Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, September 26, 2022 at 6:21:34 AM
A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
Connecting Chemistry and Safety at http://www.dchas.org
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Table of Contents (10 articles)
OSHA CITES, FINES ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING LAB FOR OVER $907K
Tags: us_CT, laboratory, discovery, environmental, methylene_chloride
AFTER CANCER-CAUSING CHEMICALS WERE FOUND IN FIFTH WARD SOIL, HOUSTON MAYOR SAYS CLEANUP PLANS ARE INADEQUATE
Tags: us_TX, public, discovery, environmental, toxics
ROAD REOPENS AFTER HAZARDOUS MATERIAL CLEANUP
Tags: us_WV, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical
FIRE CREWS IN GRANTS PASS FIND EXPLOSIVE HAZARDOUS MATERIALS AT ANNUAL WASTE DROP-OFF DAY
Tags: us_OR, public, discovery, response, waste
“MODERN-AGE CENTAURS”: A PROPOSAL FOR CASE STUDY BASED INTEGRATIVE ETHICS EDUCATION IN CHEMISTRY
Tags: education, discovery, environmental
ROCKFORD TESTING LAB CATCHES FIRE
Tags: us_IL, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
POWYS COLLEGE STUDENTS AND STAFF EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: United_Kingdom, education, release, response, unknown_chemical
BURLINGTON’S LEDDY BEACH REMAINS CLOSED AFTER NEARBY CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_VT, public, release, response, petroleum, styrene
9 PEOPLE, INCLUDING 2 FIREFIGHTERS, HOSPITALIZED AFTER HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE SPILL – NBC LOS ANGELES
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
29 DAYS WITHOUT WATER: KANAWHA COMMISSIONERS SAY THEY WON'T GIVE UP ON PAINT CREEK
Tags: us_WV, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
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OSHA CITES, FINES ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING LAB FOR OVER $907K
https://www.labmanager.com/news/osha-cites-fines-environmental-testing-lab-for-over-907k-28849
Tags: us_CT, laboratory, discovery, environmental, methylene_chloride
Phoenix Environmental Labs in Manchester, CT, was inspected by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and received a letter no employer wants to get. Dated August 26, 2022 was a 33-page letter to Phoenix Environmental Labs and its successors listing all of the alleged violations, citations, and fines OSHA proposes. These encompass the lab standard and other OSHA regulations. The many citations total almost $1 million USD. This appears to be the largest OSHA fine issued in Connecticut, according to one source. It is also one of the largest OSHA fines issued to a commercial laboratory.
Details of the inspection, alleged violations, and proposed citations
According to OSHA, lab employees suffered from over exposures to methylene chloride (aka MC, dichloromethane or DCM). Employees complained to lab management who allegedly did little to remedy the situation. Staff symptoms included an unsteady gait, light-headedness, headaches, and dizziness, all of which are associated with MC/DCM exposures. Neither the letter nor OSHA’s news release clarifies how OSHA found out or was notified of the situation.
There are 21 individual citations, most are “Serious” or “Willful” violations totaling $907,253. Violations include the OSHA Laboratory Standard at 29 CFR Part 1910.1450—an extensive regulation for labs (except for production labs). There were several other regulations including electrical hazards, a lack of proper medical attention, the methylene chloride standard, as well as communication and training lapses.
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AFTER CANCER-CAUSING CHEMICALS WERE FOUND IN FIFTH WARD SOIL, HOUSTON MAYOR SAYS CLEANUP PLANS ARE INADEQUATE
https://www.click2houston.com/news/texas/2022/09/25/after-cancer-causing-chemicals-were-found-in-fifth-ward-soil-houston-mayor-says-cleanup-plans-are-inadequate/
Tags: us_TX, public, discovery, environmental, toxics
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said a plan submitted to Texas environmental regulators to remediate legacy rail yard contamination in a north Houston neighborhood won’t be sufficient after the city’s health department found toxic chemicals in soil samples near the yard.
“The remediation measures that the [Texas Commission on Environmental Quality] and [Union Pacific] have talked about in the past are not nearly adequate now,” Turner said in an interview during The Texas Tribune Festival on Saturday. “You have to include relocation [of residents] as one of those steps in order to address the situation.”
