, hydraulic fluids and other questionable liquids spilling onto the ground and running into the storm drain. That drain feeds right into the river, just a block away.
?That should be illegal they should be turned in,? Albuquerque resident John Sandoval said.
It violates the federal Clean Water Act.
---------------------------------------------
STATE GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES INQUIRY INTO TOXIC CHEMICAL USE BY FORMER LANDS DEPARTMENT WORKERS
Tags: Australia, industrial, release, environmental, toxics
The Victorian Government will launch an inquiry into toxic chemical use of former Victorian Lands Department weed eradicators, following an investigation by The Courier.
But the Australian Workers Union has criticised the fact that it will be an internal inquiry within the department.
The special report revealed startling claims by former Victorian Lands Department workers of appalling safety standards when working with dangerous chemicals, including Agent Orange, in the Ballarat and wider Goldfields region.
The workers also claimed complaints by spray hands regarding the chemicals were ignored by authorities and unions.
Environment and Climate Change Minister Ryan Smith said on Tuesday afternoon a full and comprehensive inquiry would be led by the Department of Environment and Primary Industries.
---------------------------------------------
LUBBOCK FIRE CONTAINS CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_TX, industrial, release, response, hydrochloric_acid
Members of the Lubbock Fire Rescue, Lubbock EMS and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality were called out to Servco, 2701 E. 66th St., Monday morning for a reported gas leak.
The leak has been stopped with no injuries or evacuations.
According to information provided by Lubbock Fire Rescue, the leak came from a vent pipe to a tank containing about 3,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid.
The contents of the tank are being offloaded, after which repairs to the pipe will be made.
---------------------------------------------
AUDITORS FAULT EPA FOR LAX CHEMICAL SAFEGUARDS
Tags: industrial, release, environmental, toxics
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) doesn?t do enough to stop hundreds of hazardous chemicals from getting into waterways via sewage plants, a watchdog report found.
The EPA?s Office of Inspector General (OIG) said the agency uses the Clean Water Act to regulate only 126 toxic chemicals that could flow to sewage plants, leaving about 300 chemicals that are considered hazardous under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
?These regulations are not effective in controlling the discharge of hundreds of hazardous chemicals to surface waters such as lakes and streams,? the OIG concluded.
The Clean Water Act gives the EPA the authority to regulate any pollutant, but it hasn?t updated its list of chemicals to regulate in sewage plants since 1981.
Auditors also found that the EPA may not be consistently enforcing the requirement that industrial polluters file reports on the chemicals they discharge to sewage plants.
---------------------------------------------
5 HOSPITALIZED AFTER CHEMICAL EXPOSURE AT EASTERN FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE, OFFICIALS SAY
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, release, injury, ammonia, waste
COCOA, Fla. ?A building at Eastern Florida State College in Cocoa was evacuated and five people were hospitalized after a possible chemical exposure in the dental lab, according to college officials.
Students and faculty were evacuated from the Health and Sciences Center just after 11 a.m. Monday, according to EFSC spokesman John Glisch.
Officials said 34 people reported feeling dizziness and nausea after becoming exposed to ammonia fumes. Five people were taken to area hospitals. The rest were treated on scene.
"I was actually developing my films for radiography, and three of my girls got sick and nauseous, and then the teacher told us to go outside and get some fresh air," said student Ashton Sellers.
School officials said someone poured a chemical down the sink in a dark room used by the dental lab.
A few started feeling faint, and it quickly snowballed.
---------------------------------------------
CRITICISM OF CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD CONTINUES
Tags: public, follow-up, environmental
Long-standing disputes between the Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) and the Environmental Protection Agency?s top independent internal investigator, whose office oversees the board, spilled into public view earlier this month. At a hearing, the House of Representatives Oversight & Government Reform Committee dug into charges leveled by the inspector general that CSB refused to turn over documents to him. This, said EPA Inspector General Arthur A. Elkins Jr., stunted his office?s probe into CSB workers? claims that the board had violated employees? rights.
However, a nonprofit watchdog group that represents federal employees criticized Elkins?s office and the Republican-led committee for fighting over what it called trivial matters while avoiding a much-needed discussion of industrial safety.
The House committee?s Sept. 10 hearing followed one in June at which the panel also heard complaints from the EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG). At the June hearing, the committee blasted CSB for delayed accident investigations and mismanagement and released an 84-page report attacking CSB. In response, the board announced management reforms and urged Congress to provide adequate funding so the small, independent agency can meet its charge to investigate the hundreds of chemical-related accidents that occur annually. For committee members, particularly Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who led the investigation, CSB?s offer was too little, too late.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL FIRE DAMAGES POOL SHED
Tags: New_Zealand, public, fire, injury, chlorine
A chemical fire that raged through a community swimming pool shed in Inglewood has caused up to $100,000 worth of damage.
The storage room at the Inglewood's pool caught fire about 1pm on Saturday, spewing clouds of smoke into the air.
Four fire appliances, the fire service hazardous materials unit and a support vehicle from New Plymouth were at the scene along with police and ambulance services.
Road blocks were put in place to keep the public away from potentially harmful fumes from the chlorine that was stored in the shed, fire service assistant area commander John Nicholls said.
"We were quite concerned about any fumes from the chemicals," he said.
"But luckily it wasn't blowing towards the town, it was blowing in a more rural direction."
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CHEMICAL LEAK BRINGS HAZMAT TEAM, SICKENS OCCUPANTS
Tags: us_NC, public, release, injury, flammables
DURHAM ?
Firefighters wearing protective suits investigated a chemical leak at a West Durham home Saturday that created a gas cloud and sickened occupants, officials said.
Deputy Chief Chris Iannuzzi of the Durham Fire Department said firefighters were called at 10 a.m. to 1211 Virginia Ave., off West Club Boulevard, and found highly toxic and flammable chemicals in the basement.
Some of the chemicals had accidentally mixed and caused a reaction that produced an offensive odor and small gas cloud in the basement, he said.
Several people were in the house when the incident began.
Firefighters from the department's Hazardous Materials Team wore chemical protective suits as they investigated the spill and monitored for hazards inside and outside the house.
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