From: Ralph Stuart <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (10 articles)
Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2018 07:56:04 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: D6CF3F2D-21FF-4CFA-9818-7C22685A933E**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, November 16, 2018 at 7:55:19 AM

A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
Connecting Chemistry and Safety at http://www.dchas.org
All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas

Table of Contents (10 articles)

EIGHT MIDS MEDICALLY EVALUATED AFTER CHEMICAL ODOR AT NAVAL ACADEMY
Tags: us_MD, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical

SOME SENATE REPUBLICANS URGE TRUMP TO NOMINATE LEADER FOR CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD
Tags: public, follow-up, environmental

EPA RELEASES DRAFT SAFE DAILY DOSE FOR CHEMOURS‰??S GENX CHEMICAL
Tags: public, discovery, environmental

CHEMICAL LEAK AT ALEXANDRIA NOVA CAMPUS PROMPTS HAZMAT RESPONSE
Tags: us_VA, education, release, response, unknown_chemical

HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS BEING DISPOSED AT BRAINTREE HIGH SCHOOL
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, discovery, environmental, peroxide, waste

WRONG CHEMICALS MIXED IN CORRY SEWAGE PLANT; PLANT AND ROAD CLOSE TEMPORARILY
Tags: us_PA, public, release, response, unknown_chemical

EMPLOYEES EVACUATED FROM HELENA‰??S CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: us_FL, industrial, fire, response, ag_chems, sulphur

LETTER ALLEGES FEDS MAY HAVE KNOWN ABOUT STEWART CONTAMINATION S
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical

NO TOXIN RISK AFTER CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE BURNED FORMER NUCLEAR RESEARCH SITE, STATE SAYS
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, fire, response, radiation, toxics

FOLLOWING REGS COULD HAVE PREVENTED BARREL EXPLOSION
Tags: us_ID, laboratory, follow-up, environmental, dust, radiation, uranium, waste


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EIGHT MIDS MEDICALLY EVALUATED AFTER CHEMICAL ODOR AT NAVAL ACADEMY
https://www.capitalgazette.com/news/naval_academy/ac-cn-alumni-house-20181115-story.html
Tags: us_MD, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical

Eight midshipman were medically evaluated Thursday morning after they reported a chemical odor coming from a classroom in Michelson Hall, Naval Academy officials said.

The midshipman smelled the odor inside the building that houses the academy's chemistry department. Around 9:15 a.m. firefighters responded to the scene. The odor is believed to be leftover from a previous day‰??s chemical experiment, an academy spokeswoman said.

Michelson Hall and adjacent Chauvenet Hall were evacuated as a precaution. Those halls ‰?? except for the classroom with the odor ‰?? were re-opened about 11 a.m.

The midshipmen were being evaluated as a precaution.

Firefighters from multiple areas descended on downtown Annapolis Thursday morning after reports of the chemical odor. Several marked vehicles with sirens flashing drove down King George Street.

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SOME SENATE REPUBLICANS URGE TRUMP TO NOMINATE LEADER FOR CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD
https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-senate-republicans-urge-trump-to-nominate-leader-for-chemical-safety-board-1542234240
Tags: public, follow-up, environmental

WASHINGTON‰??Some Senate Republicans have urged President Trump to nominate a chairman to the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, an agency Mr. Trump has tried to eliminate.

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works made the appeal in a letter to the White House last month, which The Wall Street Journal reviewed on Wednesday. It adds the Senate to a chorus of voices in government and industry calling for the president to support the agency.

The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board is a tiny agency of fewer than 40 employees that investigates the causes of oil spills, well explosions and chemical plant accidents. It was among the first agencies Mr. Trump targeted for elimination after taking office, but Congress has maintained its annual funding of at least $11 million.

‰??We encourage the president to nominate a new chair as soon as possible,‰?? wrote committee chairman Sen. John Barrasso (R., Wyo.) and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R., W.Va.), head of the subcommittee on clean air and nuclear safety. Mr. Trump has also not nominated an acting chairman, so board member Kristen Kulinowski, appointed by former President Barack Obama, is serving as interim head. That doesn‰??t directly affect operations, but can make it difficult for Ms. Kulinowski to set the direction of the agency.

