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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, March 1, 2013 8:09:02 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 (14 articles)
MASS. HIGH SCHOOL GUARD FACES CHEMICAL CHARGES
Tags: us_MA, education, discovery, response, aluminum_dust, illegal, magnesium
LIQUID CHLORINE SPILL IN RUSSIA'S CHEMICAL PLANT INJURES 30
Tags: Russia, industrial, release, injury, chlorine
ALLAFRICA.COM: NIGERIA: FIRE DESTROYS UNIBUJA CHEMISTRY LABORATORY
Tags: Nigeria, laboratory, fire, response, flammables
DROPPED KEYCHAIN LEADSTO HAZMAT INCIDENT AT UK DORM
Tags: us_KY, education, release, injury, tear_gas
HAZMAT UNIT FINDS NO DAMAGE, CHEMICAL SPILL AT UNB
Tags: Canada, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS CARGO TANK ROLLOVERS: A SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE TO REDUCING HAZMAT-RELATED FATALITIES
Tags: transportation, follow-up, environmental
EPA ON THE SCENE OF A HAZMAT IN DELAWARE
Tags: us_OH, public, discovery, environmental, diesel
HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO I-15 FERTILIZER SPILL
Tags: us_MT, transportation, release, response, ag_chems
FLASH FIRE QUICKLY EXTINGUISHED AT VANDALIA PLANT
Tags: us_OH, industrial, fire, response
NO INJURIES AFTER HAZMAT INCIDENT ON MADISON'S EAST SIDE
Tags: us_WI, industrial, release, response, gas_cylinders
HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO ODOR OF GAS IN CHILI
Tags: us_NY, public, release, response, gasoline
FIRE CREWS ON SCENE OF SMALL EXPLOSION IN TEXAS TECH CHEMICAL LAB
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, explosion, response, unknown_chemical, radiation
2 FIREFIGHTERS INJURED IN METH LAB BLAZE
Tags: us_OH, public, fire, injury, illegal, meth_lab
COMBUSTIBLE METAL FIRE IN A PARTS DEBURRING MACHINE
Tags: us_WA, industrial, fire, response, titanium
---------------------------------------------
MASS. HIGH SCHOOL GUARD FACES CHEMICAL CHARGES
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/02/mass_school_guard_faces_chemical_charges
Tags: us_MA, education, discovery, response, aluminum_dust, illegal, magnesium
LEOMINSTER, Mass. Ñ A security guard at a suburban Boston high school has been arrested and charged with possessing chemicals that could be used to make a bomb.
Authorities say 23-year-old Jesse Holland of Gardner stole the chemicals, including iron powder, aluminum powder and magnesium metal ribbon, from Waltham High School, where he worked.
He was arrested Wednesday morning in a Leominster store parking lot after police say he acted suspiciously. A search of his car yielded the chemicals, a hatchet and a stun gun.
He was held without bail in court Wednesday on charges including possession of an incendiary device, pending a dangerousness hearing set for March 11.
Police say Holland told them he intended to throw the chemicals into a fire to "see what would happen."
Waltham Mayor Jeannette McCarthy called the allegations "troubling."
---------------------------------------------
LIQUID CHLORINE SPILL IN RUSSIA'S CHEMICAL PLANT INJURES 30
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-03/01/c_132200949.htm
Tags: Russia, industrial, release, injury, chlorine
MOSCOW, March 1 (Xinhua) --Liquid chlorine spill at a chemical plant in Russia's Perm Territory injured 30 people, local authorities told the Interfax news agency Friday.
Workers at the plant, located at the town of Berezniki in Perm, violated the technological process, triggering the accident.
"30 people have been injured, 27 of them were hospitalized," a local emergencies department spokesperson said, adding the other three people received medical care on the spot.
"The chlorine spill could have been caused by a technical failure and it had already been contained," the regional police department said on its website, adding no threat would be posed to the population.
Local authorities were alerted at 0421 GMT about the spill at the plant's 13th unit, a local emergencies service spokesman told the Interfax.
Perm Territory Governor Viktor Basargin has ordered the local authorities to provide assistance to those affected and conduct an investigation into the incident.
