From: CHAS membership <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (10 articles)
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2021 06:28:20 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, April 30, 2021 at 6:28:08 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)

FIRST ALERT: ISLE OF PALMS CONNECTOR CLOSES AS HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO FUEL SPILL
Tags: us_SC, transportation, release, response, gasoline

CHEMICAL SPILL IN PAWTUCKET SENDS 20 PEOPLE TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_RI, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

1 FIREFIGHTER INJURED IN FIRE AT EASTERN MISSOURI PLANT
Tags: us_MO, industrial, explosion, injury, acetone, propanol

INDUSTRIAL EXPLOSION KILLS TWO IN KATHUA
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, death, zinc

OIL TANKER CATCHES FIRE IN KARNAPHULI; 2 CREW MEMBERS DEAD, 3 INJURED
Tags: Bangladesh, transportation, fire, death, petroleum

NORTH SMITHFIELD TRUCKING COMPANY AGREES TO EPA PAYOUT OVER CHEMICAL VIOLATIONS
Tags: us_RI, transportation, follow-up, environmental, sulfuric_acid, toluene, illegal

BIDEN NOMINATES THREE NEW MEMBERS TO CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD
Tags: public, discovery, environmental

EPA UPDATES DISINFECTANT POLICY TO ALIGN WITH CDC SCIENCE
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, pesticides

TANKER LEAKING FUEL FORCES CLOSURE OF HIGHWAY 36 NEAR LYONS, HAZMAT CREW RESPONDS ‰?? CBS DENVER
Tags: us_CO, transportation, release, response, petroleum

RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL DETECTED IN SAUGUS INCIDENT
Tags: us_MA, industrial, discovery, environmental, radiation, waste


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FIRST ALERT: ISLE OF PALMS CONNECTOR CLOSES AS HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO FUEL SPILL
https://www.live5news.com/2021/04/30/first-alert-hazmat-team-working-clean-fuel-spill-isle-palms-gas-station/
Tags: us_SC, transportation, release, response, gasoline

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) - An early-morning fuel spill forced authorities to shut down the Isle of Palms Connector Friday morning.
The spill happened at a Palms Boulevard gas station, according to Isle of Palms Police Chief Kevin Cornett. A fuel truck spilled approximately 500 gallons of gasoline at the Circle K, leading to a hazmat situation.
Palm Boulevard was shut down between the Isle of Palms Connector and 10th Avenue, but authorities closed the Connector shortly after 5 a.m.

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CHEMICAL SPILL IN PAWTUCKET SENDS 20 PEOPLE TO HOSPITAL
https://turnto10.com/news/local/crews-respond-to-hazmat-incident-in-pawtucket
Tags: us_RI, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WJAR) ‰?? Crews responded to a hazmat incident in Pawtucket Thursday.

Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves, who's also the acting public safety director, said the city's fire department received a call about a woman who was having difficulty breathing at 525 Narragansett Park Drive.

When firefighters arrived, Goncalves said they checked on the woman and found that an "odor or smell in the air had caused her difficulty breathing."

She said firefighters "had reason to believe that it was some type of chemical spill as several other individuals stated that they had irritation in their eyes, nose mouth, and/or throat."

Goncalves said while no major injuries were reported, several people were taken to the hospital for further evaluation.

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

1 FIREFIGHTER INJURED IN FIRE AT EASTERN MISSOURI PLANT
https://apnews.com/article/michael-brown-fires-explosions-business-196a9f54b04eaf3136d74e8aa1f75015
Tags: us_MO, industrial, explosion, injury, acetone, propanol

AFFTON, Mo. (AP) ‰?? A firefighter was injured Thursday during a large fire at a chemical plant in eastern Missouri that forced evacuations in nearby neighborhoods.

Fire personnel responded to the scene at the Manor Chemical Plant in Affton, where the fire was reported about 2:45 p.m., authorities said. Witnesses in the area reported hearing several explosions during the fire.

Employees of the plant were evacuated safely and the fire was extinguished by about 5 p.m., said Lt. Matt Coppin of the Metro West Fire Protection District.

