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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, September 9, 2016 at 7:18:02 AM
A membership benefit 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 (20 articles)
TRUCK EXPLODES, BURNS DURING STREET RACE ON WEST SIDE, SAY INVESTIGATORS
Tags: us_TX, transportation, explosion, response, other_chemical
SCDF OFFICER AT CHLORINE GAS LEAK: 'IT FELT LIKE A MOVIE'
Tags: Singapore, industrial, release, response, chlorine
PFA HAZMAT RESPONDS TO REPORTS OF MERCURY, ARSENIC
Tags: us_CO, transportation, discovery, response, dust, mercury, toxics
DOZENS TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER HAZMAT INCIDENT IN BRISTOL
Tags: us_CT, public, release, injury, carbon_monoxide, propane
ENVIROSYSTEMS IN DEBERT EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL, SAY RCMP
Tags: Canada, transportation, release, response, waste
BATTERIES CATCH FIRE NEAR CHLORINE GAS CANISTERS, NO HAZARDS TO
Tags: us_OH, transportation, fire, response, batteries, chlorine, fire_extinguisher
HAZMAT DANGER ON CATALINA: FEDS FORCE EDISON TO PAY UP
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, waste
HAZMAT SITUATION IN HENRICO COUNTY RESOLVED
Tags: us_VA, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
TITANIUM ALLOY CLUBS CAN CAUSE GOLFERS TO SCREAM 'FIRE!' INSTEAD OF 'FORE!'
Tags: us_CA, public, fire, environmental, titanium
LOCKDOWN AT LAS VEGAS MIDDLE SCHOOL EXTENDS WELL INTO NIGHT AFTER MERCURY EXPOSURE
Tags: us_NV, education, release, response, mercury
UCLA CHEMISTRY PROFESSOR MAKES STRIDES IN IMPROVING LABORATORY SAFETY NATIONALLY
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, discovery, response
ARMY BEGINS DESTROYING CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN COLORADO
Tags: us_CO, industrial, discovery, environmental, explosives, mustard_gas
UPDATED: BRAINTREE RECYCLING CENTRE CLOSED DUE TO FIRE (FROM BRAINTREE AND WITHAM TIMES)
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, fire, response, batteries, waste
FIRE CREWS EVACUATE AKRON BUSINESS AFTER 'HAZARDOUS MATERIALS RELEASE'
Tags: us_OH, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical
HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO LEAK AT EAST HUNTINGDON SITE
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical
CHEMICAL GAS FILLS LAB AT BUSINESS IN SPARTANBURG CO.
Tags: us_SC, laboratory, release, response, hydrochloric_acid
TWO ARRESTED AFTER KEIGHLEY 'EXPLOSIVE' CHEMICAL FIND
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, discovery, response
'NO HARM TO RESIDENTS' IN PALMER TOWNSHIP CHEMICAL SPILL (PHOTOS)
Tags: us_PA, transportation, release, response, pesticides
EAST LANSING LOOKING INTO WATER PLANT CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_MI, industrial, release, response, ferric_chloride, water_treatment
WESTMORELAND CO. BUSINESS, COLLEGE EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, flammables
---------------------------------------------
TRUCK EXPLODES, BURNS DURING STREET RACE ON WEST SIDE, SAY INVESTIGATORS
Tags: us_TX, transportation, explosion, response, other_chemical
SAN ANTONIO - Investigators say street racers may be responsible for a truck explosion and fire along Highway 90 on the city's West Side.
According to the San Antonio Fire Department, they were called to put out a fire on Highway 90 inside Loop 410 at about 10 p.m. on Wednesday.
Police at the scene say they believe three vehicles were racing on the access road when one of the vehicles, a truck, suffered some type of explosion connected to a container of nitrous oxide.
The chemical is commonly used as a booster by street racers. The roof of the truck blew off in the incident.
---------------------------------------------
SCDF OFFICER AT CHLORINE GAS LEAK: 'IT FELT LIKE A MOVIE'
Tags: Singapore, industrial, release, response, chlorine
When Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) second warrant officer (2WO) Zul Faizal, 34, entered the warehouse where the leak had occurred, he felt as if he had walked into a movie.
Speaking to The New Paper on Wednesday at the Civil Defence Academy in Jalan Bahar off Lim Chu Kang Road, he said: "I thought I was on a movie set.