The Union Pacific rail yard in Houston’s Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens — predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods — has for years been the cause of concern for residents, who suspected pollution in the area may have caused an unusually high number of cancer cases among their friends, family members and neighbors.
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ROAD REOPENS AFTER HAZARDOUS MATERIAL CLEANUP
https://www.wtrf.com/traffic/road-reopens-after-hazardous-material-cleanup/
Tags: us_WV, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical
VALLEY GROVE, W.Va. (WTRF) — West Alexander Road in Ohio County is back open following a 2-day cleanup after an accident.
Valley Grove Fire Department says a tanker truck rolled over on Thursday night.
No one was injured, but the road past the truck stop was closed as the vehicle contained hazardous materials.
Crews have been digging up the hillside as part of the cleanup process.
Homes in the area were briefly evacuated but were able to return later that evening.
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FIRE CREWS IN GRANTS PASS FIND EXPLOSIVE HAZARDOUS MATERIALS AT ANNUAL WASTE DROP-OFF DAY
https://ktvl.com/news/local/explosive-southern-oregon-redwood-avenue-waste-annual-rural-metro-fire-crews-in-grants-pass-find-explosive-hazardous-materials-firefighters-grants-pass-police-community-free-event-sanitation-joco-09-25-2022
Tags: us_OR, public, discovery, response, waste
GRANTS PASS — Fire crews in Grants Pass found explosive hazardous materials which were dropped off at Southern Oregon Sanitation during the annual Hazardous Materials drop-off day.
The annual event allows residents to drop off up to one cubic yard of Household Hazardous Waste like old cleaning supplies, pesticides, wood preservatives, pool chemicals, insecticides, and rechargeable batteries free of charge.
“On arrival, Grants Pass Fire Rescue Battalion Chief established command and began evacuations within 150' in all directions assisted by staff members,” Grants Pass Fire Rescue wrote in a release.
The Hazardous Company on-scene was able to safely remove the materials after consulting with Oregon State Fire Marshals HazMat Team 8.
Several crews with Rural Metro, the Grants Pass Police Department, and the Grants Pass Fire Rescue remained on scene in case a fire was to break out.
“No contact with state agencies was made as there was no release of the materials and it was contained and secured,” the agency wrote.
Southern Oregon Sanitation was closed for the remainder of the day while the Hazardous Company on-scene worked on safely transporting the materials.
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“MODERN-AGE CENTAURS”: A PROPOSAL FOR CASE STUDY BASED INTEGRATIVE ETHICS EDUCATION IN CHEMISTRY
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00271
Tags: education, discovery, environmental
This work is a course proposal for a stronger ethics education component for chemistry undergraduates. We propose that this course should integrate different approaches in ethics with the value-laden and scientifically complex issues that arise in chemistry. Although some programs require that students take some ethics as a core requirement, for many it is just an option among many humanities courses. Alternatively, ethics may arise passively during courses devoted primarily to chemistry. For our proposed course to be maximally effective, we believe it should integrate both ethics and chemistry, inviting students to think about complex real-world problems. This allows students to identify ethical considerations in the context of cases they might encounter as part of their careers in chemistry. It would also provide them with resources to identify the best course of action.
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ROCKFORD TESTING LAB CATCHES FIRE
https://www.wifr.com/2022/09/23/rockford-testing-lab-catches-fire/
Tags: us_IL, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - Rockford Fire Department officials estimate half a million dollars in damage was done Thursday night in a commercial fire. A lab test chamber at NTS, which tests electromagnetics and other electric equipment, caught fire at just after 7 p.m. The lab is located at 3761 S. Central Avenue.
Officials say the fire was under control within ten minutes, but NTS was closed for the rest of the night. Two workers were evaluated at the scene for injuries, but did not have to go to the hospital.
RFD says the fire was accidental. The exact cause is still under investigation.
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POWYS COLLEGE STUDENTS AND STAFF EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
https://www.countytimes.co.uk/news/22573901.powys-college-students-staff-evacuated-chemical-spill/
Tags: United_Kingdom, education, release, response, unknown_chemical
Newtown college students and staff were evacuated as a precaution following a chemical leak inside the building.
