From: DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (10 articles)
Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2019 07:37:09 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: 3202E063-61FA-45B6-B141-E7CEDE41AF1B**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, February 15, 2019 at 7:36:57 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)

BOEING SUED OVER DEADLY WOOLSEY FIRE IN CALIFORNIA
Tags: us_CA, public, follow-up, environmental

THREE KILLED IN EXPLOSION AT CHEMICAL FACTORY
Tags: Republic_of_Korea, industrial, explosion, death, unknown_chemical

REPORT: CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS HOSPITALIZED IN HAZMAT SITUATION
Tags: us_RI, industrial, release, injury, dust

TWELVE UNIVERSITY OFFICIALS PUNISHED FOR DEADLY LAB EXPLOSION
Tags: China, laboratory, follow-up, death, illegal, water_treatment

NEGLIGENCE BLAMED IN DEADLY LABORATORY EXPLOSION ON CAMPUS
Tags: China, laboratory, follow-up, death, hydrogen

DOZENS TO BE PUNISHED OVER CHINA EXPLOSION KILLING 19
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, death, unknown_chemical

CLEMSON UNIVERSITY BUILDING CLEARED AFTER SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE EVACUATION
Tags: us_SC, education, release, response, dust

BOMB SQUAD DETONATES 38 POUNDS OF EXPLOSIVES FOUND IN PVC PIPE BEHIND TERRA CEIA HOME
Tags: us_FL, public, discovery, response, explosives

AFTER A RECENT CHEMICAL SPILL AT THE LAFAYETTE UTILITIES, UL OFFICIALS CALL FOR CAUTION
Tags: us_LA, industrial, follow-up, injury, irritant, water_treatment

ONE PERSON TREATED AFTER 'MINOR EXPLOSION' IN LAB AT RJ REYNOLDS TOBACCO IN WINSTON-SALEM
Tags: us_NC, laboratory, explosion, response, unknown_chemical


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BOEING SUED OVER DEADLY WOOLSEY FIRE IN CALIFORNIA
https://www.legalscoops.com/boeing-sued-over-deadly-woolsey-fire-in-california/
Tags: us_CA, public, follow-up, environmental

Boeing Co. is being sued over alleged negligence related to the Woolsey Fire that devastated Malibu, California last November. The fire allegedly ignited near the grounds of the Rocketdyne testing site.

A group of homeowners are suing Boeing and Edison International. Edison International is the parent company of the utility blamed for the blaze.

Boeing is being accused of improperly managing the vegetation on the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, and allowed the fire to spread to nearby neighborhoods.

The Woolsey fire destroyed 1,500 structures, torched 10,000 acres and killed three people in and around Malibu. Southern California Edison said an electrical substation on Boeing‰??s property had suffered an outage two minutes before the fire was reported.

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THREE KILLED IN EXPLOSION AT CHEMICAL FACTORY
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20190214002500315
Tags: Republic_of_Korea, industrial, explosion, death, unknown_chemical

DAEJEON, Feb. 14 (Yonhap) -- Three are dead after a chemical factory run by a major conglomerate exploded and caught fire, firefighters said Thursday.
The explosion occurred at 8:42 a.m. at a Hanwha factory in Daejeon, a city located about 143 km south of Seoul.
Three employees have been confirmed dead, the authorities said, with no further details known yet about the victims.
The factory caught fire shortly after the explosion, they said. Firefighters mobilized over 40 fire vehicles and put out the blaze in about an hour.
Fire authorities are investigating to determine the exact cause.
The same factory reported an explosion in May last year, in which two people were killed and five others wounded.

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REPORT: CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS HOSPITALIZED IN HAZMAT SITUATION
https://patch.com/rhode-island/cranston/correctional-officers-hospitalized-aci-hazmat-situation
Tags: us_RI, industrial, release, injury, dust

CRANSTON, R.I. -- Updated 10:07 p.m.: Two ACI Correctional Officers were taken to the hospital Wednesday night following reports of a Hazmat situation at the prison.

WPRI reports that according to the head of the correctional officers' union, the lockdown was caused by a bag of unidentified white powder. The two officers were hospitalized out of an abundance of caution.

