From: DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (14 articles)
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2020 07:25:00 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Message-ID: C7031516-B84B-4814-A010-4E6AE6EBA257**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, June 15, 2020 at 7:24:30 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 (14 articles)

UP DERAILMENT IN WYOMING LEADS TO EXPLOSIONS, FIRE
Tags: us_WY, transportation, explosion, injury, petroleum

FIRE AT PLAINFIELD LABORATORY UNDER INVESTIGATION
Tags: us_CT, laboratory, fire, response, batteries

WACO FIRE UNITS RESPONDING AFTER NATURAL GAS LINE STRUCK
Tags: us_TX, public, release, response, methane

TANKER TRUCK BLAST ON CHINA HIGHWAY KILLS 19
Tags: China, transportation, explosion, death, natural_gas

BENGALURU: DUMPED LIQUID CAUSES FIRE, BLAST IN OPEN DRAIN
Tags: India, public, explosion, response, flammables, waste

HONG KONG WASTE PLANT INCIDENT INJURES AT LEAST 10 AFTER PARTS OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDING COLLAPSE
Tags: Hong_Kong, industrial, release, injury, waste

SEMI ROLLED OVER NEAR ROCHESTER, LEAKING HERBICIDE
Tags: us_IL, transportation, release, response, pesticides

NO ONE HURT AFTER LIQUID FERTILIZER TRAILERS CATCH ON FIRE IN STARKE COUNTY ‰?? WKVI INFORMATION CENTER
Tags: us_IN, transportation, fire, response, ag_chems

DEMOLITION BEGINS IN JULY FOR CONTAMINATED SANTA SUSANA FIELD LABORATORY BUILDINGS ‰?? DAILY NEWS
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, follow-up, response, radiation, toxics

CONSTRUCTION DEBRIS IGNITED FIRED ON CATHERINE STREET IN ITHACA
Tags: us_NY, public, fire, response, unknown_chemical

CHEMICAL SPILL SHUTS DOWN ROUTE 44 IN GEAUGA COUNTY
Tags: us_OH, transportation, release, response, hydrochloric_acid

METH LAB BUST IN MARQUETTE TOWNSHIP, CHEMICAL REACTION CAUSES SMALL FIRE
Tags: us_MI, public, fire, injury, meth_lab

SECOND FIRE INCIDENT IN A WEEK: LABOURER KILLED IN ANKLESHWAR
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, death, pesticides

‰??FIRE AT DAHEJ CHEMICAL FIRM DAMAGED OUR HEALTH, ECOLOGY‰??
Tags: India, public, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical


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UP DERAILMENT IN WYOMING LEADS TO EXPLOSIONS, FIRE
https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2020/06/14-up-derailment-in-wyoming-leads-to-explosions-fire
Tags: us_WY, transportation, explosion, injury, petroleum

Explosions, fire follow derailment of UP train in Rock Springs, Wyo.
A Union Pacific derailment led to explosions and a wildfire near Rock Springs, Wyo., on Saturday, as the 26 cars that derailed included multiple cars of liquefied petroleum gas and alcohol, according to a report from the Sweetwater County Fire District. SweetwaterNow.com reports the fire near Interstate 80, involving seven to eight railcars, ignited a 20-acre blaze. Wyo4News.com reported that firefighting units from the Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport fire department, Rock Springs Fire Department, and Bureau of Land Management all responded to the incident, along with a regional hazmat team. KSL-TV reported that a few deputies that responded to the scene suffered minor burns but no other injuries were reported. Some cars were still burning Saturday nigh

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FIRE AT PLAINFIELD LABORATORY UNDER INVESTIGATION
https://www.wfsb.com/news/fire-at-plainfield-laboratory-under-investigation/article_2eb1fba8-ae3b-11ea-9c74-0f12396fa178.html
Tags: us_CT, laboratory, fire, response, batteries

PLAINFIELD, CT (WFSB) - Authorities are looking into what sparked a fire at a commercial building Saturday night.

According to Plainfield Fire officials, crews responded to the B.S.T. Systems building on Plainfield Pike Road around 8:30 p.m. where they located and quickly doused a fire that broke out in one of the laboratories.

