Chemical Safety Headlines =46rom Google
Monday, September 12, 2011 8:18:23 AM

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Table of Contents (19 articles)

TANKER ROLLOVER ON INTERSTATE 390
Tags: us_NY, transportation, release, response, sodium_bisulfate

CDC TRACKING GROWTH IN CHEMICAL SUICIDES -- OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & 
SAFETY
Tags: public, release, death, suicide, follow-up

WORKERS SUFFER CHEMICAL BURNS AFTER EXPLOSION
Tags: us_PA, industrial, explosion, injury, metals

SCIENTIST KILLED IN EXPLOSION AT MENLO PARK R&D FIRM
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, explosion, death, methane, follow-up

VICTIMS OF METH LAB BLASTS FILL BURN UNIT, AVOID PROSECUTION
Tags: us_TN, public, fire, injury, meth_lab, follow-up

INDIAN PROFESSORS CHARGED OVER RADIATION DEATH
Tags: India, laboratory, release, death, radiation, waste

MAIZE SOUTH HIGH EVACUATED AFTER CREWS HIT GAS LINE
Tags: us_KS, education, release, response, natural_gas

HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO GLENDALE SCHOOL
Tags: us_AZ, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical

HAZMAT CALLED OUT TO EDMONSTON GAS STATION FRIDAY MORNING
Tags: us_MD, public, release, response, propane

THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY'S NEWS CHANNEL
Tags: us_TX, public, explosion, response, petroleum

EXPLOSIVES FOUND IN FRANKLIN COUNTY
Tags: us_AR, public, discovery, response, unknown_chemical

ODOR IN PARKING STRUCTURE SICKENS 21; EIGHT PEOPLE TAKEN TO HOSPITALS
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

FIRE CREWS CALLED TO CHEMICAL SPILL AT CARLISLE SCHOOL
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, release, response, bromide

CHEMICAL SPILL CAUSES FIRE AT UNI
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, fire, response, sodium_hydride

U.S. 59 BUSINESS AT HOLT ROAD NEAR HALLIBURTON CLOSED BECAUSE OF 
HYDROCHLORIC ACID SPILL
Tags: us_TX, public, release, response, hydrochloric_acid

DROPPED KEG SPARKS FLASH FIRE IN DOWNTOWN DENVER BREW PUB, KNOTTING 
TRAFFIC; NO INJURIES
Tags: us_CO, public, fire, response, chlorine_dioxide

GEORGIA MCDONALD'S TOXIC FUMES A DEADLY MYSTERY
Tags: us_GA, public, release, death, unknown_chemical

FIRE BREAKS OUT AT CHEMICAL PLANT
Tags: us_MO, industrial, fire, response, pesticides

ONE WORKER INJURED IN BLAST AT CHEMICAL PLANT IN NIAGARA
Tags: us_NY, transportation, explosion, injury, aluminum_dust

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

TANKER ROLLOVER ON INTERSTATE 390
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20110911/NEWS01/110911011
Tags: us_NY, transportation, release, response, sodium_bisulfate

Fire and hazardous materials units have responded to a tanker truck 
roll-over accident near Interstate 390 at Mount Morris in Livingston 
County.

A trickle of sodium bisulfate, which is corrosive but not flammable, 
reportedly escaped from the tanker. A second tanker is being brought in 
to siphon off the contents of the crashed tanker truck.

Interstate 390 remains open, but the southbound exit and entrance ramps 
at Mount Morris/Exit 7 are closed until further notice, the sheriff's 
office said. The accident occurred on the southbound on-ramp at Mount 
Morris.

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

CDC TRACKING GROWTH IN CHEMICAL SUICIDES -- OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & 
SAFETY

http://ohsonline.com/articles/2011/09/12/cdc-tracking-growth-in-chemical-s
uicides.aspx?admgarea=news
Tags: public, release, death, suicide, follow-up

A CDC analysis of "chemical suicides," also known as "hazmat suicides," 
shows that 10 were reported in six states during 2006-2010, killing nine 
people and injuring four law enforcement officers who responded. None of 
those officers was wearing PPE, although two had received hazmat 
training, the authors reported in the Sept. 9 issue of CDC's Morbidity 
and Mortality Weekly Report.