Reports of the situation came in around 6:30 p.m.

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

TWELVE UNIVERSITY OFFICIALS PUNISHED FOR DEADLY LAB EXPLOSION
https://www.caixinglobal.com/2019-02-14/twelve-university-officials-punished-for-deadly-lab-explosion-101379295.html
Tags: China, laboratory, follow-up, death, illegal, water_treatment

A Beijing University held 12 senior officials accountable for an explosion at a lab that killed three students in December.
The Beijing Jiaotong University imposed administrative penalties for the accident on officials including the university‰??s Communist Party chief, president and a vice president. Two people in charge of the lab face criminal charges, according the government-backed newspaper Beijing Daily.
The blast occurred on the morning of Dec. 26 when three graduate students from the university‰??s urban planning and environmental engineering department were working on a wastewater treatment experiment in a science laboratory. Investigators from the capital government found flaws in safety management of the lab, which was full of flammable materials that exploded upon contact with air, according to the report.

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NEGLIGENCE BLAMED IN DEADLY LABORATORY EXPLOSION ON CAMPUS
http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201902/14/WS5c64c3c4a3106c65c34e93fa.html
Tags: China, laboratory, follow-up, death, hydrogen

Serious dereliction of duty led to the deaths of three students in a laboratory explosion at Beijing Jiaotong University in December, the Beijing Emergency Management Bureau said on Wednesday.

A joint investigation involving multiple government departments found that the students purchased and stored dangerous chemicals and carried out risky experiments in violation of regulations. University personnel also failed to oversee and manage the safety of laboratories and scientific research projects, investigators said.

On Dec 26, students from the urban planning and environmental engineering department were doing sewage treatment experiments in a laboratory building on the university's eastern campus. The explosion killed three students who were taking part.

The investigation of the blast was coordinated by the municipal Emergency Management Bureau, Public Security Bureau and Fire Services Department.

It found that during the stirring of magnesium powder and phosphoric acid in a mixer, the hydrogen generated in the hopper was ignited by a spark caused by metal friction in the mixer and then exploded. That in turn caused a further magnesium dust explosion, engulfing the rest of the magnesium powder and other combustibles nearby. The three students died at the scene, it said.

Public security authorities said Li Desheng, director of the research project, and Zhang Qiong, manager of the laboratory, will be investigated for criminal negligence.

The Ministry of Education and Beijing Jiaotong University punished 12 officials from the university, including Cao Guoyong, its Party chief, Ning Bin, its president and Guan Zhongliang, its vice-president.

The authorities have ordered corrections in the production, sale, transportation and storage of dangerous chemicals, with comprehensive safety inspections at every stage.

All universities in Beijing have been asked to carry out safety inspections, clarify experiment regulations, improve the safety management system of laboratories and strengthen personnel training in order to prevent other incidents.

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DOZENS TO BE PUNISHED OVER CHINA EXPLOSION KILLING 19
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-02/13/c_137819063.htm
Tags: China, industrial, follow-up, death, unknown_chemical

CHENGDU, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Around 60 people are to be punished for their roles in a chemical plant explosion that killed 19 workers and injured 12 in southwest China's Sichuan Province last July.
The blast ripped through the Yibin Hengda Technology Co., Ltd. in an industrial park in Jiang'an County in the city of Yibin on July 12, inflicting a direct economic loss of 41.4 million yuan (6.1 million U.S. dollars).
Fifteen people, including Li Guanghui, the legal representative of the chemical firm, have been transferred to judicial authorities, the provincial emergency management bureau said Wednesday.
Four people, including director of the work safety and environmental protection bureau of the industrial park, are being investigated by local discipline inspection and supervisory authorities.
Another 44 people, including a deputy director of the administrative committee of the industrial park, are advised to be given disciplinary punishments for the production safety accident.

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CLEMSON UNIVERSITY BUILDING CLEARED AFTER SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE EVACUATION
https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2019/02/12/all-clear-given-after-clemson-university-dillard-building-evacuated/2846829002/
Tags: us_SC, education, release, response, dust

The Dillard Building on Clemson's campus was evacuated Tuesday morning over a potential hazmat incident, a CU Safe Alert said.

