From: Ralph Stuart <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (11 articles)
Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2021 06:27:24 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Message-ID: 5F2F5618-0917-4234-9A15-279B5A84EA8B**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, June 28, 2021 at 6:27:10 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 (11 articles)

CLEANUP UNDERWAY AFTER BIO-HAZMAT LEAK IN JEFFERSONTOWN
Tags: us_KY, transportation, release, response, waste

AMMONIA LEAK PROMPTS EMERGENCY CREWS TO EVACUATE SCARBOROUGH FACTORY
Tags: Canada, industrial, release, response, ammonia

FIRE CHIEF: ILLINOIS CHEMICAL PLANT FIRE LIKELY ACCIDENTAL
Tags: us_IL, industrial, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical

HAZARDOUS MATERIALS ALERT CLOSED CVCC CAMPUS THURSDAY
Tags: us_va, laboratory, discovery, response, unknown_chemical

CHARTER JET COMPANY PAYS $75,000 FOR 2019 JET FUEL SPILL AT CAMARILLO AIRPORT
Tags: us_ca, industrial, follow-up, enviromental

FIRE AT WESTLAKE CHEMICAL PETRO 1 UNIT NOW CONTAINED
Tags: us_la, industrial, fire, response, petroleum

WITH REDUCED PFAS, FISH ADVISORY LIFTED FROM CONNECTICUT'S FARMINGTON RIVER
Tags: us_ct, public, discovery, environmental, toxics

28 DECONTAMINATED, 14 HOSPITALIZED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL NEAR FAIRMONT PARK POOL
Tags: us_id, public, release, injuries, pool_chemicals

UPDATE: FUEL TRUCK TIPS OVER ON US-41 IN HANCOCK, CLEAN-UP CONTINUES
Tags: us_mi, transportation, release, response, gasoline, benzene

CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD SENDS 2 STAFF TO CHEMTOOL PLANT AFTER FIRE
Tags: us_il, industrial, follow-up, enviromental

US EPA SELECTS AIR POLLUTION ADVISERS
Tags: us, public, discovery, environmental


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CLEANUP UNDERWAY AFTER BIO-HAZMAT LEAK IN JEFFERSONTOWN
https://www.whas11.com/article/news/local/bio-hazmat-leak-jeffersontown/417-64caa7d3-0d30-4512-bbb0-e1721ca6b8b4
Tags: us_KY, transportation, release, response, waste

LOUISVILLE, Ky. ‰?? Crews are cleaning up after a bio-hazmat leak in Jeffersontown.
Dispatchers told WHAS11 News a trailer holding medical waste leaked into the parking lot at the Ashley Furniture off Blankenbaker Road on Sunday.
The EPA defines medical waste as blood, bodily fluid or other potentially infectious materials found at healthcare facilities.

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AMMONIA LEAK PROMPTS EMERGENCY CREWS TO EVACUATE SCARBOROUGH FACTORY
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ammonia-leak-prompts-emergency-crews-to-evacuate-scarborough-factory-1.5488020
Tags: Canada, industrial, release, response, ammonia

TORONTO -- An ammonia leak prompted emergency crews to evacuate a factory in Scarborough Sunday evening.

Crews were called to the factory on Salome Drive, in the area of Midland Avenue and Sheppard Avenue East, just after 8 p.m. for reports of a chemical leak.

When firefighters arrived, they discovered an anhydrous ammonia leak, prompting a Hazmat Level 3 response.


Toronto Fire said a good quantity of the substance, which is lethal and can cause severe burns, was spilled on the ground.

The leak has been stopped, Toronto Fire said, and crews are now working on removing the material on the ground safely.

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FIRE CHIEF: ILLINOIS CHEMICAL PLANT FIRE LIKELY ACCIDENTAL
https://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article252386988.html
Tags: us_IL, industrial, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical

An explosion and massive fire at a chemical plant in northern Illinois that filled the sky with black smoke and forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes for days was started accidentally during maintenance work, a senior fire official said.

Rockton Fire Chief Kirk Wilson said in a press release Friday that the June 13 fire at the Chemtool plant near Rockton started when contractors were replacing insulation on an elevated heat transfer piping network. The system heats vessels used in the manufacture of lubricating greases.

‰??At the present time, the most credible scenario is that the scissor lift struck a valve or other piece of piping with sufficient mechanical force to cause the release of mineral oil,‰?? Wilson said. ‰??Chemtool operators promptly detected the release and shut down the boiler. They were in the process of placing containment booms, as well as de-pressuring the heat transfer piping network, when the fire ignited.‰??