By contrast, 208 people killed themselves during a three-month period in 
2008 in Japan by the same methods of mixing household chemicals 
breathing the resulting poisonous gas (usually hydrogen sulfide or 
hydrogen cyanide) inside an enclosed space. "The large number of similar 
suicides is believed to have resulted from the posting of directions for 
generating poisonous gas on the Internet," the authors noted.

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

WORKERS SUFFER CHEMICAL BURNS AFTER EXPLOSION

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44358245/ns/local_news-lancaster_pa/t/workers-
suffer-chemical-burns-after-explosion/#.Tm3rVutCfqg
Tags: us_PA, industrial, explosion, injury, metals

Three workers at a York County company suffered chemical burns after an 
explosion on Thursday morning.
Around 8:30 a.m., an employee of SKF USA Inc. in Penn Township and two 
contractors suffered respiratory burns while working with a salt 
solution that is used to treat metal.

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

SCIENTIST KILLED IN EXPLOSION AT MENLO PARK R&D FIRM
http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_18816617?nclick_check=1
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, explosion, death, methane, follow-up

Adrian Martin was aware that his work at Membrane Technology and 
Research in Menlo Park was "not as safe as it should be," his wife 
recalled.
The 56-year-old scientist's observation appeared to ring true Friday 
afternoon when a gas-fueled explosion ripped through a laboratory at the 
company's Willow Road headquarters, killing him and injuring a 
colleague.
"He's not here right now because a stupid gas system wouldn't work," 
Martin's widow Livia said. "He was just a victim of unsafe 
surroundings."
Martin was mixing methane, helium and nitrogen for an experiment at 
about 4 p.m. when a tank containing one of the gases ruptured, said 
Menlo Park Fire Protection District Chief Harold Schapelhouman. The 
blast catapulted a female scientist who was inside the lab with Martin 
into an adjacent corridor.
"It was fortuitous she was near the entrance and not thrown into a 
wall," Schapelhouman said.

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

VICTIMS OF METH LAB BLASTS FILL BURN UNIT, AVOID PROSECUTION

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110905/NEWS07/308260124/Victims-meth-l
ab-blasts-fill-burn-unit-avoid-prosecution
Tags: us_TN, public, fire, injury, meth_lab, follow-up

A man in his 60s lies in Vanderbilt University Medical Center=92s burn 
unit, being treated for disfiguring burns to his eyes and arms.

He denies it, but the doctors and nurses are sure the man was injured 
when a methamphetamine lab exploded.

At any given time, one-third of the 25 beds in Dr. Jeffrey Guy=92s burn 
unit are occupied by people injured in meth lab accidents. That number 
hasn=92t changed much in the last decade.

This man=92s story is very similar to that of other meth lab victims in 
the unit. He has no insurance. The hospital will pick up the tab, an 
estimated $10,000 a day. Staff here can=92t remember treating a single 
victim of a meth explosion with insurance.

His family has long abandoned him. No one sits in the chair by his side. 
There are no balloons, flowers or get-well cards in his room.

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

INDIAN PROFESSORS CHARGED OVER RADIATION DEATH

http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/09/indian-professors-charge
d-over.html
Tags: India, laboratory, release, death, radiation, waste

NEW DELHI=97Six senior professors at the University of Delhi face up to 
2 years in prison over their roles in India's first fatality from 
accidental exposure to radiation. On 2 September, Delhi police charged 
the university's former science dean and five colleagues in the 
chemistry department with "causing death by negligence" and violating 
the Atomic Energy Act over the improper disposal of a derelict gamma-ray 
research device in 2010.

The unprecedented case has shaken India's scientific community. "This 
should serve as a wakeup call," says metallurgist Srikumar Banerjee, 
chair of the Atomic Energy Commission in Mumbai. "The responsibility of 
maintaining the equipment was clearly with the university authorities."

