Chemical Safety Headlines =46rom Google
Monday, August 1, 2011 8:26:35 AM

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Table of Contents (13 articles)

SPACE PROGRAM'S ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP COULD TAKE DECADES
Tags: us_FL, public, release, environmental, waste

BURBANK HAZMAT CREW RESPONDS TO REPORTS OF CHEMICAL DUMPING
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, adhesives

WORKERS INJURED IN CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_IA, transportation, release, injury, sodium_hydroxide

HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO ACID SPILL IN SLATON
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, response, hydrochloric_acid

FIRE CREWS ATTEND WASTE PLANT CHEMICAL LEAK IN HINCKLEY
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, release, response, hydrogen_peroxide

ACID SPILL CONTAINED ON OLD CHEMSTRAND
Tags: us_FL, transportation, release, response, nitric_acid

CHEMICAL SPILL NEAR ST. HELENA
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, bleach

NBC-2.COM WBBH NEWS FOR FORT MYERS, CAPE CORAL & NAPLES, FLORIDA
Tags: us_FL, industrial, explosion, injury, pool_chemicals

MINOR ACID SPILL REPORTED AT LEETSDALE INDUSTRIAL PARK
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, citric_acid

ACCIDENT, CHEMICAL RELEASE FORCES CLOSURE OF ROUTE 33 IN BROOKFIELD
Tags: us_CT, transportation, release, injury, pool_chemicals

CHEMICAL LEAKS FROM NORTH BAY WATER TREATMENT PLANT
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, bleach

BATTERY EXPLOSION AT CONROE PLANT SENDS 2 TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_TX, industrial, explosion, injury, batteries, water

CREWS BATTLE LARGE CHEMICAL FIRE IN COFFEE COUNTY
Tags: us_TN, industrial, fire, death, diesel

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

SPACE PROGRAM'S ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP COULD TAKE DECADES

http://www.jconline.com/article/20110730/NEWS06/110730011/Space-program-s-
environmental-cleanup-could-take-decades-?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%
7CFRONTPAGE%7Cp
Tags: us_FL, public, release, environmental, waste

NASA spent decades to send men to the moon, launch the space shuttles 
and build a labo-ratory in space, and now it will take a century to 
clean up the chemical messes left behind.

Plumes of carcinogenic chemicals used in the launch-ing of the space 
shuttles, Apollo moon shots and other rockets seeped deep into sandy 
soils beneath launch pads and other structures at Kennedy Space Center 
and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

They form viscous toxic goo that will take $1 billion in cleanup costs 
agencywide over many decades, and could bog down funding for 
next-generation spacecraft.

NASA estimates it will spend $96 million in the next 30 years at Kennedy 
Space Center, including $6 million this year. The Air Force says it will 
take another $50 million to get the rest of its cleanups at Cape 
Canaveral under way by 2017.

"In the past, back in Apollo, the normal disposal of the sol-vent 
cleaning was down the drain ... out the back door," said Rosaly 
Santos-Ebaugh, Kennedy's remediation program manager, the person 
responsible for leading the cleanup.

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

BURBANK HAZMAT CREW RESPONDS TO REPORTS OF CHEMICAL DUMPING
http://www.lacanadaonline.com/tn-818-0729-drain,0,5640047.story
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, adhesives

The Burbank Fire Hazmat team was called to Wilson=92s Leather in the 
3100 block of Magnolia Boulevard Friday when it was reported that a 
white solution was being dumped into the flood control system, officials 
said.

Eight firefighters from the Hazmat team responded to the scene about 
6:55 a.m. to find remodeling work in progress, Fire Capt. John Nare 
said.

=93They were stripping the floors of an adhesive that held down 
carpeting and dumped it into the flood control system and firefighters 
had them stop,=94 Nare said.

MAPS
3117 W Magnolia Blvd, Burbank, CA 91505, USA
Los Angeles County officials were called to the scene to investigate 
whether the chemicals posed a danger and if would reach water ways.

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

WORKERS INJURED IN CHEMICAL SPILL
http://www.kcci.com/r/28703584/detail.html
Tags: us_IA, transportation, release, injury, sodium_hydroxide

ANKENY, Iowa -- Fire officials reported a chemical spill early Friday 
morning at Dhorn Transfer in Ankeny, just north of Walmart.
According to fire officials, six workers were burned by sodium 
hydroxide.
It happened after midnight but hazardous material crews were still 
cleaning up at 7:00 a.m.
"During the handling of the material, as far as we know, six to seven 
employees came in contact with the chemical, and attempted to resolve 
the issue on their own, and eventually found that they were incurring 
some injuries from contact with the product," said Ankeny Fire Chief Rex 
Mundt.
Mundt said the employees transported themselves to the hospital. He said 
more may workers may have gotten checked out as a precaution.