The firefighter was taken to a hospital but Coppin said he didn‰??t know the extent of the injuries or how the firefighter was injured.

The south St. Louis County business is a wholesale chemical distributor but also makes ‰??custom blends‰?? of chemicals for cars, paint, printing, dry cleaning and industrial manufacturing, according to its website. Some of the products Manor Chemicals sells include acetone, rubbing alcohol and other flammable chemicals.

Up to 10 chemicals may have been involved in the fire, Coppin said. Thirteen fire agencies and 62 fire trucks responded to the blaze.

St. Louis County police helped evacuate people within a half-mile of the plant. St. Louis County police said most residents and businesses were allowed to return about 6 p.m.

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INDUSTRIAL EXPLOSION KILLS TWO IN KATHUA
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/industrial-explosion-kills-two-in-kathua/articleshow/82301752.cms
Tags: India, industrial, explosion, death, zinc

JAMMU: Two persons were killed while one sustained injuries in an explosion inside a factory in Kathua of Jammu & Kashmir on Wednesday.
Police said the explosion occurred inside a chemical factory near Hatli Morh in Kathua, manufacturing zinc and copper items. ‰??Two charred bodies were found inside the premises. One was identified as that of local contractor Shakeel Ahmed and the other of a labourer whose identity is yet to be ascertained," sources said. The immediate cause of the explosion could not be ascertained and further investigation was on.

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OIL TANKER CATCHES FIRE IN KARNAPHULI; 2 CREW MEMBERS DEAD, 3 INJURED
https://www.thedailystar.net/bangladesh/news/oil-tanker-catches-fire-karnaphuli-2-crew-members-dead-3-injured-2085773
Tags: Bangladesh, transportation, fire, death, petroleum

Two crew members were killed and three others were injured as a fire broke out in an oil tanker at a private jetty on the southern bank of Karnaphuli river in Chattogram this morning.

The fire started at the engine room of inland oil tanker MT Iravati-1 at Super Petro Chemical Jetty around 6:30am when the crew was unloading condensate, reports our Chattogram correspondent quoting Secretary of Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) Md Omar Faruk.

On information, firefighting unit from Korean EPZ, three vehicles from Agrabad fire service and civil defence, two tug boats of CPA -- Kandari 1 and Kandari-10 -- and Bangladesh Navy's tug boat Passur rushed to the site and doused the fire around 9:00am, the secretary said.

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NORTH SMITHFIELD TRUCKING COMPANY AGREES TO EPA PAYOUT OVER CHEMICAL VIOLATIONS
https://www.valleybreeze.com/2021-04-28/woonsocket-north-smithfield/north-smithfield-trucking-company-agrees-epa-payout-over
Tags: us_RI, transportation, follow-up, environmental, sulfuric_acid, toluene, illegal

NORTH SMITHFIELD ‰?? A North Smithfield trucking company has agreed to pay a $314,658 penalty for alleged violations of federal chemical safety regulations at its Industrial Drive facility.

N&D Transportation Company of 100 Industrial Drive was accused by the Environmental Protection Agency of violating chemical accident prevention measures and reporting requirements mandated by federal law. The company agreed to a settlement of $314,658 to resolve the violations.

According to a press release from the EPA, an inspection uncovered several concerns at the facility, including incompatible chemicals improperly stored together, water reactive chemicals kept near a sprinkler system, a failure to submit a Clean Air Act risk management plan, a failure to conduct a process hazard analysis and a failure to submit reports to state and local planning authorities.

The EPA also said that local and state fire personnel were apparently unaware that ‰??extremely hazardous substances‰?? were stored at the facility.

The extremely hazardous substances discovered at the facility include formaldehyde, toluene diisocyanate (TDI), peracetic acid and sulfuric acid. The EPA said the alleged violations have since been corrected.

While the EPA did not discover any actual release of chemicals at the site, Dave Deegan, spokesperson for the EPA, said the failure to notify local authorities could have posed a risk to emergency responders.