"The only source of light shone through the shutters of the windows."
Yellow chlorine fumes engulfed the side door entrance and carpeted the floor.
2WO Faizal was part of a four-man hazardous materials (Hazmat) team deployed to plug a chlorine gas leak on Sunday at about 9.20am.
As he was wearing a chemical protective suit, the only sound 2WO Faizal could hear was his breathing.
---------------------------------------------
PFA HAZMAT RESPONDS TO REPORTS OF MERCURY, ARSENIC
Tags: us_CO, transportation, discovery, response, dust, mercury, toxics
Poudre Fire Authority crews responded Thursday around 12:45 p.m. to the Centennial Livestock Auctions, 113 NW Frontage Road, on reports that an abandoned storage unit may contain toxic chemicals.
A release from agency spokeswoman Madeline Noblett stated that Centennial Livestock Auctions officials hired Exodus Moving and Storage, Inc. to clean out an abandoned storage trailer that was to be auctioned off.
There were four Exodus employees in the trailer cleaning when they reported moving aside butcher paper and discovered bottles labeled ‰??arsenic‰?? and ‰??mercury.‰??
One of those employees reportedly opened a bottle of the powdered ‰??arsenic‰?? the release stated
Poudre Fire Authority hazmat members performed decontamination on the four Exodus employees potentially exposed to the ‰??arsenic‰?? ‰?? as no one reportedly touched the ‰??mercury.‰??
The employees were then taken to a hospital for further treatment and the substances are being tested by a third party contractor determine what they are.
---------------------------------------------
DOZENS TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER HAZMAT INCIDENT IN BRISTOL
Tags: us_CT, public, release, injury, carbon_monoxide, propane
Dozens of people have been taken to local hospitals after they were exposed to carbon monoxide at an office building in Bristol.
Emergency crews responded to 32 Valley St. in Bristol at 11 a.m. on Thursday and 30 to 40 people were taken to hospitals, but no serious injuries are reported.
Mom, Daughter Charged With Incest After Marrying
Employees were evacuated first from the Faneuil call center, then the whole building was evacuated.
The cause of the carbon monoxide issue could be a propane-powered saw used for construction upstairs.
---------------------------------------------
ENVIROSYSTEMS IN DEBERT EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL, SAY RCMP
Tags: Canada, transportation, release, response, waste
Emergency crews rushed to an industrial park in Nova Scotia's Colchester County Thursday morning after a chemical spill, said police.
Fire crews and police were called to Envirosystems at Debert Industrial Park on MacElmon Road at 10:11 a.m., RCMP said. It was contained after several hours.
"It appears to be a spill inside a container truck, a tractor-trailer container," said Sgt. Duane Cooper, adding that he wasn't sure which chemicals they were dealing with.
"It appears at this point to be contained."
Colchester District RCMP Sgt. Duane Cooper said there was a chemical spill inside a container truck, but couldn't say which chemicals or the amount. (CBC)
Envirosystems Inc. said in an email that there was a chemical reaction inside one of their waste containers.
"After transferring a tote of waste from a delivery truck and to a tractor-trailer onsite, one of Envirosystems employees noticed some vapour gathering around the tote," said the statement.
---------------------------------------------
BATTERIES CATCH FIRE NEAR CHLORINE GAS CANISTERS, NO HAZARDS TO
Tags: us_OH, transportation, fire, response, batteries, chlorine, fire_extinguisher
Firefighters said no hazardous chemicals were released into the atmosphere after a load a lead acid batteries caught fire in a trailer near canisters of chlorine gas.
Firefighters were dispatched to the ABF Freight facility at 8051 Center Point 70 Boulevard in Huber Heights around 11:15 p.m. on reports of a trailer fire.
Huber Heights Fire Battalion Chief Michael Muhl said while crews were responding to the fire, it was determined that the trailer contained hazardous materials that firefighters were not normally equipped to handle.
Muhl said the fire was contained to a load a lead acid batteries in the trailer, but the pallet of batteries was located to several containers of chlorine gas inside the trailer.
The fire burned itself out without any extinguishing agents used. The canisters of chlorine gas were not damaged and no hazardous materials were released into the atmosphere.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT DANGER ON CATALINA: FEDS FORCE EDISON TO PAY UP
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, waste
Federal environmental regulators Thursday announced a settlement with Southern California Edison for improper management of hazardous waste on Catalina Island.
