From: DCHAS Secretary <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (11 articles)
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2016 12:06:53 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: 7EC7F7FC-D3A8-4456-ADF0-3A2F90418ED7**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, December 16, 2016 at 12:06:43 PM

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 (11 articles)

A WHIPPED CREAM SHORTAGE IS LOOMING, JUST IN TIME FOR PEAK HOLIDAY PIE
Tags: us_FL, transportation, follow-up, death, other_chemical

LOCAL NEWS, FIREFIGHTERS HOT OVER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_ID, public, release, injury, formaldehyde

CREWS RESPOND TO SOUTHWEST MIDDLE AFTER CHEMICAL ACCIDENTALLY SPRAYED
Tags: us_NC, education, release, response, unknown_chemical, irritant

THREE CHEMICAL CLEAN-UPS ACROSS MELBOURNE
Tags: Australia, industrial, explosion, response, ferric_chloride, solvent

EPA SEEKS TO FINE CHEMICAL GIANT NEARLY $5M FOR HAWAII CASE
Tags: us_HI, industrial, release, environmental, pesticides, illegal

CHEMICAL SPILL FORCES EVACUATIONS IN MANTECA
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, hydrochloric_acid

WATER IN CORPUS CHRISTI DEEMED UNSAFE DUE TO CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_TX, public, release, response, other_chemical

HAZMAT SCENE EMPTIES LARGO MEDICAL CENTER CLASSROOM
Tags: us_FL, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical

CHEMICAL REACTION FORCES WORKERS OUT OF CKF PLANT IN HANTSPORT
Tags: Canada, industrial, release, response, bleach, hydrogen_peroxide

CLEAN UP AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT VIC PORT
Tags: Australia, transportation, release, response, ferric_chloride

RUTHERFORD COUNTY, TENNESSEE, TRUCK CRASH LEADS TO EVACUATIONS
Tags: us_TN, transportation, fire, response, chlorine, pool_chemicals


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A WHIPPED CREAM SHORTAGE IS LOOMING, JUST IN TIME FOR PEAK HOLIDAY PIE
Tags: us_FL, transportation, follow-up, death, other_chemical

c) 2016, å• BUSINESS, FEATURES, FOOD å• Dec 15, 2016 - 6:20 AM
If it is the season of pumpkin and pecan pies, and of frothy drinks garnished with cinnamon or peppermint, then it is also the season of whipped cream dispensed in fat squirts.

But the supply of canned whipped creams, kept fluffy with nitrous oxide gas, will be leaner this year, manufacturers warned recently.

Conagra Foods, the makers of the popular Reddi-wip whipped cream, told the Boston Globe in a statement that the full stocks of Reddi-wip will be "up and running by February." Meanwhile, the manufacturers encouraged whipped cream fans to "stock up early" during this "peak holiday season."

A tragic accident in August triggered the whipped cream shortage. Two gas tankers, as well as a nitrous oxide holding tank, exploded at a loading dock in an Airgas chemical plant in Florida. The explosion killed one worker. A Florida State Fire Marshal told Fox 10 the body of the Airgas employee was found some 50 to 75 feet from the loading bay. Airgas confirmed to the Pensacola News Journal that an employee had died, but did not release the name of the victim.

As the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health notes, the gas itself is "not combustible but enhances combustion of other substances."

The accident curbed nitrous oxide production. Airgas, which bills itself as the largest North American producer of the gas, supplies nitrous oxide to several customers, including Conagra and medical clients.

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

LOCAL NEWS, FIREFIGHTERS HOT OVER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_ID, public, release, injury, formaldehyde

A recent chemical spill incident has upset some Paradise Valley firefighters, who voiced their concerns to the Paradise Valley Fire Commission Tuesday night.

Boundary County residents, residing at 265 Uplander Rd, in the Paradise Valley area, contacted law enforcement last Monday night to report a class two hazardous spill, involving the chemical formaldehyde.

The incident began on Dec. 5, with Idaho State police, Boundary County Sheriff‰??s Office, Paradise Valley Fire District, Boundary Ambulance and Boundary County Emergency Management arriving on scene at about 8:15 p.m., and ending late Tuesday afternoon with the homeowners re-entering the residence.

Upon arrival, authorities confirmed that approximately one gallon of formaldehyde had been spilled in the basement.