The Moosup Fire Department and the Central Village Fire Company were called in to assist with ventilation and property conservation efforts.

No injuries were reported.

Fire officials add that B.S.T. Systems designs and makes complex, high energy cells and batteries some military branches of the military and the aerospace industry to use.

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WACO FIRE UNITS RESPONDING AFTER NATURAL GAS LINE STRUCK
https://www.kxxv.com/hometown/mclennan-county/waco-fire-units-responding-after-natural-gas-line-struck
Tags: us_TX, public, release, response, methane

WACO, TX ‰?? The Waco Fire Department is responding to a hazmat situation.

Waco Fire units are on scene of a natural gas line struck at the 900 Block of N. 19th St.

Please avoid this area.

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TANKER TRUCK BLAST ON CHINA HIGHWAY KILLS 19
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/13/world/asia/china-tanker-truck-explosion.html
Tags: China, transportation, explosion, death, natural_gas

Nineteen people died and more than 170 were injured in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang on Saturday after a truck carrying liquefied gas exploded on a highway.

Videos of the accident, near the city of Wenling around 4 in the afternoon, showed a large explosion that appeared to send the chassis of the truck careening into nearby buildings. Other footage picked up by Chinese state news outlets showed charred facades of nearby buildings with windows blown out by the shock wave, and flaming wreckage sending up thick black plumes into the sky.

Chinese state news outlets said rescue workers were searching for people trapped in the residential and factory buildings, some of which had collapsed. The truck was carrying gas between two cities on China‰??s east coast, Ningbo and Wenzhou, and was exiting a highway when the accident occurred, according to the state-run Zhejiang News. The accident shut down traffic on the highway going both ways. Other videos showed cars nearby on fire.

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BENGALURU: DUMPED LIQUID CAUSES FIRE, BLAST IN OPEN DRAIN
https://www.deccanherald.com/city/bengaluru-dumped-liquid-causes-fire-blast-in-open-drain-849302.html
Tags: India, public, explosion, response, flammables, waste

A scrap dealer was arrested after a highly inflammable chemical that he had dumped in an open drain caused a major fire in northern Bengaluru on Saturday, a senior police officer said.

Residents of Kasturi Nagar, Rajagopalanagar, panicked after hearing a blast and seeing flames in an open drain around 11.45 am. Tension gripped the locality for a while before firefighters arrived and doused the fire. There were no casualties.

A police investigation found that local resident G Swamy, who sells scrap for a living, had emptied 20 cans of a liquid into the drain. Minutes later, residents heard a huge blast followed by an inferno in the drain. The fire quickly spread to an adjacent open area, including a park. Two fire tenders rushed to the spot and put out the fire.

Rajagopalanagar police arrested Swamy based on the testimony of one Ravikumar who said he had seen him emptying the cans into the drain. Swamy was waiting to dispose of the cans of chemicals and it didn't occur to him that the liquid will cause a fire, the officer said.

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HONG KONG WASTE PLANT INCIDENT INJURES AT LEAST 10 AFTER PARTS OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDING COLLAPSE
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3088969/five-people-sent-hospitals-and-four-trapped-inside-hong-kong
Tags: Hong_Kong, industrial, release, injury, waste

At least 10 people were sent to hospital after parts of a government-owned chemical waste plant collapsed in Hong Kong on Sunday morning.
The accident at the Environment Protection Department chemical waste treatment centre in Tsing Yi was caused by the collapse of a seven-storey metal platform inside an incinerator under maintenance.
At the time of the accident, around 12 people were working on various levels of the platform that had a 2-metre space between each levels.
Firefighters said they arrived at the plant within five minutes of receiving a call at 9.15am, and it took them 65 minutes to rescue four workers trapped under the debris.
‰??They were trapped inside the incinerator, which is about five to seven metres from the ground,‰?? Kwai Chung fire station commander Hung Tak-shing said.