An all clear was given at 11:11 a.m.

The building is home to the university's shipping and receiving services and sits on Fort Hill Street to the east of Memorial Stadium.

The mail room team there found a package that seemed suspicious and had powder coming out of it, Joe Galbraith, Clemson's associate vice president for strategic communications said.

The building was evacuated as a precaution while the substance was tested and the shipper was contacted, Galbraith said.

The package was legitimate and simply mislabeled, and the powder was not dangerous, Galbraith said.

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BOMB SQUAD DETONATES 38 POUNDS OF EXPLOSIVES FOUND IN PVC PIPE BEHIND TERRA CEIA HOME
http://www.mysuncoast.com/2019/02/12/bomb-squad-detonates-pounds-explosives-found-pvc-pipe-behind-terra-ceia-home/
Tags: us_FL, public, discovery, response, explosives

SARASOTA (WWSB) - Four explosions early Sunday morning caused many ABC7 viewers to reach out to us for more information.
A homeowner in Palmetto, said he found a PVC pipe in the swampy mangroves behind his house.
When he cut it open, he found that it was a 7 foot, 4 inch PVC pipe filled with explosives.
‰??This is such an unusual case,‰?? said Mike Blozki, Captain of the Southern Manatee Fire Rescue‰??s Hazmat Team.
‰??This is like a once in a lifetime kind of thing in Manatee County and it kind of throws responders for a loop," said Captain Blozki. "Especially when we estimate, you‰??re dealing with 38 pounds of a true blasting agent that‰??s been rediscovered after 40-45 years behind, somewhere.‰??

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AFTER A RECENT CHEMICAL SPILL AT THE LAFAYETTE UTILITIES, UL OFFICIALS CALL FOR CAUTION
https://www.thevermilion.com/news/after-a-recent-chemical-spill-at-the-lafayette-utilities-ul/article_388b321e-2e64-11e9-a1f6-e35f40ca4a74.html
Tags: us_LA, industrial, follow-up, injury, irritant, water_treatment

A minor chemical spill at the Lafayette Utilities System North Water Plant last week led to an evacuation order, an investigation and 14 people seeking medical treatment, according to multiple reports.

Hydrated lime was released as a cloud or fine dust from the plant, polluting the air in the area and covering surrounding buildings. The spill prompted officials at the plant, Lafayette Fire Department, Lafayette Police Department and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to evacuate the surrounding area. The evacuation order was lifted on Feb. 4.

Associate professor of chemistry Eric Taylor, Ph.D., warned of the potential dangers of breathing the substance.

‰??It‰??s not what you call a particularly serious dangerous chemical, but it‰??s not something you‰??d want to play with either,‰?? Taylor said. ‰??It‰??s an irritant. It‰??s a caustic material, so you don‰??t want to breathe it in or put it on your skin because it would damage your skin and injure you‰?|.LUS did get people out of the area rather quickly, which is to their credit. You don‰??t want them to be there to be injured by it, and you don‰??t want people in the way while they are trying to clean it up.‰??

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ONE PERSON TREATED AFTER 'MINOR EXPLOSION' IN LAB AT RJ REYNOLDS TOBACCO IN WINSTON-SALEM
https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/one-person-treated-after-minor-explosion-in-lab-at-rj-reynolds-tobacco-in-winston-salem/83-2fef3817-50c5-4239-b51a-c53fc8248820
Tags: us_NC, laboratory, explosion, response, unknown_chemical

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. ‰?? Reynolds American Inc. says a HAZMAT was called to its Winston-Salem facility after a "minor explosion" in a lab Tuesday morning.

The company says one person was taken to the hospital out of precaution. No injuries have been reported.

Reynolds released the following statement:

‰??We had an incident in an on-site contractor‰??s lab where a chemical interaction caused a minor explosion. All persons in the lab were evaluated and one person was transported to the hospital out of precaution. No injuries have been reported. The incident did not cause property damage and will not disrupt our business activities at the location.

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