The electric utility company agreed to pay a $39,100 penalty to resolve allegations that it was storing hazardous waste for more than 90 days and universal waste for over a year without the proper permits, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
EPA conducted an unannounced site inspection at Edison‰??s Catalina Island facility last year under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
‰??In a place as biologically unique as Catalina Island, large quantity generators of hazardous waste like SCE have a special responsibility to run a tight ship,‰?? EPA Pacific Southwest Enforcement Division Director Kathleen Johnson said. ‰??The key to preventing an unintended hazardous release is vigilance.‰??
Regulators also found that Edison staff members conducting weekly inspections had not been adequately trained and were not checking the date labels on the waste containers. The utility has since corrected all of the identified compliance issues, Johnson said.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT SITUATION IN HENRICO COUNTY RESOLVED
Tags: us_VA, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) ‰?? Henrico Fire units have cleared the scene of a HAZMAT investigation that occurred after an unusual odor made several people feel sick at a local business.
After the hazardous materials team checked the building, it was determined that the odor was likely coming from a piece of equipment.
The business closed for the rest of the day as a result, and the occupants were advised to have the equipment checked before using it again.
Officials declared that while the odor is bothersome, it is not believed to be harmful.
---------------------------------------------
TITANIUM ALLOY CLUBS CAN CAUSE GOLFERS TO SCREAM 'FIRE!' INSTEAD OF 'FORE!'
Tags: us_CA, public, fire, environmental, titanium
MISSION VIEJO, CA ‰?? It‰??s a part of golf. Your ball gets stuck in the rough, and you have to hit it back onto the fairway. But for a group of golfers Tuesday on the Arroyo Trabuco course, it went horribly wrong.
According to Orange County Fire Authority‰??s Capt. Larry Kurtz, this isn‰??t the first time golfers have yelled ‰??Fire!‰?? instead of ‰??Fore!‰??
Arroyo Trabuco Golf Course has seen more than just yesterday‰??s wildfire on its grounds. At the same course, another brush fire started in a similar situation in 2013.
‰??I just punched a 3-iron to get to the ball back in play,‰?? golfer Steve Parsons told the Orange County Register after the 2013 incident. The next thing he knew, he was standing in ‰??a ring of fire.‰??
On that day, the wind changed direction, and the fire burned itself out. The golfers escaped with no more than singed legs and a lesson about golfing with titanium clubs.
---------------------------------------------
LOCKDOWN AT LAS VEGAS MIDDLE SCHOOL EXTENDS WELL INTO NIGHT AFTER MERCURY EXPOSURE
Tags: us_NV, education, release, response, mercury
A Las Vegas middle school that canceled Thursday classes after a student brought mercury to school Wednesday morning remained on lockdown overnight as students waited to be screened for contamination.
The hazmat situation at Walter Johnson Junior High School, located near Buffalo and Alta drives, began shortly before noon Wednesday after the toxic substance was brought into the gym by a student, authorities said.
At least five children were exposed to the mercury. Las Vegas Fire & Rescue officials said children were being screened for mercury residue by the Environmental Protection Agency and a fire department hazardous materials team before being released from school.
As of 8 p.m., several hundred students were still at the school waiting to be checked, officials said. As of about midnight, an unknown number of students remained on campus to be tested.
---------------------------------------------
UCLA CHEMISTRY PROFESSOR MAKES STRIDES IN IMPROVING LABORATORY SAFETY NATIONALLY
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, discovery, response
s a chemistry graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in the 1980s, Craig Merlic saw numerous accidents in his research group‰??s laboratory.
‰??We had fires, explosions, people who had chemicals spilled on them,‰?? he recalled. ‰??That had a lasting impact on me and my activities at UCLA.‰??
Merlic, an associate professor of chemistry at UCLA who conducts research in organic chemistry and green chemistry, has been committed to laboratory safety for three decades ‰?? and not just in his laboratory. He proposed a course, ‰??Safety and Chemical and Biochemical Research,‰?? and taught it at UCLA back in 1991. Later, it became a required course for all chemistry and biochemistry graduate students. Chair of the department‰??s safety committee for the last eight years, Merlic still teaches it 25 years later.
