From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (10 articles)
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 06:02:06 -0500
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: BDA65555-30BE-43EF-87E6-2071DD7390C1**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, December 26, 2014 at 6:01:51 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 (10 articles)

FIRE AT MADURAI KAMARAJ UNIVERSITY CHEMISTRY LAB; TWO CLASS ROOMS GUTTED
Tags: India, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical

LOUISVILLE AIR POLLUTION CONTROL DISTRICT FINES AMERICAN SYNTHETIC RUBBER CO. CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: us_KY, industrial, follow-up, response, toluene

STRONG CHEMICAL ODOUR AT CANADA POST SENDS 1 MAN TO HOSPITAL
Tags: Canada, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

CHEMICAL ODOR PROMPTS POLICE BUST, METH ARREST
Tags: us_PA, public, release, response, meth_lab

OVERTURNED TRUCK IN RIVERVIEW DUMPS CHEMICALS
Tags: us_FL, transportation, release, response, ag_chems

PRAXAIR RELEASES STATEMENT ON EXPLOSION, FIRE AT HEMLOCK SEMICONDUCTOR
Tags: us_MI, transportation, follow-up, injury, hydrogen

LAB ERROR AT CDC MAY HAVE CAUSED EBOLA EXPOSURE
Tags: us_GA, laboratory, discovery, response, other_chemical

DEADLY VIRUS RESEARCH IMPROPERLY CONDUCTED AT UI
Tags: us_IA, laboratory, discovery, environmental, unknown_chemical

HAZMAT CREWS CLEAN UP AMMONIA SPILL AT WATER TREATMENT PLANT
Tags: Canada, industrial, release, response, ammonia, water_treatment

PSC WANTS WV AMERICAN TO RELEASE MORE INFORMATION RELATED TO CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_WV, public, follow-up, response, other_chemical


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

FIRE AT MADURAI KAMARAJ UNIVERSITY CHEMISTRY LAB; TWO CLASS ROOMS GUTTED
Tags: India, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical

MADURAI: Two class rooms were gutted in a fire in the Chemistry Department laboratory of the Madurai Kamaraj University near here on Thursday.

Besides the class rooms near the lab, a part of the laboratory along with equipment and chemicals were also gutted in the fire which broke out early on Thursday, police said.

The reason for the fire was not known.

No one was injured, Thursday being a holiday, police said, adding, fire service units doused the blaze after a two-hour battle.

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

LOUISVILLE AIR POLLUTION CONTROL DISTRICT FINES AMERICAN SYNTHETIC RUBBER CO. CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: us_KY, industrial, follow-up, response, toluene

A Rubbertown chemical plant has agreed to pay a $27,000 penalty to the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District.

District officials brought the enforcement action against American Synthetic Rubber Co. after documenting multiple excess releases o fbutadiene and toluene on several occasions the last four years.

That included 1,130 pounds of butadiene that leaked during a malfunction of pollution controls in January 2010, and 7,205 pounds of butadiene that leaked in January 2014, due to a problem caused by cold weather, district documents show.

An agreement reached between the company, with its plant is at 4500 Camp Ground Road, and the district's board, lists chemical releases on three days in 2010, three days in 2011, two days in 2013 and two days in 2014.

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

STRONG CHEMICAL ODOUR AT CANADA POST SENDS 1 MAN TO HOSPITAL
Tags: Canada, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

A strong chemical odour at Canada Post's mail processing plant prompted an asthma attack in one man and symptoms of headache, nausea and dizziness in others, paramedics said Wednesday.

The incident happened at about 10 a.m. ET at 1424 Sandford Fleming Ave., near the intersection of Industrial Avenue and Riverside Drive.

One man in his 50s was taken to hospital after suffering an asthma attack, according to Ottawa paramedic spokesman J.P. Trottier. The man was in stable condition when he arrived at hospital.

Several other people reported symptoms including headache, nausea and dizziness, but they did not require treatment, Trottier said.

Ottawa fire spokesman Marc Messier later tweeted as many as three people were being assessed.

Later in the morning, the building was opened back up to employees after air quality tests came back negative.

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

CHEMICAL ODOR PROMPTS POLICE BUST, METH ARREST
Tags: us_PA, public, release, response, meth_lab

LANCASTER ‰?? It was the smell of chemicals wafting from a garage on Lancaster‰??s southwest side Tuesday afternoon that prompted an anonymous call to the Lancaster Police Department.

Two men and a woman were arrested after police walked up to the home, 100 Williamsburg Lane, and saw a bottle of lighter fluid, a green one-liter bottle with what looked like fertilizer inside and a plastic tube in plain sight.

The anonymous caller told police that the men in the garage had been taking out trash that looked like it was used to manufacture drugs. The Major Crimes Unit was called to handle the chemicals and alleged meth lab.