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EPA RELEASES DRAFT SAFE DAILY DOSE FOR CHEMOURS‰??S GENX CHEMICAL
https://cen.acs.org/environment/persistent-pollutants/EPA-releases-draft-safe-daily/96/i46
Tags: public, discovery, environmental

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing a safe daily level for people to ingest of Chemours‰??s GenX fluoroether surfactant and its acid. The draft number suggests drinking or eating these chemicals is safe at a level four times as high as recommended for the industrial substances perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), but that level is still extremely low.
Chemours makes and uses GenX, which it substitutes for PFOA as a polymerization aid, at a plant in Fayetteville, N.C. The chemical is the ammonium salt of hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA). HFPO-DA is found in the Cape Fear River downstream of the Chemours facility as well as in nearby groundwater, rain, and treated drinking water.
EPA issued on Nov. 14 the so-called draft chronic reference dose of 80 ng/kg of body weight per day for the two fluoroethers combined. A reference dose is a maximum acceptable human exposure level likely not to cause appreciable health risks during a lifetime. The agency‰??s numbers are based on laboratory animal studies showing adverse effects in the liver, kidney, blood, and immune system and in fetuses.

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CHEMICAL LEAK AT ALEXANDRIA NOVA CAMPUS PROMPTS HAZMAT RESPONSE
https://patch.com/virginia/greateralexandria/chemical-leak-reported-alexandria-nova-campus
Tags: us_VA, education, release, response, unknown_chemical

ALEXANDRIA, VA‰??Multiple fire departments responded to a hazardous material situation at NOVA Community College's Alexandria campus Wednesday. Two people were evaluated for precautionary reasons, the Arlington Fire Department reported.

IAFF Local 2141, the firefighters union in Alexandria, tweeted at 3:12 p.m. that units were responding to the campus at 5000 Dawes Avenue for a chemical leak in a classroom. The Arlington County Fire Department's hazardous materials units assisted Alexandria units with containment and removal.

NOVA Community College tweeted that the campus was closed due to the incident. All on-campus and evening classes and activities are cancelled.

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HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS BEING DISPOSED AT BRAINTREE HIGH SCHOOL
https://patch.com/massachusetts/braintree/hazardous-chemicals-being-disposed-braintree-high-school
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, discovery, environmental, peroxide, waste

BRAINTREE, MA ‰?? A hazmat team will be at Braintree High School Wednesday getting rid of small quantities of hazardous waste.

School officials said benzoyl peroxide was found during a routine disposal of chemicals in the science department this fall. Benzoyl peroxide is a shock sensitive material and a common, regulated hazardous waste. Although the chemical is common in acne medication and other cosmetics, larger amounts can be explosive.

The state's Department of Environmental Protection gave the school an emergency license to stabilize and remove the chemical. Clean Harbors Environmental Services, a Norwell based waste management company, has been tasked with stabilizing the benzoyl peroxide.

After stabilization, the waste will be transported away from the school and properly disposed of at a hazardous waste management facility.

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WRONG CHEMICALS MIXED IN CORRY SEWAGE PLANT; PLANT AND ROAD CLOSE TEMPORARILY
https://www.yourerie.com/news/local-news/wrong-chemicals-mixed-in-corry-sewage-plant-plant-and-road-close-temporarily/1597336773
Tags: us_PA, public, release, response, unknown_chemical

An accidental mixing of chemicals led to a brief hazmat scare in Corry.

It happened in the 100 block of Sciota Street at the Corry Sewer Plant. The initial report came in of the wrong chemicals being pumped into a holding tank on the property. That led to a brief closing of the road and property.

The street was reopened a short time later and the clean-up of the tank continued into the afternoon.

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EMPLOYEES EVACUATED FROM HELENA‰??S CHEMICAL PLANT
https://www.wpbf.com/article/man-rants-at-confederate-monument-protesters-jesus-f-hates-you/25096007
Tags: us_FL, industrial, fire, response, ag_chems, sulphur

FORT PIERCE, Fla. ‰??
The St. Lucie Fire District told WPBF 25 News, they received a call around 2 p.m. Wednesday of a fire at Helena Chemical Company.

Officials confirmed the fire originated on a conveyer belt, then spread into piles of sulfur that was mixed in with fertilizer.