The accident occurred after a University of Delhi official ordered a 
campus-wide spring cleaning to create space for newly recruited staff 
members. An auction committee cleared the sale of a Gamma cell 220 
research irradiator, which a university chemist had imported from Atomic 
Energy of Canada Ltd. in 1968 but which had lain unused since 1985. On 
26 February 2010, the university auctioned the 3500-kilogram device to a 
scrap dealer. Seven scrapyard workers, unaware that the machine they 
were dismantling contained cobalt-60=97a radioactive, gray-blue metal 
resembling nickel=97fell ill; one died.

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

MAIZE SOUTH HIGH EVACUATED AFTER CREWS HIT GAS LINE

http://www.ksn.com/mostpopular/story/Maize-South-High-evacuated-after-crew
s-hit-gas/QpptLsrmIUCW9a5XT9Vyaw.cspx
Tags: us_KS, education, release, response, natural_gas

MAIZE, Kansas - A punctured gas line forced hundreds of high school 
students to head home for the day, banned from coming back until hazmat 
declared it safe. 

It was an unexpected start to the weekend for students at Maize South 
High School when crews outside cracked a gas line. Rather than risk a 
catastrophe, the building at 37th St. and Tyler was evacuated with 
students ordered to stay home until the line is fixed.

With the stench of fuel hanging in the air, hundreds of Maize South High 
School were ordered out of the school and over into the bleachers in 
front of the football field after crews working along 47th St. punctured 
a gas line outside.

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

HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO GLENDALE SCHOOL

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_west_valley/glendale/hazmat-crews-res
pond-to-glendale-school
Tags: us_AZ, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical

GLENDALE, AZ - Twenty-four people were treated after an unknown 
substance was sprayed in the cafeteria of a Glendale school Friday.

A spokesperson with the Glendale Union High School Districts said a 
student sprayed a substance on the table in the cafeteria at Apollo High 
School, but it is unclear what the substance was.

Fire crews responded to a call reporting someone was having trouble 
breathing around 12 p.m.

When fire officials arrived at the scene they found several people were 
having trouble breathing.

Hazmat was called to the scene and 24 people were treated. Thirteen of 
those people were students.

Three adults went to a local hospital. Everyone is expected to be okay.

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

HAZMAT CALLED OUT TO EDMONSTON GAS STATION FRIDAY MORNING

http://riverdalepark.patch.com/articles/hazmat-called-out-to-edmonston-gas
-station-friday-morning
Tags: us_MD, public, release, response, propane

Prince George's County's Hazadous Materials Team reported to a Sunoco at 
4836 Kenilworth Avenue shortly around 3:30 a.m. to respond to a call 
about a leaking propane tank.

According to Prince George's County Fire and EMS spokesman Mark Brady, 
upon arrival, Hazmat discovered a 500 pound above ground propane tank 
leaking. A vapor cloud from the tank was extending across Kenilworth 
Avenue, Brady noted.

The team quickly resolved the issues and no one was injured.

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

THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY'S NEWS CHANNEL

http://www.krgv.com/news/local/story/Gas-Explosion-North-of-Raymondville/j
iz0TMoB8Uikuy38VCu3nQ.cspx
Tags: us_TX, public, explosion, response, petroleum

RAYMONDVILLE - Emergency crews are on the scene of a gas explosion north 
of Raymondville.

Frank Torres with Willacy County says crews are busy securing the area. 
A well head exploded north of Raymondville off Santa Berta Road. One 
person was killed. Several people were hurt. 

Fire crews are gearing up in hazmat suits. They are concerned there 
could be another explosion.  No word yet on how many people were hurt.

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

EXPLOSIVES FOUND IN FRANKLIN COUNTY

http://www.todaysthv.com/news/article/172532/2/Explosives-found-in-Frankli
n-County
Tags: us_AR, public, discovery, response, unknown_chemical

The Fort Smith Bomb Squad and Hazmat team were called to a home on 2nd 
Street and West Market in Ozark at Saturday morning, according to Sgt. 
Brandon Davis with the Fort Smith Police Department.

Franklin County Emergency Services Coordinator, Fred Mullen, says the 
homeowner went to the Ozark Police Department Saturday morning saying he 
had old chemicals that were bubbling and needed to be disposed. Mullen 
says old containers of chemicals were found in the home; the labels in 
various conditions. Mullen also says he is not sure if the chemicals are 
in their original containers.