---------------------------------------------
ALLAFRICA.COM: NIGERIA: FIRE DESTROYS UNIBUJA CHEMISTRY LABORATORY
http://allafrica.com/stories/201303010672.html
Tags: Nigeria, laboratory, fire, response, flammables
A fire incident at the University of Abuja has destroyed the laboratory of the department of Chemistry at the mini-campus.
The fire which started Saturday midnight raged on until Sunday morning and efforts by some university staff and men of the fire fighting division from Gwagwalada to put out the inferno failed.
The presence of highly inflammable materials in the laboratory worsen the situation and as a result, the fire reduced the entire fittings and roofing of the building to rubble resulting in the loss of equipment and chemical worth millions of naira.
A statement from the Deputy Registrar Information Waziri Garba said the Vice-chancellor Professor James Adelabu has set up a seven-man committee to probe the fire incident and that of the male hostel which happened earlier on February, 18.
....
Other terms of reference of the committee are: to determine the extent of damage in the two incidents, establish whether or not there were security lapses in the two incidents, suggest measures to be taken to rehabilitate the laboratory facility and the room in the hostel, recommend immediate measures to be taken to provide a temporary facility to serve as a Chemistry laboratory, recommend measures on how to forestall future occurrences, and any other relevant matter.
---------------------------------------------
DROPPED KEYCHAIN LEADSTO HAZMAT INCIDENT AT UK DORM
http://www.lex18.com/news/dropped-keychain-leadsto-hazmat-incident-at-uk-dorm
Tags: us_KY, education, release, injury, tear_gas
A Lexington Fire Department hazmat team was called to a UK dorm after more than a dozen students reported trouble breathing early Thursday morning.
Officials say students in the Kirwan IV dorm began complaining of difficulty breathing and watery eyes around 1 a.m. The dorm was evacuated.
Firefighters say they talked to a student who said she dropped a key chain with mace attached down a stairwell and that released some of the chemical into the air.
Crews aired out the dorm, and students are now back inside.
The people affected by the mace improved once they got some fresh air, and nobody was hospitalized.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT UNIT FINDS NO DAMAGE, CHEMICAL SPILL AT UNB
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2013/02/28/nb-unb-chemical-freezer-1200.html
Tags: Canada, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical
A hazardous materials team investigating an overnight freezer malfunction in a chemical laboratory at the University of New Brunswick's Fredericton campus has not found any signs of damage or chemical spills.
Fire officials say sometime overnight a freezer, which contained chemicals, in Toole Hall at UNB broke down, switching from cooling to heating. The university's four main undergraduate chemistry laboratories are located in the building, which was evacuated.
There was a concern about the reaction of the chemicals once they began to heat up following the freezer malfunction.
Although the freezer was repaired Thursday afternoon, the hazmat team remained on scene to make sure none of the chemicals had destabilized due to the change in temperature.
No one was injured.
Protocols followed
A hazardous materials unit is outside of UNB's Toole Hall on Thursday. (Angela Chang/CBC)
Cameron Dunn, a fire inspector, said earlier in the day that the situation was considered a medium risk.
"We're treating it as a higher type of risk. But what we're looking at is maybe going further along to make sure everyone's safe when we get in there," he said.
A lab technician was the first to raise the alarm when he noticed a strange smell in the hallway.
"The [chemicals] are the kind of thing that you handle with great care and in the hands of an expert, they're harmless. But of course, under these circumstances, it's a different story," said Jack Passmore, UNB professor emeritus.
Passmore's lab has been in this building for more than 40 years. He's now retired and the lab is in the process of being dismantled, but he said this isn't how he saw his university career ending.
"It's pretty dramatic É It's the kind of drama you can do without, of course, when you're looking for a quiet life in retirement," he said.
UNB said all protocols for the lab were followed, and it's pleased with the evacuation of the building. It will now conduct an internal review to determine what happened.
---------------------------------------------
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS CARGO TANK ROLLOVERS: A SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE TO REDUCING HAZMAT-RELATED FATALITIES
http://blog.labelmaster.com/2013/02/12/hazardous-materials-cargo-tank-rollovers-a-significant-challenge-to-reducing-hazmat-related-fatalities/
Tags: transportation, follow-up, environmental
Each year there are approximately 12-15 fatalities related to hazardous materials incidents in transportation. Rollovers account for nearly 75 percent of these fatalities. This is not surprising, considering that the most commonly transported hazardous material commodity is gasoline, which is predominantly transported in cargo tank trucks.