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

HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO ACID SPILL IN SLATON

http://www.kcbd.com/story/15173908/hazmat-team-responds-to-acid-spill-in-s
laton
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, response, hydrochloric_acid

SLATON, TX (KCBD) -
The Lubbock Fire Department HAZMAT team is assisting the Slaton Fire 
Department with a reported hydrochloric acid spill near the railroad in 
Slaton.

Lubbock County Emergency Management Coordinator Clinton Thetford says 
crews on scene reported a railroad car containing approximately 30 
gallons of the chemical split.

We're told some of the solution is on the ground. Crews are assessing 
and stabilizing the scene as they await response from railroad response 
team. Thetford says that could take several hours.

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

FIRE CREWS ATTEND WASTE PLANT CHEMICAL LEAK IN HINCKLEY

http://www.hinckleytimes.net/news-in-hinckley/local-news/hinckley-news/201
1/07/29/fire-crews-attend-waste-plant-chemical-leak-in-hinckley-105367-291
42630/
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, release, response, hydrogen_peroxide

FIRE crews from both Leicestershire and Warwickshire were called to a 
chemical leak at a waste plant in Hinckley.
Six fire engines had to be called to Augean=92s waste transfer station 
on the A5 after they received reports of a leak of 1,000 litres of 
hydrogen peroxide at the plant at 11.20pm last Wednesday.
The alarm was triggered when the lid of a 1,000 litre Intermediate Bulk 
Container (IBC) of hydrogen peroxide solution popped off, causing some 
of the solution to leak from the container onto the floor of the bay 
where it was contained.
Despite the leak setting off the fire alarm, firefighters were able to 
discover that a blaze had not been the cause of the leak which was 
contained within a wall surrounding the hydrogen peroxide tank.

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

ACID SPILL CONTAINED ON OLD CHEMSTRAND

http://www.pnj.com/article/20110730/NEWS01/107300321/Acid-spill-contained-
Old-Chemstrand
Tags: us_FL, transportation, release, response, nitric_acid

Firefighters and hazmat personnel responded to a chemical spill on Old 
Chemstrand Road in Gonzalez on Friday afternoon.

Shortly after 3 p.m., an 18-wheeler traveling down Old Chemstrand Road, 
near Pauline Street began leaking nitric acid onto the road.

Escambia County EMS officials said between 5 and 10 gallons of the toxic 
substance leaked onto the road.

Within an hour and a half, Escambia County Fire Rescue crews had washed 
the chemical away with water.

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

CHEMICAL SPILL NEAR ST. HELENA

http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-07-31/bay-area/29834852_1_chemical-spill-w
ater-treatment-plant-gallons-of-sodium-hypochlorite
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, bleach

Hazardous materials crews contained a chemical spill Saturday at a water 
treatment plant just outside St. Helena. Authorities said there were no 
injuries or shelter-in-place orders.

At 4:20 p.m., employees at the Hennessey Treatment Plant reported to 
fire officials that 11,000 gallons of sodium hypochlorite, which is used 
as a disinfectant, had leaked, said California Department of Forestry 
and Fire Protection Capt. Tom Knecht. The plant is operated by the city 
of Napa, Knecht said.

The chemical was placed into portable storage tanks, Knecht said.

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

NBC-2.COM WBBH NEWS FOR FORT MYERS, CAPE CORAL & NAPLES, FLORIDA
http://www.nbc-2.com/story/15182293/2011/07/31/two-hospitalized-after
Tags: us_FL, industrial, explosion, injury, pool_chemicals

NORTH FORT MYERS, FL -
A toxic explosion inside a North Fort Myers pool supply store put two 
people in the hospital on Sunday.

Deputies responded to Pinch-A-Penny pool supplies just before 2:00 p.m.

According to the store's owner, Matt Roadcap, one customer's chlorine 
jug had chemical residue other than chlorine lining the container.

The chlorine mixed with the residue, causing a massive chemical 
reaction.

"It was probably either residual fumes or some liquid gasoline left in 
their chlorine jug. Once the chlorine hits, bad things happen," Roadcap 
said.

Two of his employees were sent to the hospital, but they are expected to 
be fine.

Roadcap says he believes acetone caused the chemical reaction and that 
this is not the first time this type of accident has happened.

He says these unfortunate chemical reactions are frequent within the 
industry, and occur when people bring in containers that aren't clean.

"You don't put things in unapproved containers. Bad things happen," he 
says.

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

MINOR ACID SPILL REPORTED AT LEETSDALE INDUSTRIAL PARK

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_749386.ht
ml
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, citric_acid

Allegheny County Hazardous Materials response teams were called to 
Leetsdale Industrial Park about 6 p.m. Sunday for a minor chemical 
spill, officials said.

Hazmat crews went to Weatherford International's Engineered Chemistry 
Division for a spill of citric acid, a weak organic acid often used as a 
preservative or flavoring agent but capable of causing skin irritation 
and minor chemical burns with enough exposure.