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SEMI ROLLED OVER NEAR ROCHESTER, LEAKING HERBICIDE
https://www.wandtv.com/news/semi-rolled-over-near-rochester-leaking-herbicide/article_be4d05be-acd8-11ea-8734-571be4a32731.html
Tags: us_IL, transportation, release, response, pesticides

ROCHESTER, Ill. (WAND) - A hazmat team has been called out after a semi truck hauling herbicide rolled over near Rochester Friday.

The tanker is leaking herbicide at Cardinal Hill and Braner Road.

No injuries were reported. No other vehicles were involved.

The call came in around 11:50 a.m.

The crash is still under investigation.

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

NO ONE HURT AFTER LIQUID FERTILIZER TRAILERS CATCH ON FIRE IN STARKE COUNTY ‰?? WKVI INFORMATION CENTER
https://wkvi.com/2020/06/no-one-hurt-after-liquid-fertilizer-trailers-catch-on-fire-in-starke-county/
Tags: us_IN, transportation, fire, response, ag_chems

Firefighters and a hazmat crew were called to a farm equipment fire in Starke County Friday. It happened just after 5:00 p.m. in the 100 block of North Range Road, according to Knox-Center Township Fire Chief Kenny Pfost. He says two liquid fertilizer trailers caught on fire.

Firefighters were able to extinguish the trailers, and no one was hurt. Pfost says the fire was caused by burning cardboard in an outside container.

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

DEMOLITION BEGINS IN JULY FOR CONTAMINATED SANTA SUSANA FIELD LABORATORY BUILDINGS ‰?? DAILY NEWS
https://www.dailynews.com/2020/06/12/aiming-to-beat-fire-season-demolition-of-contaminated-buildings-at-santa-susana-field-laboratory-will-start-in-july/
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, follow-up, response, radiation, toxics

As California‰??s wildfire season approaches, officials with a state agency that oversees cleanup of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in the hills above the San Fernando and Simi valleys have presented a plan to remove a dozen buildings that in case of the fire and heavy rain could potentially release contaminants in the nearby communities.

A group of specialists with the Department of the Toxic Substances Control, known as DTSC, aim to demolish 10 buildings, including several of the most contaminated structures, following a consent order released in May by the Department of Energy, or DOE, and DTSC.

The discussion comes nearly two years after the destructive Woolsey Fire started Nov. 8 at E Street and Alfa Road, on the Santa Susana site, scorching a large swath of the field.

To mitigate the risk of another destructive wildfire, state officials are now looking to dismantle the above-ground portions of the buildings in the upcoming months.

‰??With the climate change, we‰??re seeing hotter and longer fires that we‰??ve ever experienced before and more destructive fires than we‰??ve ever experienced before,‰?? said Grant Cope, DTSC site mitigation and restoration program deputy director and the SSFL project director. ‰??All the models that we‰??re using to take a look at the future tell us it‰??s going to get worse. We‰??re doing the work we can now to get rid of the above-ground structures, eliminating potential threats.‰??

This action requires DOE to remove all 10 buildings within the Radioactive Materials Handling Facility Complex, the 1.5-complex build in 1959 to handle nuclear fuel. The area located in Area IV is now laced with radionuclides, heavy metals, solvents, oils and greases, lead-based paint and asbestos-containing materials, officials said.

The 2,850-acre Santa Susana Feild site was established in 1947 and used for rocket testing and nuclear testing. In 1959, one of its reactors experienced a partial meltdown, releasing radiation into the air above the West San Fernando Valley communities. Decades of operations left the soil and groundwater laced with toxic chemicals.

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

CONSTRUCTION DEBRIS IGNITED FIRED ON CATHERINE STREET IN ITHACA
https://whcuradio.com/news/025520-construction-debris-ignited-fired-on-catherine-street-in-ithaca/
Tags: us_NY, public, fire, response, unknown_chemical

ITHACA, N.Y. (WHCU) ‰?? The Ithaca Police Department says it was construction debris which started a porch fire on Catherine Street Tuesday.

Ithaca police and fire responded to the scene around 6:45 pm. After an investigation, it was deemed the fire was caused by a chemical reaction from construction materials left in a garbage.

The investigation is closed, and criminal activity has been ruled out.