Firefighters were called to the NPTC campus in Llanidloes Road on Wednesday afternoon (September 21) following reports of a "chemical incident".
NPTC said a chemical spill happened inside the campus' engineering block which was reopened on Friday morning after it was cleaned by a specialist company on Thursday.
Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service released a statement, saying crews from Newtown and Montgomery were called to an incident at 3.51pm on Wednesday in Llanidloes Road, which involved a chemical leak in the engineering section of a college. "Protective cordons were put in place and the building evacuated as a precautionary measure," a spokesperson for the fire service said. Crews used two sets of fire kit and two breathing apparatus to check inventory and make the building safe before leaving the scene at 6.14pm.
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BURLINGTON’S LEDDY BEACH REMAINS CLOSED AFTER NEARBY CHEMICAL SPILL
https://vtdigger.org/2022/09/23/burlingtons-leddy-beach-remains-closed-after-nearby-chemical-spill/
Tags: us_VT, public, release, response, petroleum, styrene
Leddy Beach in Burlington’s New North End remained closed on Friday following a nearby chemical spill two days earlier, according to the city’s Department of Public Works.
Robert Goulding, a spokesperson for the department, said that roughly one gallon of styrene, a carcinogen, was mixed in with about 50 gallons of steam condensate being used in storm drain relining work on Dale Road on Wednesday. Contractors performing the work inadvertently allowed the steam byproduct to escape into a drain that led to a stream that flows to Lake Champlain near Leddy Beach.
The beach could remain closed for water recreation at least through Monday, Goulding said, when the city expects results back from water tests.
Goulding said a member of the public initially spotted a “milky, frothy discharge” in the stream underneath the bike path at Leddy Park on Wednesday. The state Agency of Natural Resources was alerted to the spill, he said, and cleanup efforts began immediately.
According to the agency’s database on environmental spills, city workers and contractors used absorbent spill kits in an effort to prevent the discharge from reaching the lake, and water was tested at multiple sites near the stream. When state crews returned to Leddy Beach one day later, they observed a sheen in a part of the lake contained within a sandbar, but noted that absorbent booms appeared to have captured any oil.
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9 PEOPLE, INCLUDING 2 FIREFIGHTERS, HOSPITALIZED AFTER HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE SPILL – NBC LOS ANGELES
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/9-people-including-2-firefighters-hospitalized-after-hazardous-substance-spill-in-jurupa-valley/2991525/
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical
Several people were hospitalized after being exposed to caustic hazardous substance in the Jurupa Valley on Friday afternoon.
Just after 10 a.m., members of the CAL Fire and Riverside County Fire Department Hazardous Materials team made their way to a building in the 2200 block of Via Cerro. CAL Fire and RVC Fire announced their investigation into the substance on Twitter.
"Firefighters are on scene working to identify an unidentified substance," the tweet read in part.
A few hours later, at 12:46 p.m., the same account tweeted an update.
Seven civilians and two firefighters were sent to hospitals by the substance. The two firefighters were treated and released just before 1:30 p.m., but the extent and nature of their injuries is not yet known.
No further information about the hospitalized civilians was made available.
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29 DAYS WITHOUT WATER: KANAWHA COMMISSIONERS SAY THEY WON'T GIVE UP ON PAINT CREEK
https://wchstv.com/news/local/29-days-without-water-commissioners-say-they-wont-give-up
Tags: us_WV, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. (WCHS) — For nearly one month, friends, families and neighbors in the Paint Creek area have been unable to shower, wash clothes, or drink from their well water.
The Kanawha County Commission is continuing to assist these homes as neighbors fear their story will be washed away and forgotten.
"I really think it's going to be swept under the rug and nothing's going to be done about it," Paint Creek resident Andy Kees said.
Twenty-nine days after the tractor-trailer incident and chemical spill that affected Paint Creek, 36 homes along the creek are still without water, and no one knows "if" or "when" their well water will be safe.
"If they were in my shoes, what would they be doing?" Kees said.
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