From: DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (8 articles)
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2020 07:42:03 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Message-ID: 92F40BE8-D934-46E1-AA8A-B3108FBA258A**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, August 10, 2020 at 7:41:52 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 (8 articles)

PEOPLE ARE NO LONGER URGED TO STAY INDOORS DUE TO LARGE CHEMICAL SPILL IN HAVERHILL
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, release, response, acetonitrile, pharmaceutical

AFTER BEIRUT BLASTS, EXPLOSIVE CHEMICAL AMMONIUM NITRATE STORED NEAR CHENNAI BEING MOVED TO HYDERABAD
Tags: India, public, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate

ORICA PLANT IN NEWCASTLE WITH SAME CHEMICAL LINKED TO BEIRUT EXPLOSION
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate

DELAY IN CHEMICAL STORE RELOCATION PLAN LEAVES OLD TOWN UNSAFE
Tags: Bangladesh, industrial, discovery, environmental, explosives, flammables, illegal

CAMPBELLFIELD FIRE: OVER SIXTY FIREFIGHTERS BATTLE HUGE BLAZE AT MELBOURNE BATTERY FACTORY
Tags: Australia, industrial, explosion, response, batteries

2 ALA. PARAMEDICS HOSPITALIZED AFTER CHEMICAL EXPOSURE
Tags: us_AL, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical

LEAKING 30-GALLON CONTAINER BLAMED FOR THURSDAY TRACTOR TRAILER CHEMICAL LEAK IN WILLIAMSBURG
Tags: us_VA, transportation, release, response, corrosives

BEIRUT BLAST A WAKE-UP CALL ON DANGERS OF AMMONIUM NITRATE, EXPERTS WARN
Tags: us_MI, public, follow-up, death, ammonium_nitrate


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

PEOPLE ARE NO LONGER URGED TO STAY INDOORS DUE TO LARGE CHEMICAL SPILL IN HAVERHILL
https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/chemical-spill-haverhill-1-6784611
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, release, response, acetonitrile, pharmaceutical

A cordon has been lifted at a Haverhill industrial estate following a large-scale chemical incident.
Share
It happened at the site of pharmaceutical and chemical company Merck in Homefield Road at about 4.30pm today.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service had 10 appliances on site, and police and ambulance crews also attended, after reports of a spill involving 1,500 litres of the liquid acetonitrile, which can cause skin irritation.

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

AFTER BEIRUT BLASTS, EXPLOSIVE CHEMICAL AMMONIUM NITRATE STORED NEAR CHENNAI BEING MOVED TO HYDERABAD
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/after-beirut-blasts-explosive-chemical-ammonium-nitrate-stored-near-chennai-being-moved-to-hyderabad-2276836
Tags: India, public, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate

Chennai: Safety concerns over the storage of ammonium nitrate, in the shadow of the explosion of the chemical in Beirut, were addressed as the substance has been e-auctioned and is being shipped to Hyderabad, sources said on Sunday.
697 tonnes of the chemical was being kept in the container freight station near Chennai, sources said, adding that the e-auction of the chemical is over.

The disposal of the cargo will be done within a short period by adhering to safety rules, they said.

Some containers with the chemical have already left for Hyderabad, police sources said.

The substance was seized in 2015 under the Customs Act 1962.

The cargo was then kept at the freight station located about 20 km from the city and there was no residential area in the vicinity of the storage area, they said.

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

ORICA PLANT IN NEWCASTLE WITH SAME CHEMICAL LINKED TO BEIRUT EXPLOSION
https://en.brinkwire.com/news/orica-plant-in-newcastle-with-same-chemical-linked-to-beirut-explosion-leaving-135-dead/
Tags: Australia, public, discovery, environmental, ammonium_nitrate

Up to 12,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate is being stored near homes in a busy Australian industrial town, sparking fears of a Beirut-style mega blast.

At least 135 people have died and a further 5,000 were injured when 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate blew up in Lebanon early on Wednesday AEST, with the death toll expected to rise.

Just three kilometres from Newcastle, north of Sydney, up to 12,000 tonnes of the same chemical is stored at the Orica Plant in Kooragang ‰?? 800m from suburban homes in North Stockton.

At least 300 residents in the Stockton Community Action Group have long been calling on the government to relocate the plant or reduce the stockpiles of the deadly chemical.

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

DELAY IN CHEMICAL STORE RELOCATION PLAN LEAVES OLD TOWN UNSAFE
https://www.newagebd.net/article/112994/delay-in-chemical-store-relocation-plan-leaves-old-town-unsafe
Tags: Bangladesh, industrial, discovery, environmental, explosives, flammables, illegal

FIRE hazard in Dhaka has increasingly become a concern in view of the unplanned development and illegal operation of chemical warehouses, especially in Old Town of the city. Several fires have taken many lives in the past decade, prompting citizens to demand a relocation of chemical businesses from the area. In 2010, the Nimtali fire left more than 100 people dead. The High Court that time ordered the government to identify unauthorised buildings, warehouses and factories where chemicals, explosives and other inflammable or petroleum products were stored. The committee investigating the fire made 17 recommendations, including the relocation of warehouses to non-residential areas, the enforcement of the Fire Prevention and Extinguishing Rules and the National Building Code and the installation of fire hydrants. About a decade later, in February 2019, the Chawkbazar fire showed that neither the court order nor the recommendations were complied with. The residents are, therefor!
e, not wrong when they blame all authorities for a persistent negligence to fire safety standards in the area.