Helena employees were evacuated immediately. St. Lucie Fire District PIO, Brenda Stokes says people in neighboring businesses were asked to stay inside.

‰??Because it‰??s chemicals you have the Hazmat operation that‰??s established so you have the Hazmat here and they will be here through the duration. When you have an incident, you have to find out what chemical it is before they can even start putting water on it because maybe it‰??s not going to react to water, ‰?? Stokes said

All employees have been accounted for and are safe. Selvitz Rd. remains closed until further notice.

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LETTER ALLEGES FEDS MAY HAVE KNOWN ABOUT STEWART CONTAMINATION S
http://www.news12.com/story/39483963/letter-alleges-feds-may-have-known-about-stewart-contamination-since-90s
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, environmental, other_chemical

NEWBURGH -
A new letter shows that the federal government may have known about possible radioactive contamination from Stewart Air Base contaminating Newburgh's water since the 1990s.

The 1992 letter is from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to federal Air Force officials asking them to investigate a possible radioactive contamination at Stewart Air Base, just feet away from the city's water supply at Washington Lake.

The letter contends that drums of chemicals may have been buried underground for years at Stewart and that someone reportedly saw workers in hazmat suits removing the drums from the ground.

The problem is that the city's drinking reservoir, Washington Lake, is less than a mile away.

Two years ago, the city discovered the reservoir was contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals from firefighting foam used at Stewart years ago.

This prompted officials to build a multimillion-dollar filtration water system.

City Manager Michael Ciaravino told the Mid-Hudson News that with this latest allegation of possible nuclear contamination, he doesn't have confidence the filtration system will be able to do anything.

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

NO TOXIN RISK AFTER CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE BURNED FORMER NUCLEAR RESEARCH SITE, STATE SAYS
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/no-toxin-risk-after-california-wildfire-burned-former-nuclear-research-n936126
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, fire, response, radiation, toxics

The wildfire raging in Southern California scorched portions of a contaminated industrial research site where a partial nuclear meltdown once occurred, but no toxic chemicals are believed to have been released into the air, public health officials said.

Preliminary testing over the weekend at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Ventura County found "no discernible level of radiation in the tested area," the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said Tuesday.

Public health officials from multiple agencies collected air samples and used radiation detection units around the facility, which is on 2,850-acres of rugged plateau southeast of Simi Valley.

The state Department of Toxic Substances Control, which is overseeing cleanup of the site, also said that "previously handled radioactive and hazardous materials were not affected by the fire."

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FOLLOWING REGS COULD HAVE PREVENTED BARREL EXPLOSION
https://www.postregister.com/opinion/guest_column/following-regs-could-have-prevented-barrel-explosion/article_8a6eb93c-f521-5615-ae9b-e9850125d8fd.html
Tags: us_ID, laboratory, follow-up, environmental, dust, radiation, uranium, waste

U.S. Department of Energy cleanup contractor Fluor Idaho has issued a report on the causes of the transuranic waste drums that blew their lids off last April at the Idaho National Laboratory‰??s Radioactive Waste Management Complex. And that report blows the lid off the DOE‰??s excuses about the accident.w

If DOE regulations and hazardous waste laws, including the state-issued RCRA permit, had been complied with, the accident would not have happened. And numerous opportunities were missed for Fluor Idaho to learn that they were playing fire ‰?? finely divided uranium more susceptible to serious oxidation than the more commonly encountered form of uranium from the Rocky Flats weapons plant called ‰??roaster oxide.‰??

A fire had occurred last December when a waste container with this form of uranium was opened at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Facility. And despite this, a drum known to contain large amounts of the same form of uranium was sent to the Accelerated Retrieval Project V fabric enclosure despite its RCRA permit forbidding such material.

The drums that one by one expelled their powdery radioactive contents throughout the ARP V enclosure just hours after workers had gone home.

The first smoldering drum set off fire alarms. The fire department responded, but because of radiation monitor malfunction, they were unaware that radioactive airborne contamination inside the fabric tension membrane enclosure was far above normal. Radiological control personnel came to assist the firefighters 43 minutes after requested. The responders had inadequate knowledge of the materials in the drums which also hampered their efforts.

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