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

CHEMICAL SPILL SHUTS DOWN ROUTE 44 IN GEAUGA COUNTY
https://www.cleveland19.com/2020/06/12/chemical-spill-shuts-down-route-geauga-county/
Tags: us_OH, transportation, release, response, hydrochloric_acid

AUBURN TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WOIO) - Route 44 in Geauga County was closed late Friday afternoon due to a hazmat situation.

The road is closed north and south of 422, and troopers, deputies, the Auburn Township Fire Department and Hazmat crews are on scene.

Authorities are cleaning up hydrochloric acid that spilled from a tanker truck.

No injuries were reported and motorists should avoid the area.

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METH LAB BUST IN MARQUETTE TOWNSHIP, CHEMICAL REACTION CAUSES SMALL FIRE
https://www.upmatters.com/news/meth-lab-bust-in-marquette-township-chemical-reaction-causes-small-fire/
Tags: us_MI, public, fire, injury, meth_lab

MARQUETTE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJMN) ‰?? On June 10 around 7:30 p.m., the Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team (UPSET) was requested to assist troopers from the Michigan State Police Negaunee Post with a meth lab at Whetstone Apartments.

Troopers who first arrived on the scene determined a man was attempting to manufacture meth when a chemical reaction caused a small fire in the bathroom of the suspect‰??s apartment.

The suspect sustained burns due to the fire and was transported to UP Health System ‰?? Marquette for treatment.

The Marquette Township Fire Department assisted at the scene. The fire did not spread beyond the suspects apartment and there was only minor damage to the bathroom where the incident occurred.

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SECOND FIRE INCIDENT IN A WEEK: LABOURER KILLED IN ANKLESHWAR
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/second-fire-incident-in-a-week-labourer-killed-in-ankleshwar-6454927/
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, death, pesticides

In the second fire incident at a chemical factory within a week, one worker was killed and five others were injured after an explosion in a reactor at Hemani industries at Ankleshwar GIDC led to a fire early on Thursday.

According to police, the incident took place in Hemani industries, which deals with pesticides products and intermediate chemicals, around 1 am when the workers on night shift were on duty. Six labourers suffered severe burns as the hot toxic chemicals fell on them from the reactor.

Other labourers in the unit rushed the injured to private hospitals in Bharuch and also alerted the disaster management office at Ankleshwar GIDC. Fire fighters battled the flames for over 90 minutes before bringing it under control. The factory has been shut down after the incident.

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‰??FIRE AT DAHEJ CHEMICAL FIRM DAMAGED OUR HEALTH, ECOLOGY‰??
https://ahmedabadmirror.indiatimes.com/ahmedabad/crime/fire-at-dahej-chemical-firm-damaged-our-health-ecology/articleshow/76330776.cms
Tags: India, public, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical

Fishermen in Bharuch have sought action against Yashashvi Chemicals, where a huge fire killed not just 10 workers but also harmed the health of villagers and caused ecological damage to water sources nearby.
An FIR of culpable homicide through negligence was on Thursday filed against seven officials of the chemical company in Bharuch that witnessed the death of 10 workers after an explosion ripped through the facility on June 3. In-charge Inspector VL Gagiya of Dahej Marine police filed the complaint on government‰??s behalf.
The FIR comes days after Samast Bharuch Jilla Machimar Samaj wrote to the SP, the Collector, the National Green Tribunal as well as the government seeking action against the firm.
SBJMS head Kamlesh Madhiwala, had petitioned that the blast caused damage to houses of villages nearby and also had an immediate detrimental effect on the health of the villagers. ‰??The burnt raw material spread all over the area. Rain washed it into the Narmada, polluting it. This will have an adverse implication on the environment.‰?? The Samaj also filed a police application. The complaint on Thursday was filed against Atalbihari Kumar Mandal, Mahesh Galchar, Bharat Agrawal, Dharam Thummar, Mitesh Patel, Alok Panda and Yunus Khaliwala. It states so had an immediate detrimental effect on the health of the villagers. ‰??The burnt raw material spread all over the area. Rain washed it into the Narmada, polluting it. This will have an adverse implication on the environment.‰?? The Samaj also filed a police application.

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