Driver error related to either a decision or performance error figures in about 75 percent of the cargo tank rollovers. Driver errors can generally be characterized into four types:
---------------------------------------------
EPA ON THE SCENE OF A HAZMAT IN DELAWARE
http://www.abc6onyourside.com/shared/news/features/top-stories/stories/wsyx_epa-scene-hazmat-delaware-22552.shtml
Tags: us_OH, public, discovery, environmental, diesel
DELAWARE CO - Fire crews and hazardous materials specialists are on the scene of a spill on SR 37 at Lantern Chase.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol says two 330 gallon tanks were stolen from a business in Union County and left on the side of the roadway.
About 125 gallons of diesel fuel remains in these tanks.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Emergency Management Agency are both on scene assessing the situation.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO I-15 FERTILIZER SPILL
http://www.beartoothnbc.com/news/helena/32697-i-15-fertilizer-spill-after-hours-of-clean-up.html
Tags: us_MT, transportation, release, response, ag_chems
Authorities closed Interstate-15 Northbound between Wolf Creek and Craig, MT after a semi carrying tons of chemicals used for fertilizer overturned, spilling its cargo onto the interstate.
At 8:00 pm last night authorities arrived on the scene to deal with the mess. Officers consulted local hazmat crews to figure out how to get the fertilizer off the road. The Department of Transportation worked on cleaning the spill and traffic was reopened at 2:00 am. Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton, says, the authorities stopped traffic to make sure the spill wasn't hazardous.
Dutton says, "So they did make the decision to redirect traffic around. It wasn't a real high hazard but nonetheless it was a chemical they didn't want them driving through till they got it cleaned up."
The driver was not hospitalized and the company that owns the truck is responsible for paying for the clean-up.
---------------------------------------------
FLASH FIRE QUICKLY EXTINGUISHED AT VANDALIA PLANT
http://www.abc22now.com/shared/news/top-stories/stories/wkef_vid_11672.shtml
Tags: us_OH, industrial, fire, response
VANDALIA -- A flash fire Thursday morning at a chemical company was contained by the building's automated fire suppression system. The Vandalia Fire Department responded and spent most of their time on scene ventilating the facility.
Vandalia Fire Chief Chad Follick said employees in the building were able to evacuate quickly and safely about 9 a.m. when the noticed the fire. No one was reportedly injured.
Lipo Technologies, at 836 Scholtz Road, is a microencapsulation facility, and one section of the building contained a hazardous material, Follick said.
During a cleaning process, the fire chief said, there was a flash fire, which apparently did little damage but caused extensive smoke in the building.
Follick said the chemicals were being handled in an appropriate manner and the fire was likely unavoidable.
"There's specific fire safety devices in that area for this reason and they all functioned like they were supposed to, and that's what kept the fire small," Follick said.
The chief said they had been called out over Memorial Day weekend for another fire at this facility. During that incident, runoff with the chemicals and the water from the sprinklers caused concern but none of that made it into the surrounding environment.
---------------------------------------------
NO INJURIES AFTER HAZMAT INCIDENT ON MADISON'S EAST SIDE
http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/No-Injuries-After--193640831.html
Tags: us_WI, industrial, release, response, gas_cylinders
City of Madison firefighters, including the department's Hazardous Incident team, were called to 1832 Wright St. shortly after 8:00 this morning for a report of a leaked chemical substance in the building.
The building houses Alfalight. The company designs and manufactures high-power diode lasers for the industrial, defense, and telecommunications markets.
The building's detection system was triggered, leading to concerns that arsine had been released. Arsine is a compound that is toxic, flammable and potentially explosive.
Eight employees were in the building at the time the release was first noted. They evacuated when the alarm sounded. Occupants of a neighboring building were urged to stay in their building until the hazmat team could secure the area.