The exact amount is unknown. Homeowners were evacuated by Paradise Valley Fire District Incident Commander Josh Wortley and a minor child in the home was reportedly treated by Boundary Ambulance for chemical burns, due to walking through the puddle of formaldehyde with only his socks on, according to Wortley

The concerns expressed at Tuesday night‰??s meeting were regarding how the incident was handled by the county‰??s emergency management, after the decision was made to send two firefighters into the basement of the contaminated residence without the proper gear ‰?? which would be a Level B, vapor-resistant suit ‰?? and, in so doing, exposed two firefighters to the chemical formaldehyde, along with three other firefighters on the outside, who had also been exposed from the vapors emitting from the residence, according to Paradise Valley firefighters.

Some firefighters expressed to the Commission that they will not respond to calls until their turnout gear is replaced.

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

CREWS RESPOND TO SOUTHWEST MIDDLE AFTER CHEMICAL ACCIDENTALLY SPRAYED
Tags: us_NC, education, release, response, unknown_chemical, irritant

HIGH POINT --Emergency crews responded to an incident at Southwest Guilford Middle School in High Point on Thursday afternoon after an unknown substance affected more than 30 students.

Guilford County Schools said the situation started in a seventh grade Spanish classroom. The unidentifiable irritant spread to the hallway when students opened the door during class change.

"As far as what that chemical is, or whatever was sprayed right now we do not know,‰?? said Tim Wright, deputy chief with the High Point Fire Department. "We don't think it was malicious type thing."

Wright said a total of 37 students complained of throat irritation. They were taken to a classroom for monitoring by Guilford County EMS.

"It's been the type of thing that it appears with time, it just wares off the irritation part,‰?? Wright said. "It appears like whatever it was, was not anything highly toxic."

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

THREE CHEMICAL CLEAN-UPS ACROSS MELBOURNE
Tags: Australia, industrial, explosion, response, ferric_chloride, solvent

Hazmats crews in Melbourne have been kept busy cleaning up three separate chemical incidents around the city.
An illegally dumped collection of chemicals was found in unmarked bags in Thomastown on Thursday, forcing the evacuation of nearby homes on Lockwood Grove.
The chemicals were sent off to Victoria Police's forensic unit to identify.
In another part of Thomastown, a factory had to be evacuated after an explosion on Thursday afternoon sparked a fire that caused extensive damage.
The factory contained a high fuel load, including solvents and chemicals, so the 24 occupants had to rush to safety.
The cause of the blast and resulting fire is being investigated by the MFB Fire Investigation unit and Worksafe was notified.
Clean-up crews also had to handle litres of a potentially dangerous chemical spilled at the port of Melbourne on Wednesday night.
An exclusion zone was put in place after 10 to 20 litres of a chemical called ferric chloride solution spilled from a barrel at a container site at DP World before 7pm on Wednesday.
It took more than four hours for firefighters to contain, the MFB said, adding there were no injuries and it posed no threat to the public.

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

EPA SEEKS TO FINE CHEMICAL GIANT NEARLY $5M FOR HAWAII CASE
Tags: us_HI, industrial, release, environmental, pesticides, illegal

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday it's seeking nearly $5 million in fines against a unit of the Swiss chemical giant Syngenta for the company's alleged violations of pesticide regulations in Hawaii.

The violations allegedly occurred on Jan. 20 at Syngenta Seeds' crop research farm on Kauai where workers entered a field recently sprayed with a restricted insecticide. The EPA said 10 workers were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Syngenta failed to tell the workers to avoid the fields, and then allowed them to enter the fields without protective gear, the agency said. Further, the EPA said Syngenta failed to provide adequate decontamination supplies at the farm and supply prompt transportation for emergency medical care.

The incident occurred when a state agriculture department inspector was at the farm. The state investigated and referred the case to the EPA.

Syngenta said in a statement that it takes responsibility for the matter and no workers were injured.

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

CHEMICAL SPILL FORCES EVACUATIONS IN MANTECA
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, hydrochloric_acid

MANTECA (CBS13) ‰?? Mandatory evacuations were ordered after a large chemical spill was reported in the city of Manteca.

The spill happened in the area of Bessemer Avenue and Carnegie Street ‰?? just north of highway 120. A forklift is said to have punctured a container of hydrochloric acid.