Mullen says the chemicals are being handled with extreme caution because 
of public safety issues. This prompted the Fort Smith Bomb Squad and 
Hazmat teams to be called in, and closest neighbors to be evacuated 
while the materials are moved.

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

ODOR IN PARKING STRUCTURE SICKENS 21; EIGHT PEOPLE TAKEN TO HOSPITALS

http://www.coronadelmartoday.com/22534/home/odor-in-parking-structure-sick
ens-18-two-people-treated-at-hoag/
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

A strong odor in a parking structure at 180 Newport Center Drive 
sickened 21 people this afternoon, and hazmat crews from at least three 
agencies are at the scene investigating.
The incident was reported about 5 p.m., said Newport Beach Fire 
Department spokeswoman Jennifer Schulz.
=93Some people started to exhibit symptoms,=94 she said. She did not 
have information immediately about what kind of smell or the specific 
symptoms of the victim.
Emergency crews immediately began to evacuate the building, she said, 
and sections of Anacapa Drive and Farallon Drive were closed to traffic. 
The victims were treated at the scene and one person was taken to a 
local hospital immediately, she said. Seven others were transported to 
hospitals later, she said.

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

FIRE CREWS CALLED TO CHEMICAL SPILL AT CARLISLE SCHOOL

http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/fire-crews-called-to-chemical-spill-at-c
arlisle-school-1.876579?referrerPath=home
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, release, response, bromide

Firefighters were called to a Carlisle school after toxic chemical was 
spilled and started giving off gas.

They had to smash a window to deal with the small spill at the Richard 
Rose Central Academy, in Victoria Place.

Crews in two fire engines were called to the school at about 2.15pm 
yesterday.

A window had to be smashed to ventilate the room after the bromide, 
which is corrosive and toxic, started giving off gas.

The alert was raised by a lab technician, who noticed that the lid on a 
bottle bromide was corroded and some of the chemical had leaked out.

Staff immediately locked the room and firefighters were called.

Central academy headteacher Russ Wallace said: =93In consultation with 
the fire service, the decision was taken to break a window which would 
then assist the internal ventilation system and speed up the fumigation 
process.

=93The fire team, while complimenting the science technician on her 
quick and speedy response, advised that the area be taped off and 
adjoining classes relocated until Monday.=94

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

CHEMICAL SPILL CAUSES FIRE AT UNI

http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2099483_chemical_spill_causes_fire_at_u
ni
Tags: United_Kingdom, laboratory, fire, response, sodium_hydride

Fire crews were called to the University of Reading today when a 
chemical accident caused a fire.

Three fire engines and a specialist chemical unit were sent to the 
Chemistry Building after the alarm was raised at 1.27pm and the building 
was evacuated.

According to Crew Manager Lee Glover of the chemical unit, a student 
accidentally dripped water from a lid into a jar of sodium hydride which 
reacted and caught fire.

He said: "I think she then panicked and dropped it causing burnt patches 
on the floor.

"The room then filled with a toxic gas."

Three fire fighters wearing breathing apparatus went into the lab to 
contain the chemical and make it safe.

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

U.S. 59 BUSINESS AT HOLT ROAD NEAR HALLIBURTON CLOSED BECAUSE OF 
HYDROCHLORIC ACID SPILL

http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2011/sep/09/us-59-business-holt-road-
near-hallibutorn-xlosed-b/?news&local-news
Tags: us_TX, public, release, response, hydrochloric_acid

Houston Highway from Burroughsville Road to Telferner remains closed 
because of a hydrochloric acid spill at Halliburton Energy Services in 
Victoria.

The spill occurred about 11 p.m. Thursday from an 11,000-gallon 
above-ground tank at Halliburton at U.S. 59 and Holt Road, Victoria Fire 
Department Battalion Chief Shannon Martin said Friday morning. He said 
he was unsure how much of the chemical spilled, but it was contained by 
a diking system set up by Halliburton.

"We took all of the precautions,' Martin said. "Nobody was at risk in 
the area."

Homeowners in the Brentwood subdivision near the spill are being allowed 
to leave the neighborhood this morning but can only go south on U.S. 59, 
he said. Northbound traffic is being diverted to Burroughsville Road.