No one was injured, no buildings were evacuated, and the spill was 
rendered safe by 9 p.m., county dispatchers said.

A more serious spill occurred at Weatherford in May 2010, when a 
chemical reaction inside a pail of ammonium persulfate filled the 
facility with a cloud of ammonia gas. One person was treated for minor 
chemical burns, and 500 people were evacuated from the industrial park 
in that incident.

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

ACCIDENT, CHEMICAL RELEASE FORCES CLOSURE OF ROUTE 33 IN BROOKFIELD

http://www.newstimes.com/policereports/article/Accident-chemical-release-f
orces-closure-of-1657938.php
Tags: us_CT, transportation, release, injury, pool_chemicals

BROOKFIELD -- Police said a head-on collision between a car and a van 
led to the release of "pool cleaning chemicals," forcing the closure of 
Route 133 for several hours Saturday near the intersection with Mudry 
Farm Road.

According to Brookfield police, some responding fire personnel were 
exposed to chemical vapor from the van and "all parties involved," were 
taken to Danbury Hospital.

Information on their condition and further details about the crash were 
not immediately available.

Police said the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was 
called to the scene along with a HAZMAT team. The chemicals were inside 
the van, which was heading north when it was hit by a southbound car 
that entered the northbound lane, police said.

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

CHEMICAL LEAKS FROM NORTH BAY WATER TREATMENT PLANT
http://www.ktvu.com/news/28718089/detail.html
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, bleach

ST. HELENA, Calif. -- A tank containing a chemical used as a 
disinfectant leaked from the Hennessey Water Treatment plant in St. 
Helena, Napa county fire officials said Saturday.
Around 11,000 gallons of 6.5 percent sodium hypochlorite was leaking at 
a rate of 5 gallons a minute at the St. Helena Wastewater Treatment 
plant at 4:30 p.m., according to Cal Fire Capt. Tom Knecht.
Barry Biermann, a CalFire Battalion Chief, said crews were able to 
contain the chemical that escaped from the tank. The spill leaked 
through a secondary line of defense, a concrete berm, which had cracks 
along its base.
The faulty tank was one of nine kept behind a three-foot concrete wall 
designed to contain chemicals in case they escaped. Instead, the 
corrosive liquid started leaking through cracks.

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

BATTERY EXPLOSION AT CONROE PLANT SENDS 2 TO HOSPITAL

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/courier/news/article_68b42484-a305-5568-b14
6-0bc146a233f1.html
Tags: us_TX, industrial, explosion, injury, batteries, water

One man was reported to be in urgent condition Saturday night from 
injuries suffered when a lithium battery exploded at a plant in Conroe=92s
 industrial park.
Conroe Assistant Fire Chief Paul Sims said firefighters were dispatched 
to 750 Conroe Park North Drive - located between Pollock Drive and 
TxDOT Road - around 6:30 p.m. They found one man outside the building 
and another still inside.
Both men were transported to nearby hospitals.
The man found outside the building was in stable condition, while the 
other man had burns and lacerations, Sims said.
While Sims said there was no indication what caused the explosion, one 
of the lithium batteries was located at one end of a pipe.
Sims said vinyl chloride was present in the building, a chemical that 
becomes =93deadly=94 when in contact with water.
=93The explosion cut a hole in the ceiling, which ruptured a water 
line,=94 he said.
Conroe=92s HazMat unit was dispatched to the scene, and the Conroe 
Police Department cordoned off an area around the plant to control any 
traffic.

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

CREWS BATTLE LARGE CHEMICAL FIRE IN COFFEE COUNTY

http://www.newschannel5.com/story/15179847/crews-battling-large-ethanol-fi
re-in-coffee-county
Tags: us_TN, industrial, fire, death, diesel

SUMMITVILLE, Tenn. - Emergency crews from across Coffee County 
responded to a fire at the Tennessee Bio Energy plant in Summitville. 
For more than eight hours, flames engulfed the building. The two 
employees inside made it out alive along with two dogs. A cat is 
believed to have died in the fire. Since thousands of gallons of 
chemicals were inside, nearby residents were forced to evacuate.

A small spark is said to have morphed into uncontrollable flames at the 
bio diesel plant. Firefighters feared the unknown after an initial 
explosion. The plant makes the fuel from used vegetable oil. Thousands 
of gallons of agents like methanol and glycerin were inside.

"That's the fuel inside burning the diesel itself," Assistant Chief 
James Maxwell with the Summitville Volunteer Fire Department explained. 
"That's going to be hard to put out because you can't put it out with 
water."

Water was in short supply. With no hydrants in the area, firefighters 
had to take turns refilling their trucks. After burning for more than 
three hours, crews retreated, fearing another explosion.

By 9:00pm residents were allowed back in their home after firefighters 
got the flames under control. Environmental crews are on the scene to 
assess the damage.

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

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