Team members entered the Alfalight building in full turnout gear to prevent exposure. Crews found the storage cylinders where chemicals are stored, shutting off all valves and preventing any potential leak. The building's ventilation system was used to clear the building of any residual gases leaked from the cylinders.
There were no reported injuries or illness as a result of the incident. All employees were able to return to work in the building following the incident.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO ODOR OF GAS IN CHILI
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20130227/NEWS01/130227014/Hazmat-team-responds-odor-gas-Chili?nclick_check=1
Tags: us_NY, public, release, response, gasoline
The Chili Fire Department responded to a report of an odor of gasoline in the basement of 56 Andony Lane late Wednesday afternoon. Homeowner Mary Vail noticed the odor while babysitting her grandchild.
Chief Don Johnson said about two dozen homes were checked, but only seven or eight homes were affected and no homes were evacuated.
Vail noticed a car parked in the street near the storm drain and believes the car leaked gas. She then called 911.
The Monroe County Hazardous Materials Team was called to the scene. They flushed the sewers with thousands of gallons of water and self-ventilated the affected homes.
It was determined that there were no long-term health hazards. Andony Lane was closed for an hour during the investigation.
---------------------------------------------
FIRE CREWS ON SCENE OF SMALL EXPLOSION IN TEXAS TECH CHEMICAL LAB
http://everythinglubbock.com/fulltext?nxd_id=160792
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, explosion, response, unknown_chemical, radiation
Fire crews responded to a small explosion inside the lab of the Range & Wildlife building on Texas Tech's campus late Wednesday night.
The explosion was called in just before 9:30 p.m. by someone a maintenence man who was going to the building to check on a reported gas leak inside a wall.
Texas Tech spokesman Chris Cook said when the worker walked into the lab where the explsoion happened, he turned on a light switch, heard a noise, turned the lights off and then heard a louder explosion.
When fire crews arrived on scene, they found a small hole behind a refrigerator but no smoke or flames.
Crews used air monitors to detect chemical levels inside the building, which remained high as of 9:45 p.m.
Dispatchers notified command staff on the scene that the building where the explosion happened does have labs with radioactive material. It does not appear any of that material was affected by the minor explosion.
---------------------------------------------
2 FIREFIGHTERS INJURED IN METH LAB BLAZE
http://www.firerescue1.com/Arson-Investigation/articles/1411794-2-firefighters-injured-in-meth-lab-blaze/
Tags: us_OH, public, fire, injury, illegal, meth_lab
CONNEAUT, Ohio Ñ Two Conneaut firefighters were injured battling a Tuesday morning house fire on Marshall Street that may have been started by a methamphetamine-making operation, according to reports.
One firefighter, Fire Station 1 Capt. John Chapin, suffered a possible fractured arm when he slipped on ice while dragging a hose to the blaze, said Assistant Fire Chief Steve Sanford. A second firefighter suffered a minor wrist injury but will not lose any work time, Sanford said.
Meanwhile, two occupants of the house face possible arson charges because the chemicals and products used to make the drug put first-responders Ñ police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians Ñ at risk, said Police Chief Charles Burlingham. State investigators are weighing the felony charges, he said.
---------------------------------------------
COMBUSTIBLE METAL FIRE IN A PARTS DEBURRING MACHINE
http://www.tacomaweekly.com/dailymashup/view/combustible-metal-fire-in-a-parts-deburring-machine/
Tags: us_WA, industrial, fire, response, titanium
At 7:15 a.m. on Feb. 25, Tacoma firefighters from stations 1,2,4,8,11,12, and 17 responded to a commercial structure fire in a aerospace part manufacturing facility at 2024 Puyallup Ave.
The first arriving engine company found smoke showing from the eves of the 52,000 square foot machine shop building. Upon further investigation, crews found a fire had started in a large "parts" deburring machine.
With the combustible metal titanium intensely burning around the machine and in its associated collection hoppers, crews initially managed interior exposures while devising an operationally strategy to attack the blaze.
Since titanium is a water reactive material, so putting water on the fire would have made it worse, crews had to carefully work their way around the machine and fight the fire by using numerous dry chemical and CO2 extinguishers.
---------------------------------------------
Ralph Stuart
secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Secretary
Division of Chemical Health and Safety
American Chemical Society
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