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BIDEN NOMINATES THREE NEW MEMBERS TO CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/biden-nominates-three-new-members-to-chemical-safety-board
Tags: public, discovery, environmental

The Biden administration nominated Sylvia Johnson, Jennifer Sass, and Steve Owens to serve on the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.

The five-member board currently operates as what Katherine Lemos, the holdover chair and a Trump appointee, has characterized as a quorum of one, with depleted staffing and a backlog of open investigations.

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EPA UPDATES DISINFECTANT POLICY TO ALIGN WITH CDC SCIENCE
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USAEPAOPPT/bulletins/2d5b5f3
Tags: public, discovery, environmental, pesticides

In order to respond to the public‰??s needs over this past year of the pandemic, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has allowed for expedited review and approval of surface disinfectant products for use against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, adding over 500 products to EPA‰??s list of disinfectants entitled List N. Over the course of the last year, EPA reacted to unprecedented circumstances by activating its Emerging Viral Pathogens guidance, minimizing disinfectants supply chain disruptions through regulatory flexibilities, releasing new and updated scientific protocols, and providing several pathways for expedited review.

Recent information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that the risk of being infected with COVID-19 by touching contaminated surfaces is considered low. Given this new information, EPA is no longer prioritizing Public Health Emergency requests for new products that address surface transmission of SARS-CoV-2. EPA will continue to follow the evolving science of the pandemic by shifting resources to the evaluation of novel products, such as those that kill airborne SARS-CoV-2, and to meeting critical deadlines in the registration and review of all pesticide products within its purview. In addition, in light of the hundreds of EPA-registered products that are already available, EPA will no longer expedite new product registrations, emerging viral pathogen claims, SARS-CoV-2 claims, and electrostatic spraying directions for products intended to kill SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces.

Disinfectants continue to serve as one of many important tools in the fight against COVID-19 where needed. The agency will continue to review registration requests for new surface disinfectants for SARS-CoV-2 via the standard registrations process and associated deadlines required by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and will continue to update List N.

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TANKER LEAKING FUEL FORCES CLOSURE OF HIGHWAY 36 NEAR LYONS, HAZMAT CREW RESPONDS ‰?? CBS DENVER
https://denver.cbslocal.com/2021/04/27/tanker-leaking-fuel-highway-36-closed-lyons-hazmat/
Tags: us_CO, transportation, release, response, petroleum

LYONS, Colo. (CBS4) ‰?? A tanker rolled over and spilled fuel early Tuesday afternoon, forcing the closure of Highway 36 near Lyons. Carrie Haverfield, a public information officer for the Boulder County Sheriff‰??s Office, tells CBS4 that the highway is closed in both directions from the first Apple Valley Road intersection just outside downtown Lyons to the Longmont Dam Road.

Haverfield said it is expected to be a prolonged closure. Drivers trying to get to or from Estes Park or Rocky Mountain National Park through that stretch of roadway are encouraged to find alternative routes.

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RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL DETECTED IN SAUGUS INCIDENT
https://www.itemlive.com/2021/04/27/radioactive-material-detected-in-saugus-incident/
Tags: us_MA, industrial, discovery, environmental, radiation, waste

SAUGUS ‰?? A radioactive-materials incident that occurred earlier this month at WIN Waste Innovations, formerly known as Wheelabrator Saugus, was caused by trace amounts of radioactive activity found in private household waste, Town Public Health Director John Fralick confirmed.

On April 13, Fralick said he was contacted by several community members and plant representatives about a situation at the facility involving radioactive materials.

Early that morning, Fralick said a waste hauler from Somerville tipped the waste-to-energy facility‰??s drive-through scanners ‰?? used to detect radioactive materials ‰?? which caused them to go off.

The truck was quickly segregated from the rest of the facility and searched, and WIN Waste Innovations Asset Manager John Rice said the material was later determined to be medical waste commonly associated with cancer treatments.

‰??We discovered and isolated a low-level radioactive material coming from a residential waste load entering our scale,‰?? Rice said. ‰??We quickly isolated the load and found trace amounts of radioactive material that are occasionally found in household waste, often in forms of material used in medical treatments.‰??

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