From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (5 articles)
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2016 07:50:03 -0500
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, February 19, 2016 at 7:49:07 AM

A membership benefit of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
All article summaries and tags are archived at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__pinboard.in_u-3Adchas&d=BQIFaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=F_ryZfsWOMXZRGunoqhPCINn_A_Fx6zUKXWz8vg_Qcs&s=MOkVC64gCZtYIB6XJSZPVrw6UhL7M5mpsTPRIpkX1JE&e=

Table of Contents (5 articles)

CHEMICAL EXPLOSION IN CLINTON NOW TARGETED BY WORKPLACE HEALTH
Tags: Australia, laboratory, follow-up, response, acids

GASOLINE LEAK IN RENSSELAER, NY
Tags: us_NY, transportation, release, response, gasoline

WHO WAS BEHIND THE EXPLOSION THAT RATTLED TRACY?
Tags: us_CA, industrial, explosion, environmental, unknown_chemical

NO INJURIES IN SMALL FIRE IN WHOI LAB
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical

MAN'S HAND SEVERELY INJURED IN CHEMICAL BLAST IN WESTON
Tags: us_FL, public, explosion, injury, chlorine, hydrofluoric_acid


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CHEMICAL EXPLOSION IN CLINTON NOW TARGETED BY WORKPLACE HEALTH
Tags: Australia, laboratory, follow-up, response, acids

ACID is thought to have set off the explosion inside a laboratory cupboard at Clinton, which is used by a chemical testing company.

And Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) yesterday launched an investigation into the cause of the explosion - and if safety procedures were followed - in the early hours of Thursday morning at Intertek, a company providing gas quality testing services to the region's major LNG producers.

The explosion occurred in a laboratory described by Gladstone fire station officer Graham Smith as a "room within a room" which is believed to have contained the inital blast.

But firefighters still rushed staff - who had just arrived at work to find the explosion - out of the "the immediate area" to the building's office section "until we investigated".

He said when the "owner" of the building wasn't able to decipher what chemical was behind the explosion, fire fighters worked to "isolate which one had failed".

"To do that, we had two fire fighters in chemical suits take a photograph of the cabinet and after a process of elimination it was determined it was an acid spill," he said.

"It's still unknown what caused the initial explosion.

"Everyone's bemused or confused about why it's occurred."

But WHSQ has sent in its own inspectors.

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GASOLINE LEAK IN RENSSELAER, NY
Tags: us_NY, transportation, release, response, gasoline

UPDATE: The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation says about 200 gallons of gasoline spilled at the Buckeye Partners Facility at the Port of Rensselaer.

They responded to the scene around 5:30 on Thursday evening and say the spill was within the containment system and was contained on site. Authorities have determined there is no danger of the fuel entering the Hudson River, but spill responders remained on site to oversee the clean-up.

According to the DEC, the spill was the result of a tank overfill.
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UPDATE: Officials say the situation is under control and is currently being handled by an independently contracted HAZMAT team. The road has also reopened following a gas spill at Buckeye Terminal. According to authorities about 600-800 gallons of gas spilled. They say this sort of spill is routine.

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WHO WAS BEHIND THE EXPLOSION THAT RATTLED TRACY?
Tags: us_CA, industrial, explosion, environmental, unknown_chemical

TRACY (CBS13) " An explosion shook up Tracy on Tuesday, leaving residents wondering if they should be worried.

Maureen Stapleton spent years living across the street from Lawrence Livermore Laboratory"s explosive testing site, but she says Tuesday was different.

"I"ve never heard or felt one like that. It felt like a real bomb had gone off," she said.

The blast at around 7 p.m. was heard and felt in central Tracy, nearly 15 miles from the testing site.

It turns out that the blast wasn"t from Lawrence Livermore"s Site 300, as the lab says it doesn"t test explosives at night. A hydrogen plant in Rodeo says a flare shook up local residents, but it says the impact west of Martinez didn"t reach Tracy.

Instead, SRI International in Alameda County took responsibility for the explosion. A spokesperson didn"t say what exactly caused the blast, but says it was standard testing.

The company says it notified the Tracy Police Department about the evening testing before it went off on Tuesday.

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NO INJURIES IN SMALL FIRE IN WHOI LAB
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical

WOODS HOLE " There were no injuries when a small fire broke out inside a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution laboratory Wednesday afternoon, according to the Falmouth Fire Department.
Around 5:30 p.m., firefighters were called to the Fye Building on the Quissett campus after plastic on top of a portable oven heated to about 800 degrees caught fire. The fire was put out with fire extinguishers before the fire department arrived, according to the report.
Some combustibles and a wooden shelf were burned, but there was only minor damage in the lab.

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MAN'S HAND SEVERELY INJURED IN CHEMICAL BLAST IN WESTON
Tags: us_FL, public, explosion, injury, chlorine, hydrofluoric_acid

worker's hand was severely injured during a chemical explosion in Weston on Wednesday morning, according to a Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue spokesman.

The incident happened about 9:40 a.m. in the bathroom of the San Sebastian community's pool house in the 1500 block of Coronado Road, fire-rescue spokesman Mike Jachles said.

The explosive chemical reaction occurred when the man mixed a rust inhibitor that contained hydrofluoric acid with pool chlorine in a pump sprayer that was being pressurized, he said.

Pressurizing the sprayer "caused a reaction that resulted in it exploding," Jachles said. "It was like a small bomb that exploded."

The man's left hand was injured and he was airlifted to Broward Health Medical Center in serious condition, the spokesman said.

Investigators found the ruptured sprayer in the bathroom. The man had intended to use the chemicals for cleaning " not their labeled purposes, Jachles said.

"These chemicals should not have been mixed and they certainly should not have been pressurized," he said.

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