DCHAS-L Archives Jan 12 2010 - 4 Chemical Safety news stories from Google

Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 11:59:46 -0500
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Subject: 4 Chemical Safety news stories from Google

Note that the third story is a "good news" one...
===
China

http://www.plastemart.com/plasticnews_desc.asp?news_id=16912

	 Five missing and six injured after explosion at CNPC=92s 
petrochemical plant (11-1-2010)

 =09
Five people are missing and six are injured after an explosion at China 
National Petroleum Corporation=92s petrochemical plant at an oil tank 19 
miles from Lanzhou in northern Gansu Province. The blast hit a chemical 
storage tank in the chemical part of the complex and did not affect 
operations at the 200,000 bpd Lanzhou refinery. The cause of the blast 
is still under investigation

==


http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/92/2010/january/11/wv
a-lawmaker-wants-deadly-chemical-monitored.html

W.Va. lawmaker wants deadly chemical monitored
The Associated Press

A Kanawha County senator wants the state to start monitoring for leaks 
of a deadly chemical that killed thousands in India in 1984.

Democrat Corey Palumbo said in a legislative interim meeting Monday that 
the state Department of Environmental Protection should add methyl 
isocyanate, or MIC, to a list of chemicals it monitors.

The chemical, which killed thousands in the Bhopal disaster nearly 26 
years ago, is manufactured and stored at the Bayer CropScience plant in 
Institute.

Advertisement 
Bayer has pledged to reduce its storage of the chemical by 80 percent, 
to a maximum capacity of 50,000 pounds.

A 2008 explosion at the plant killed two workers. MIC was not involved, 
but the blast took place near an above-ground MIC storage tank.

January 11, 2010 06:33 PM

===

California Earthquake Follow up

  http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_14164326
  
A busy morning after the quake

Allison White and John Driscoll/The Times-Standard
Posted: 01/11/2010 01:24:16 AM PST

...
Damage at CR
College of the Redwoods spokesman Paul DeMark said that some specimens 
broke in the Life Sciences building, prompting the Eureka Fire 
Department's Hazmat unit to respond. DeMark did not know what specimens 
broke or the nature of the materials in the lab.

Eureka Fire Chief Eric Smith said Sunday evening that it was initially 
unknown if the spill included a mixture of chemicals that could pose a 
public danger.
But, Smith said, the Hazmat team determined it was only one chemical, 
and the cleanup went smoothly.

=94It's all secured, and all cleaned,=94 he said, adding that the Hazmat 
crew was back at the station by 5 p.m.

DeMark said a cursory review shows no structural damage or windows 
broken in buildings on the main campus. A pipe did break, he said, 
spilling 400,000 gallons of water, and the boiler in the administration 
building went down for several hours. Classes begin on Jan. 16.

...

===
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article79128.ece

KOLKATA, January 11, 2010
Decongestion of laboratories, a priority: AEC chief

Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Department of Atomic 
Energy (DAE), Srikumar Banerjee, told journalists here on Monday that 
the DAE was introducing new safety standards to prevent the recurrence 
of accidents in its units. He also said that decongestion of the 
laboratories was a major priority for DAE.

=93We are trying to see if we can store chemicals elsewhere instead of 
keeping them at the laboratory itself,=94 said Mr. Banerjee.

He also pointed out that some of the DAE laboratories were very 
congested with 4,200 scientists and several research students working at 
the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) itself.

To reduce congestion the DAE was in the process of constructing a large 
laboratory facility at Vishakapatnam, Mr. Banerjee said.

He also said that that there is a possibility that there may have been a 
sudden release of chemicals from the air-conditioner casing at the site 
of the fire-accident at a chemical laboratory of BARC which claimed the 
lives of two research students on December 29. This was revealed in an 
internal analysis of the incident carried out by the institute, he 
added.

Mr. Banerjee, who was in the city for the 60th foundation day 
celebrations of the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, also said that it 
was important =93to take positive initiatives to open up international 
trade in uranium.=94

In addition to the nearly 40,000 megawatts of power produced with 
foreign collaboration at nuclear energy parks at coastal sites, imported 
uranium will be required for Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors, which 
would produce an additional 7,000 megawatts of power, Mr. Banerjee said. 
With this, India would be producing about 60,000 megawatts of nuclear 
power by 2032, he added.

While the first unit at the energy park at Koodankulam will be critical 
within this year, the second reactor will also be ready soon, he said. 
The process of land acquisition for the park at Jaitapur in Maharashtra 
had also begun.

...

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