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HAZARDOUS MATERIALS ALERT CLOSED CVCC CAMPUS THURSDAY
https://newsadvance.com/news/local/hazardous-materials-alert-closed-cvcc-campus-thursday/article_e194bfa2-d5cd-11eb-8168-bf01f6e74886.html
Tags: us_va, laboratory, discovery, response, unknown_chemical

chemical compound alert caused Central Virginia Community College to evacuate its campus Thursday and cancel evening in-person classes.

Campus police became aware of a ‰??potential problem with the storage of a chemical compound‰?? at about 11:55 a.m. Thursday and notified local officials in order to evaluate the issue, according to a news release from CVCC.

Facebook posts indicated anyone in CVCC‰??s Framatome Technology Center was evacuated and both Campbell Hall and a parking lot were closed around that time.

All buildings on the main campus were closed and any in-person classes that evening were canceled ‰??out of an abundance of caution,‰?? the release states, but no one was injured from the incident and there were no leaks of any hazardous materials.

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CHARTER JET COMPANY PAYS $75,000 FOR 2019 JET FUEL SPILL AT CAMARILLO AIRPORT
https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/communities/camarillo/2021/06/25/sun-air-jets-pays-75-000-camarillo-airport-jet-fuel-spill/5353500001/
Tags: us_ca, industrial, follow-up, enviromental

A Camarillo charter jet company agreed to pay $75,000 as part of a settlement for spilling jet fuel at the Camarillo Airport, according to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

On Feb. 19, 2019, an employee at Sun Air Jets was filling a 3,000-gallon truck with jet fuel when an overfill protection device malfunctioned, causing an unspecified amount of fuel to overflow and spill out of the truck, some of which leaked into a nearby storm drain.

An investigation into the incident concluded the company's spill prevention plan was insufficient and played a contributing factor in the fuel spill. The investigation also found the company lacked sufficient employee training, safety procedures and hazmat reporting protocols.

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FIRE AT WESTLAKE CHEMICAL PETRO 1 UNIT NOW CONTAINED
https://www.kplctv.com/2021/06/25/fire-westlake-chemical-petro-1-unit/
Tags: us_la, industrial, fire, response, petroleum

Sulphur, LA (KPLC) - A fire at Westlake Chemical‰??s Petro 1 Unit has been contained, company officials say.

The fire brigade has extinguished 90 percent of the fire, said Joe Andrepont, spokesperson for Westlake Chemical.

Everyone in the unit has been accounted for and no injuries have been reported, Andrepont said. Westlake is still working to account for workers in other areas.

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There is currently no off-site impact, according to Dick Gremillion, head of Calcasieu Parish head of Emergency Preparedness.

‰??Not sure exactly what happened,‰?? Gremillion said. ‰??That‰??ll be for investigators to find out but the good thing is there were no chemicals involved that could have involved a public protection action. Because of a combination of the product and the way the wind was blowing today, it did not pose a hazard.‰??

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WITH REDUCED PFAS, FISH ADVISORY LIFTED FROM CONNECTICUT'S FARMINGTON RIVER
https://www.wshu.org/post/reduced-pfas-fish-advisory-lifted-connecticuts-farmington-river#stream/0
Tags: us_ct, public, discovery, environmental, toxics

An advisory on consuming fish from the lower Farmington River has been lifted, according to the annual fish advisory released by the Connecticut Department of Public Health.

The latest data shows PFAS levels in the river are no longer elevated enough to justify an advisory.

The warning was originally imposed in 2019 after a chemical spill at a private hangar at Bradley International Airport released about 40,000 gallons of firefighting foam containing PFAS substances into storm drains. Those chemicals then flowed in the river.

Health officials are advising Connecticut residents to be on the lookout for any consumption advisories for other rivers in the state.

PFAS are a family of chemicals that can be linked to liver, immune and developmental problems for humans.

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28 DECONTAMINATED, 14 HOSPITALIZED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL NEAR FAIRMONT PARK POOL
https://www.ktvb.com/article/traffic/street-near-boise-park-blocked-due-to-hazardous-materials-situation/277-dfb7919d-e81d-4d7b-ae5f-2f4f63ed115f
Tags: us_id, public, release, injuries, pool_chemicals

BOISE, Idaho ‰?? The Boise Police Department "completed their evaluation and containment" of a chemical spill that injured 28 people with at least 14 of them taken to the hospital near the Fairmont Park pool.