Since December, 2014, he has served as executive director of the UC Center for Laboratory Safety. Miguel GarcÌ-a-Garibay, dean of the UCLA Division of Physical Sciences, describes the center‰??s work under Merlic‰??s leadership as the ‰??gold standard in laboratory safety in the United States.‰??
The center works to improve laboratory safety not only on UC campuses, but nationally and beyond. Its mission is to conduct and sponsor research on laboratory safety, develop evidence-based best practices for researchers and to communicate laboratory safety practices. The center also provides small grants for research on laboratory safety.
---------------------------------------------
ARMY BEGINS DESTROYING CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN COLORADO
Tags: us_CO, industrial, discovery, environmental, explosives, mustard_gas
The Army has begun destroying the nation's largest remaining stockpile of chemical weapons in an automated plant in southern Colorado.
Officials at Pueblo Chemical Depot said they put the plant into operation on Wednesday.
The plant will destroy about 780,000 artillery shells filled with mustard agent under an international treaty. The Army said previously it planned to start this week.
Mustard agent can maim or kill by damaging skin, eyes and airways.
The plant uses water and bacteria to neutralize the mustard agent. Work is expected to finish in mid-2020.
The depot has already destroyed 560 shells and bottles of mustard agent that were leaking or had other problems that made them unsuitable for the plant.
They were placed in a sealed chamber, torn open with explosives and neutralized with chemicals.
---------------------------------------------
UPDATED: BRAINTREE RECYCLING CENTRE CLOSED DUE TO FIRE (FROM BRAINTREE AND WITHAM TIMES)
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, fire, response, batteries, waste
A RECYCLING centre has had to close for the day after a fire broke out in one of the bins.
The Veolia recycling centre on Springwood Industrial Estate in Braintree has been closed since this morning.
Workers said at least one of the bins was alight.
Cars were being turned away as the gates were kept shut and residents with rubbish were told it would be closed for the rest of the day.
A Hazmat officer from Essex Fire and Rescue Service, who deals with hazardous materials, thought a lithium battery had been put in a general waste bin.
Whilst the fire service was putting out the fire, the water had reacted with the battery in a strange way.
---------------------------------------------
FIRE CREWS EVACUATE AKRON BUSINESS AFTER 'HAZARDOUS MATERIALS RELEASE'
Tags: us_OH, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical
AKRON, Ohio -- An Akron business was evacuated Tuesday afternoon after an unknown, possibly hazardous gas was released into the air.
The GOJO Industries, Inc. building on the 500 block of South Main Street was evacuated about 2 p.m. Tuesday, according to an Akron Fire Department news release. Officials say there was a "hazardous materials release... of unknown gas."
GOJO Industries, Inc., which is headquartered in Akron, is an international business that invented Purell hand sanitizer.
Fire crews and the city's HazMat team are investigating the cause of the gas release. No injuries have been reported.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO LEAK AT EAST HUNTINGDON SITE
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical
The Westmoreland County Hazardous Materials Response Team is reporting hazmat units are responding to a leak of an unspecified liquid from a tank at the DNP Imagingcomm America Corp. in East Huntingdon.
The leak from the a tank inside the DNP building, located at 1001 Technology Dr. near State Route 119, was reported shortly after 1 p.m., and was still active nearly an hour later, according to the county hazmat alert, with 150 to 200 gallons of an unspecified hazardous liquid ‰??on the floor.‰??
According to the hazmat alert, the air monitor at the spill site showed a ‰??10 LEL‰?? ‰?? lower explosive level. A reading of 10 or more is cause for concern, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which considers 10 percent of any LEL to be a ‰??hazardous atmosphere.‰??
There were no immediate reports of any injuries.Neither the Westmoreland hazmat office nor DNP responded to phone calls and email requests for comment.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL GAS FILLS LAB AT BUSINESS IN SPARTANBURG CO.
Tags: us_SC, laboratory, release, response, hydrochloric_acid
SPARTANBURG, SC (WSPA) ‰?? Firefighters were called a business for a hazmat call on Tradd Street in Spartanburg County.
Firefighters say hydrochloric acid let off gas in the building and the ventilation fan stopped working.
It is believed to have happened in a lab at Alfred H Knight North America just west of Spartanburg.
Firefighters say there is no threat to the public and there have been no reported injuries.