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

DROPPED KEG SPARKS FLASH FIRE IN DOWNTOWN DENVER BREW PUB, KNOTTING 
TRAFFIC; NO INJURIES
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_18859710
Tags: us_CO, public, fire, response, chlorine_dioxide

A chemical spill and flash fire at a Downtown Denver brew pub has forced 
the evacuation of the building and is knotting up traffic this morning.

The accident happened at about 7:15 a.m. at the Rock Bottom Restaurant 
and Brewery, 1001 16th St., said Capt. Craig Carter, a Denver Fire 
Department spokesman.

The fire is out and there were no injuries, Carter said. Emergency 
medical workers were on scene, but weren't treating anyone.

On Tuesday there was a spill of chlorine dioxide, which is used to clean 
empty beer tanks, at the brew pub, Carter said. It was mopped up and the 
spill didn't cause a problem until this morning when a worker dropped a 
keg. A spark from the keg ignited remnant residue of the spill and 
fueled a flash fire.
The fire department's hazmat team is on scene and is flushing any 
residue left from the spill to ensure an incident like this doesn't 
happen again, Carter said.

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

GEORGIA MCDONALD'S TOXIC FUMES A DEADLY MYSTERY

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/georgia-mcdonalds-toxic-fumes-deadly-mystery/
story?id=14484014
Tags: us_GA, public, release, death, unknown_chemical

The mysterious fumes that killed one person and sickened nine others 
inside a McDonald's restroom this week may have brought the most 
unwanted publicity to the city of Pooler, Ga., since Gen. William 
Tecumseh Sherman set up Union headquarters there before negotiating the 
peaceful surrender of Savannah in December 1864.

Local fire officials remained stumped Friday about what toxic chemical 
or chemical mixture knocked two women unconscious Wednesday at the 
fast-food restaurant in their east Georgia city of about 19,000. One of 
the women, Anne Felton, 80, of Ponte Vedra, Fla., died after going into 
cardiac arrest. Firefighters administered oxygen to Carol Barry, 56, of 
Jacksonville, Fla., before she was admitted to a Savannah hospital, 
Pooler Fire Chief G. Wade Simmons said.

"Every one of the 10 people that had some sort of symptoms ... had been 
or were in that restroom," Simmons said.

No one anywhere else in the restaurant was affected.

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

FIRE BREAKS OUT AT CHEMICAL PLANT
http://www.newspressnow.com/localnews/29145759/detail.html
Tags: us_MO, industrial, fire, response, pesticides

Multiple units from the Fire Department were dispatched around midnight 
Friday to deal with a fire in a business on the South Side.
Firefighters arrived at Omnium, 1417 Lower Lake Road, to find the 
company, part of Winfield Solutions, had evacuated all employees and cut 
off ventilation to a mixer that had a smouldering fire. A heat tape had 
shorted out, sparking a fire inside a mixer filled with corncobs, said 
John Alkier, plant manager.
Firefighters dressed out with oxygen units dragged water lines into one 
of the company buildings, located on the east side of the plant 
entrance.
The company infuses the cobs with an insecticide in the mixer, and it 
took firefighters more than an hour to extinguish and clean up after 
their work. Damage was estimated at about $5,000.
Missouri Department of Natural Resources records indicate that Omnium 
operates a Munson Mixer as part of its granular insecticide formulation 
and packaging operation.

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

ONE WORKER INJURED IN BLAST AT CHEMICAL PLANT IN NIAGARA

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/police-courts/police-blotter/article552791
.ece
Tags: us_NY, transportation, explosion, injury, aluminum_dust

One worker was treated at Mount St. Mary=92s Hospital in Lewiston, then 
released, following the chemical explosion Friday night at Stollberg 
Inc., a manufacturing plant in the Town of Niagara.

No other injuries were reported in the explosion that occurred at about 
9:30 p. m. at the Witmer Road plant. Approximately 4,500 pounds of 
aluminum powder exploded in a railroad car at the scene, authorities 
said.

Residents living within about half a mile of the plant were advised to 
stay inside and keep their windows and doors closed overnight Friday.

Only minor damage was reported inside the plant. The cause of the 
explosion remains under investigation.

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

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