Evacuations are in place in the nearby areas of Industrial Park, South Main Street, Yosemite Avenue and Powers Avenue, according to Manteca Police Department spokesperson Marci Jones.

‰??They‰??re trying to stabilize the area‰?|and asking everyone to shelter in place,‰?? said an official on the scene.

People living in surrounding areas are urged to close all windows and doors while the spill is cleaned up.

Nearby Manteca High School and Lincoln Elementary School are also closed as a result of the spill.

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WATER IN CORPUS CHRISTI DEEMED UNSAFE DUE TO CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_TX, public, release, response, other_chemical

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (KTRK) -- Nearly 300,000 residents in Corpus Christi have been asked to stop using tap water after a chemical was discovered in the supply.

Late Thursday, city officials announced that three locations were declared safe. Those areas include: Calallen, Flour Bluff and Padre Island.

The chemical, an asphalt emulsifier, spilled into the system from a company operating at one of the Valero refineries, officials said.
....There is question as to whether the spill happened because of a faulty back-flow preventer or if one was in use.

"That's the question we all would like asked," said Kim Womak with the city of Corpus Christi. "When we went onsite yesterday, there was not one."

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

HAZMAT SCENE EMPTIES LARGO MEDICAL CENTER CLASSROOM
Tags: us_FL, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical

LARGO (FOX 13) - Ten people at the Jersey College School of Nursing were evacuated from a room at Largo Medical Center after a hazmat situation Thursday afternoon.

The all-clear was given several hours later, without any threat to patients at the hospital.

It was around 1:30 p.m. when 10 people in the classroom complained of eye irritation. They left the room while hazmat crews investigated the room, which is leased from the hospital.

Nine of the 10 students refused treatment, while the last is being evaluated at the hospital.

"We do not know what the cause was. We had gas meters, monitors inside the hospital, and they did not pick up any adverse air," firefighter Cody Johnson offered.

Firefighters say there was never any danger to patients at the hospital.

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

CHEMICAL REACTION FORCES WORKERS OUT OF CKF PLANT IN HANTSPORT
Tags: Canada, industrial, release, response, bleach, hydrogen_peroxide

Workers at the Canadian Keyes Fibre plant in Hantsport were forced from the building Wednesday after two chemicals mixed inside the Prince Street manufacturing facility.

Hantsport deputy fire chief Paul Maynard said that at about 9:30 p.m., hydrogen peroxide and sodium hypochlorite were accidentally mixed together. About 1,500 litres, most of that hydrogen peroxide, was involved.

The reaction was causing a gas to form when Hantsport fire crews arrived on the scene. They called the Kings County hazardous materials team, which is composed of firefighters from Kentville, New Minas and Wolfville, to assess the situation.

‰??What (mixing of the chemicals) does is cause a reaction that produces oxygen and a lot of heat,‰?? Maynard said at about 12:30 a.m. Thursday. ‰??It's not overly dangerous, but with an oxygen-rich environment, we have to watch for ignition sources.‰??

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

CLEAN UP AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT VIC PORT
Tags: Australia, transportation, release, response, ferric_chloride

A clean up operation continues after litres of a potentially dangerous chemical spilled at the port of Melbourne.
An exclusion zone remains in place after about 10-20 litres of a chemical called ferric chloride solution spilled from a barrel at a container site at DP World before 7pm on Wednesday.
It took more than four hours for firefighters to contain the spill, the MFB said, adding there were no injuries and it posed no threat to the public.
Crews will return to the site to monitor a salvage operation on Thursday, an MFB spokesman said.

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

RUTHERFORD COUNTY, TENNESSEE, TRUCK CRASH LEADS TO EVACUATIONS
Tags: us_TN, transportation, fire, response, chlorine, pool_chemicals

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Many residents have been evacuated southeast of Nashville after a semi-truck crash involving hazardous chemicals, CBS affiliate WTVF-TV reports.

The crash happened early Wednesday morning on Interstate 24.

Two semis were involved in a crash, causing one of them to catch fire and spill pool supplies - including chlorine tablets. Other unknown chemicals may have been involved as well.

At least 75 homes were evacuated after residents were earlier asked to remain indoors and turn off their ventilation units.

Emergency officials were seen going door to door, alerting neighbors of the evacuations.

Officials with Rutherford County Schools said there was ‰??no reason to close any schools at this time.‰??

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