One man falsly identified himself when they asked for identification, according to the report. Officers found out later that the man had a warrant for his arrest and was taken into custody on a falsification charge in addition to the outstanding warrant, the report said. While police were arresting the man, they found two glass containers in his pocket with a white powder officers believed was meth, adding another drug possession charge to the man‰??s initial charges.

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

OVERTURNED TRUCK IN RIVERVIEW DUMPS CHEMICALS
Tags: us_FL, transportation, release, response, ag_chems

RIVERVIEW ‰?? Hillsborough County Fire Rescue responded to an overturned truck that had spilled its load at the intersection of U.S. 301 and Big Bend Road on Tuesday afternoon.

The truck driver was apparently trying to turn west onto Big Bend Road from a northbound lane of U.S. 301, but was going too fast, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The truck was carrying monoammonium phosphate, a chemical often found in fertilizer. The material spilled onto a grassy area adjacent to the intersection.

The incident did not close either road, and Fire Rescue crews expected to have it cleaned up by 4 p.m.

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

PRAXAIR RELEASES STATEMENT ON EXPLOSION, FIRE AT HEMLOCK SEMICONDUCTOR
Tags: us_MI, transportation, follow-up, injury, hydrogen

The industrial gas company involved in an explosion on Monday night at Hemlock Semiconductor released a statement today about the incident.

‰??A Praxair tractor trailer had a hydrogen release which ignited during a delivery to Hemlock Semiconductor,‰?? Praxair stated in an email to the Daily News. ‰??The driver was treated at the scene and taken to a local hospital. We are currently conducting a review of the situation and we don‰??t have further information at this time. We want to thank emergency personnel for their immediate response.‰??

The driver of the truck suffered burns as a result of the incident, which occurred just before 9 p.m. Monday, according to a statement from Hemlock Semiconductor spokesman Jarrod Erpelding.

Further details on the driver‰??s condition were not available.

The fire was contained with assistance from the Thomas Township Fire Department.

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

LAB ERROR AT CDC MAY HAVE CAUSED EBOLA EXPOSURE
Tags: us_GA, laboratory, discovery, response, other_chemical

A laboratory technician in Atlanta may have been exposed to the Ebola virus, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A small amount of material from an Ebola virus experiment that was transported Monday from one lab to another may have contained live virus. The material was on a sealed plate but should not have been moved into the second laboratory, the CDC said in a statement.

There was no exposure outside the secure laboratory and no exposure or risk to the public, the CDC says. The mistake was discovered by laboratory scientists Tuesday.

The lab technician who processed the material has no symptoms of the illness, the CDC says, and will be monitored for 21 days. Others who entered the lab will be assessed for possible exposure.

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

DEADLY VIRUS RESEARCH IMPROPERLY CONDUCTED AT UI
Tags: us_IA, laboratory, discovery, environmental, unknown_chemical

A University of Iowa scientist has been sanctioned for launching work on the deadly MERS virus without school approval and outside of the proper laboratory setting.

The school is also being accused of improperly withholding forms that could help the public assess whether any of the deadly agent imported from a collaborator in Spain was stolen, lost or released.

"What they're doing is suppressing information about public safety," said Ed Hammond, a bioscience researcher and writer who filed an open records complaint against the university Dec. 11 over the dispute. "That is a public record."

The issue centers around research launched last year by Stanley Perlman, a UI microbiology professor.

Perlman obtained a clone of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus ‰?? better known as MERS ‰?? and had been conducting experiments since September 2013, according to federal records obtained by The Des Moines Register.

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

HAZMAT CREWS CLEAN UP AMMONIA SPILL AT WATER TREATMENT PLANT
Tags: Canada, industrial, release, response, ammonia, water_treatment

Hazmat crews were called out for a report of an ammonia leak at Saskatoon‰??s water treatment plant Monday night.
Firefighters donned chemical suits to enter the ammonia room located in the basement of the plant on Avenue H South just after 9 p.m.
Water hoses were used to deal with a release of liquid on the floor and ventilation fans in the room were activated. A feeder valve that was the suspected source of the leak was shut off, Saskatoon Fire Department said in a news release.
Crews remained on scene for approximatly three hours to monitor the ammonia level in the room and ensure it was dropping.

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

PSC WANTS WV AMERICAN TO RELEASE MORE INFORMATION RELATED TO CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_WV, public, follow-up, response, other_chemical

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The state Public Service Commission said West Virginia American Water has significantly over-redacted documents related to the Jan. 9 chemical spill and ordered the company to make more information available to the public.
The commission is conducting a general investigation into the water company‰??s reaction to the spill that tainted the water supply for about 300,000 residents. The water company had recently filed documents containing certain information that the company seeks to withhold from the public. The order states that those documents were ‰??significantly over-redacted,‰?? according to a news release from the PSC.

West Virginia American is now required to produce a revised redaction of those documents no later than 4 pm., Friday, Jan. 16.

The water company argued and the commission agreed, that some of the information and data requested should be protected from public disclosure in the interest of security of West Virginia American‰??s system.

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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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