Boise Fire Division Chief Paul Roberts told KTVB the spill occurred in one of the maintenance buildings near the pool. Hazmat crews were dispatched to the area at around 1 p.m. on Friday and are currently on the scene. Roberts suspects the spill occurred about five minutes before crews were sent out.

A Code Red was initiated and crews were on scene for the next several hours until the spill was neutralized. Residents in the area were told to shelter in place, but that order has since been lifted.

Roberts said a commercial truck that was filling chemical tanks for the pool was in the area at the time of the spill. It is currently not known what chemicals were spilled, but Roberts said the five people admitted to the hospital do not have life-threatening injuries.

"A hazmat team is doing their homework and research to establish exactly what these chemicals are and hazards associated with those chemicals," Roberts told KTVB. "Once that‰??s determined, the hazmat team will donate the appropriate clothing to protect them to go in and further mitigate it, contain it and neutralize it so we can open the area back up."

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UPDATE: FUEL TRUCK TIPS OVER ON US-41 IN HANCOCK, CLEAN-UP CONTINUES
https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/2021/06/24/fuel-truck-tips-over-us-41-hancock-shuts-down-surrounding-area/
Tags: us_mi, transportation, release, response, gasoline, benzene

UPDATE 5:10 p.m.: More details surrounding the clean-up of the fuel tanker spill in Hancock have been released Thursday afternoon.

According to the Hancock Fire Department, the gasoline tanker, carrying about 8,500 gallons of gasoline, tipped over Santori‰??s Corner on US-41 at about 8:00 a.m. June 24.

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‰??Currently, it is unknown how much spilled,‰?? the fire department said in a release.

The fire department said here have been no injuries caused by the incident and spill, and that drinking water has not been affected.

Hancock Fire Department says some gasoline has gone into the storm sewer system, and ended up into the Portage Canal. Because of this, the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department, Michigan EGLE and the EPA have closed the Portage Canal and beaches. Read more about that here.

Many areas in the vicinity have been evacuated. Evacuations are in place in west Hancock from Santori‰??s Corner on South Lincoln Drive (US-41) to Michigan Street, Michigan Street up to Elm Street and down to the Jutila Center, and Minnesota and Ohio Streets between Ethel Avenue and Michigan Street (see map below).

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CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD SENDS 2 STAFF TO CHEMTOOL PLANT AFTER FIRE
https://cen.acs.org/safety/industrial-safety/Chemical-Safety-Board-sends-2/99/i24
Tags: us_il, industrial, follow-up, enviromental

The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has sent two senior staff members to Rockton, Illinois, after a June 14 fire destroyed a Chemtool manufacturing plant. No workers were injured in the incident. Chemtool, a subsidiary of Lubrizol, makes greases and industrial fluids such as cleaners and lubricants. CSB acting managing director David LaCerte and Stephen Klejst, executive director for investigations and recommendations, traveled to ‰??engage with Federal, State and local emergency responders, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and others‰?? and ‰??gather information from the incident site and make a recommendation on how best to proceed,‰?? the CSB says in a statement. Neither official has chemical manufacturing experience: LaCerte is an attorney who worked with the US Office of Personnel Management and Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs, and Klejst is a safety professional who came to the CSB from the US National Transportation Safety Boa!
rd and the railroad industry. Investigators from other federal agencies have determined that the incident was not caused by suspicious or criminal activity, the CSB statement says.

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US EPA SELECTS AIR POLLUTION ADVISERS
https://cen.acs.org/environment/pollution/US-EPA-selects-air-pollution/99/i24
Tags: us, public, discovery, environmental

After purging its members in late March, US Environmental Protection Agency administrator Michael Regan has reconstituted the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC). Four of the seven members, whom Regan selected from a pool of 100 candidates, have previously served on the panel. They include two scientists who were on the committee when Regan removed all its members and directed the EPA staff to assemble a better blend of expertise than the panel had during the previous administration. The committee now consists of six academics and a state air pollution regulator. This mix reflects the composition of CASAC for decades before the EPA under the Trump administration banned academics as advisers if they received agency grants. A federal court struck down the ban last year. In addition, Regan is resurrecting a group of scientific advisers that the Trump administration eliminated. That group has expertise in science around particulate matter, a major type of air polluti!
on.

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