---------------------------------------------
TWO ARRESTED AFTER KEIGHLEY 'EXPLOSIVE' CHEMICAL FIND
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, discovery, response
The man, aged 48, and female 29, were suspected of keeping potentially risky chemicals at their home in Parkwood Street, on Sunday.
"Potentially explosive material was discovered during searches at a residential address in Keighley yesterday and the Army's bomb disposal unit attended from Catterick".
Two people were arrested after "potentially explosive" chemicals were found at a house in West Yorkshire, police have said.
"Searches at the property in Keighley are still underway and enquiries are ongoing".
It prompted the evacuation of nearby homes, with residents only being allowed to return in the early hours this morning.
An Army bomb disposal unit from Catterick carried out a controlled explosion and "potentially risky material" was removed, police said.
The spokeswoman said the arrets were "intelligence led" and were not in response to a particular threat.
---------------------------------------------
'NO HARM TO RESIDENTS' IN PALMER TOWNSHIP CHEMICAL SPILL (PHOTOS)
Tags: us_PA, transportation, release, response, pesticides
Responders from Northampton and Lehigh counties cleared a chemical spill Tuesday that resulted from an improperly sealed cap atop a tanker truck, officials said.
It was reported about 4:40 p.m. in the area of Hackett Avenue and Park Road in Palmer Township. Authorities closed that stretch of Hackett Avenue and temporarily evacuated some homes, while asking other nearby residents to remain in their homes, township fire Assistant Chief Jim Alercia said.
Hazardous-materials experts from Lehigh County Special Operations had replaced the cap as of about 7:50 p.m, ending the shelter-in-place order and road closure, he said.
"Any material that had spilled on the roadway evaporated and was no harm to residents," Alercia wrote in a text message to lehighvalleylive.com.
Chemical spill prompts evacuations in Palmer Township
The spill was from a truck labeled as carrying a corrosive substance.
The Schneider tanker was placarded corrosive, with a classification code of 3267. Federal standards for a spill of such liquids call for safety precautions including requiring responders to wear protective breathing apparatus and an isolation zone of at least 150 feet.
Alercia said the liquid was identified as Topguard. A chemical sold by that name is used as a fungicide.
---------------------------------------------
EAST LANSING LOOKING INTO WATER PLANT CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_MI, industrial, release, response, ferric_chloride, water_treatment
EAST LANSING ‰?? Officials from the city‰??s wastewater treatment plant trying to determine the severity of a 600-gallon chemical spill last month.
Ferric chloride, a chemical used to remove phosphorus in the wastewater treatment process, spilled from an above-ground supply line that broke on the morning of Aug. 27, said Scott House, the city‰??s public works director. The plant is tucked away from homes between a set of railroad tracks and the busy Trowbridge Road exit ramp off U.S. 127.
The spill posed no threat to residents, and an emergency response contractor, Flint-based Youngs Environmental, had the spill under control within two hours, House said Tuesday. Removal of contaminated soil is to begin Wednesday.
‰??We‰??re going to do some soil removal, further soil tests and we‰??re also working on some permanent repairs to the piping system,‰?? he said.
---------------------------------------------
WESTMORELAND CO. BUSINESS, COLLEGE EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, flammables
ALVERTON, Pa. (KDKA/AP) ‰?? Authorities say a Westmoreland County business and a nearby community college were evacuated Tuesday due to a chemical spill, but no injuries were reported.
Officials with the county said the leak at DNP Imagingcomm America Corp., a printing company, in East Huntingdon Township was reported just before 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Employees of businesses in the the sprawling technology center were told to evacuate around 12:50 p.m
Officials say a large chemical tank apparently ruptured.
‰??I just got outside. I didn‰??t know it was a chemical leak until actually we got out,‰?? said Pam Hall, one of the evacuated employees.
The company released this statement on the incident: ‰??At approximately 12:45 p.m., there was a spill of flammable liquids from the overflow of an above ground storage tank located inside of our facility. For the safety of our employees, and others at the site, all team members were evacuated. There were no injuries or other property damage at the site. All material is fully contained inside of our process area, and we are working with the site and local authorities on the safe and proper cleanup and removal of the material.‰??
First responders from across Westmoreland County arrived on scene, all in an effort to stop the leaking chemical, which was apparently flammable. Some 200 gallons of the product had spilled.
---------------------------------------------
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For more information about the list, contact the Divisional secretary at secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
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