In 2010, the government for the first time planned to relocate the chemical storage facilities from Old Town as the Nimtali fire broke out from an unauthorised chemical warehouse. The government action, however, remained in planning stages until another fire broke out in an area a decade later. After the Chawkbazar fire, the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation undertook a project for the relocation of chemical warehouses to Munshiganj. The project involving Tk 1,600 crore is expected to be completed by 2022, but no concrete progress but for the project approval has so far been visible. The BSCIC industrial park officials in Munshiganj say that they have not even acquired land. The delay has, meanwhile, allowed the Chemical and Perfumery Merchant Association to continue storing inflammable materials in Old Town. Although city authorities have stopped renewing trade licences for businesses operating in the area, residents complain that traders continue to illeg!
ally store hazardous chemicals in residential buildings. Authorities must know that such a delay amounts to criminal negligence.

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

CAMPBELLFIELD FIRE: OVER SIXTY FIREFIGHTERS BATTLE HUGE BLAZE AT MELBOURNE BATTERY FACTORY
https://www.9news.com.au/national/campbellfield-fire-over-sixty-firefighters-battle-huge-blaze-at-melbourne-battery-factory/4b9f60da-e1d5-4f4c-80a9-47611c3452ce
Tags: Australia, industrial, explosion, response, batteries

Over sixty firefighters are battling a large fire at a Melbourne battery factory that has sparked a series of small explosions and prompted the evacuation of the warehouse.
Nearby residents reported being woken around 4.30am to "hundreds of small booms" that "sounded like gunshots".
Several called Triple Zero, prompting fire crews to rush to the scene within minutes to find the 90 metre by 50 metre warehouse on Sydney Road in Campbellfield fully ablaze.

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

2 ALA. PARAMEDICS HOSPITALIZED AFTER CHEMICAL EXPOSURE
https://www.ems1.com/hazmat/articles/2-ala-paramedics-hospitalized-after-chemical-exposure-CwHEPBJQnebrVhW1/
Tags: us_AL, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical

OXFORD, Ala. ‰?? Two Oxford Emergency Medical Services paramedics were hospitalized Thursday morning after chemical exposure at a traffic stop in Talladega County.

Tom Dixon, director of the ambulance service, said that paramedics Jennifer Thrash, 37, and Alex Skelton, 25, responded to a call for medical support from Alabama State Troopers at a traffic stop around 7:40 a.m. Law enforcement had pulled over a vehicle driving erratically in the Interstate 20 eastbound lanes near mile marker 178 in Talladega County, Dixon said.

‰??We had been alerted about someone having an altered mental status,‰?? said Dixon, who spoke on the phone while waiting at Citizens Baptist Medical Center in Talladega. ‰??Both paramedics got out of the ambulance and provided care like they should have, and immediately started feeling dizziness.‰??

The paramedics seem to be in stable condition, Dixon said, though he noted that was not an official report from the presiding physician. The two paramedics were able to speak, but had been heavily affected by the chemical material. Dixon said he had driven an ambulance to pick them up and deliver them to the hospital. They could have to stay overnight at the hospital, he said.

Dixon said details were uncertain, but he had pieced together that his staff members had been exposed to toxic chemicals that had spilled inside the vehicle. He had yet to hear an official report identifying the material.

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

LEAKING 30-GALLON CONTAINER BLAMED FOR THURSDAY TRACTOR TRAILER CHEMICAL LEAK IN WILLIAMSBURG
https://www.thenewsjournal.net/leaking-30-gallon-container-blamed-for-thursday-tractor-trailer-chemical-leak-in-williamsburg/
Tags: us_VA, transportation, release, response, corrosives

A leaking 30-gallon container of Ridorust Preventor was the cause of a chemical leak in a Old Dominion tractor trailer Thursday evening in Williamsburg according to the Williamsburg Fire Department.

The chemical is a corrosive, acidic, organic propanetricarboxylic acid, said Williamsburg Fire and Rescue Chief Larry Todd.

‰??We only had three to five gallons on the ground. The rest had leaked out elsewhere,‰?? Todd said.

The chemical leak was discovered Thursday between 6 ‰?? 6:30 p.m. at Pilot Travel Center in Williamsburg, which prompted the evacuation of a one-tenth of a mile area from the Exit 11 southbound ramp west along Highway 92W to just passed Walmart.

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

BEIRUT BLAST A WAKE-UP CALL ON DANGERS OF AMMONIUM NITRATE, EXPERTS WARN
https://wkzo.com/news/articles/2020/aug/07/beirut-blast-a-wake-up-call-on-dangers-of-ammonium-nitrate-experts-warn/1047273/
Tags: us_MI, public, follow-up, death, ammonium_nitrate

(Reuters) - The devastating explosion in Beirut should be a wake-up call for countries on the dangers of ammonium nitrate, which caused the blast, experts say.

Lebanese authorities said 2,750 tonnes of the industrial chemical had been stored for six years at Beirut port without safety measures. That stockpile exploded on Tuesday, killing more than 150 people, injuring thousands and leaving about a quarter of a million people homeless.

Commonly used in fertilizers and as an industrial explosive, ammonium nitrate is considered relatively safe if handled properly, but it has proved lethal.

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

---
For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional membership chair at membership**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas

Previous post   |  Top of Page   |   Next post



The content of this page reflects the personal opinion(s) of the author(s) only, not the American Chemical Society, ILPI, Safety Emporium, or any other party. Use of any information on this page is at the reader's own risk. Unauthorized reproduction of these materials is prohibited. Send questions/comments about the archive to secretary@dchas.org.
The maintenance and hosting of the DCHAS-L archive is provided through the generous support of Safety Emporium.