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From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (14 articles)
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2015 08:03:22 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: A8E4FE37-B509-4DD4-BE99-0802E9D48821**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, April 13, 2015 at 8:03:04 AM
A membership benefit of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas
Table of Contents (14 articles)
FIRE BREAKS OUT AT CHEMICAL GODOWN IN HYDERABAD
Tags: India, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
ONE AFTER THE OTHER: SIX MEN FALL TO THEIR DEATHS IN CHEMICAL TANK
Tags: Pakistan, industrial, deaths, response, unknown_chemical
MUFFLED BANG MARKS BEGINNING OF SHELL DESTRUCTION AT PUEBLO CHEMICAL DEPOT
Tags: us_co, industrial, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
TRUCK CARRYING TOXIC, FLAMMABLE CHEMICAL HIJACKED IN MEXICO
Tags: Mexico, transportation, discovery, response, illegal, paraformaldehyde
CHARGES AGAINST DENVER TEACHER DISMISSED
Tags: us_co, laboratory, follow-up, flammables
HASH LAB EXPLOSION IN MCKINLEYVILLE LEADS TO ARREST
Tags: us_ca, public, explosion, response, drugs
PROPANE TANK CONTAINING AMMONIA TRIGGERS SANDWICH HAZMAT RESPONSE
Tags: us_MA, public, discovery, response, ammonia, propane
SOUTH CAROLINA TRAIN DERAILS, SPILLS AMMONIUM NITRATE
Tags: us_SC, transportation, release, response, ammonia, ammonium_nitrate
OFFICIALS OK OHIO TOWNSHIP‰??S WATER AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_OH, public, release, environmental, petroleum
CREWS RESPOND TO HAZMAT SITUATION AT HOTEL ON JEFFERSON ROAD
Tags: us_NY, public, release, response, chlorine
HAZMAT SITUATION AT WATER PLANT IS BEING CLEARED
Tags: us_TX, industrial, release, response, water_treatment
LESSONS LEARNED FROM RECENT PROCESS SAFETY INCIDENTS
Tags: industrial, follow-up, environmental
MICHIGAN'S METH INCIDENTS SURGE TO ALL-TIME HIGH
Tags: us_MI, public, follow-up, environmental, meth_lab
HAZMAT LEVEL 3 TEAM CALLED TO UBC FOR 'ROUTINE' EMERGENCY
Tags: Canada, laboratory, release, injury, methanol, nitric_acid
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FIRE BREAKS OUT AT CHEMICAL GODOWN IN HYDERABAD
Tags: India, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
A major fire broke out at a factory in Jeedimetla on Sunday morning resulting in loss of property worth lakhs of rupees. The fire personnel doused the flames fighting for over five hours.
According to M. A. Shareef, fire officer at Sanathnagar fire station, the fire broke out at Cimteche Systems Private Limited Company located at the Industrial Area Jeedimetla. Three fire tenders from Sanathnagar, Jeedimetla and Kukatpally rushed to the spot.
Huge flames continued to erupt from the factory for about two hours even as fire personnel battled the blaze. ‰??It is not exactly known what chemicals were stored in the barrels kept inside the factory, but the barrels exploded for around an hour creating panic in the area,‰?? Mr. Shareef said.
Noticing the intensity of the blaze more fire tenders from Moula Ali and Secunderabad fire stations were pressed into service. Finally at around 3 p.m. the fire personnel could control the fire. The cause and extent of the damage in being ascertained, fire officials maintained.
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ONE AFTER THE OTHER: SIX MEN FALL TO THEIR DEATHS IN CHEMICAL TANK
Tags: Pakistan, industrial, deaths, response, unknown_chemical
KARACHI:
The bodies of at least six men were found from inside an underground chemical tank at a pickle factory in Korangi Industrial Area on Sunday.
When one of the factory workers came to work, he realised what had happened. His screams attracted the attention of the neighbours who called the police helpline 15 and told them that several bodies are lying in the underground tank.
Rescuers from different welfare associations also reached the site along with the law enforcers and retrieved the bodies. ‰??Some parts of the bodies had turned black and blue because of the chemical reaction,‰?? said Asif Khan, one of the rescue workers. ‰??Some kind of foam was also coming out of their mouths.‰??
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MUFFLED BANG MARKS BEGINNING OF SHELL DESTRUCTION AT PUEBLO CHEMICAL DEPOT
Tags: us_co, industrial, discovery, environmental, other_chemical
PUEBLO - The beginning of the end came with a heavily muffled bang.
"It's more a whumph," said Pueblo Chemical Depot worker Jonathan Miller, who helped set off the explosive charge last week to destroy the first three shells of what will be a multiyear effort to rid Colorado of nearly 800,000 mustard gas rounds.
The lack of a big bang, though, didn't disappoint. Workers say after years of delays they're happy the end of the Cold War-era chemical weapon stockpile is underway.
"We're working ourselves out of a job," depot worker George Roberts said with a smile.
The mustard gas is banned by a 1993 chemical weapons treaty signed by the U.S. and 64 other countries. A deadline to the destroy the weapons was set for 2007 and extended to 2012 as the Pueblo shells sat in bunkers during years of wrangling over their fate.
Depot leaders now say the end is finally at hand.
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TRUCK CARRYING TOXIC, FLAMMABLE CHEMICAL HIJACKED IN MEXICO
Tags: Mexico, transportation, discovery, response, illegal, paraformaldehyde
PUEBLA, Mexico: Armed men hijacked a truck with a trailer filled with a toxic, highly flammable chemical in central Mexico, officials said Sunday.
The hijackers "may not have the least idea what they have," said a source with the public security office in the state of Puebla.
Local media reported that the truck was carrying 20 tonnes of paraformaldehyde, a chemical used to make resins for textiles and furniture, when it was hijacked late Friday in the municipality of Cuautlancingo.
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CHARGES AGAINST DENVER TEACHER DISMISSED
Tags: us_co, laboratory, follow-up, flammables
Last fall, a Denver teacher, Daniel Powell, was charged with four counts of misdemeanor assault after a classroom fire seriously burned a student. Powell had lit a small pool of methanol to demonstrate its flame properties, then tried to add more methanol from a 4 L container, Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board investigators said in September. The fire flashed back into the container, then jetted out to hit the student in the chest. Other students sitting nearby were also injured.
The charges against Powell have been dropped, says Lynn Kimbrough, communications director for the Denver District Attorney‰??s Office. ‰??As the case moved forward, further review of the facts led the prosecutor to the conclusion that we did not a reasonable likelihood of conviction ‰?? and once that conclusion was reached we had an ethical obligation to dismiss the case,‰?? Kimbrough says.
A search for either the school‰??s or teacher‰??s names does not find any civil filings in state courts, says Rob McCallum, a public information officer for the Colorado Judicial Department.
---------------------------------------------
HASH LAB EXPLOSION IN MCKINLEYVILLE LEADS TO ARREST
Tags: us_ca, public, explosion, response, drugs
The dangers of hash labs were on full, fiery display Saturday afternoon in McKinleyville.
An explosion and subsequent structure fire led to the arrest of a man on suspicion of felony child endangerment and possession of clandestine narcotic equipment.
Christopher Newcomb, 25, was arrested after an explosion in an apparent hash lab inside a garage started a fire and drew the Humboldt County Sheriff‰??s Office and the Arcata Fire District to the residence on the 2200 block of Terrace Lane.
Six people were reported to be in the residence at the time of the explosion, but all sustained nothing more than minor burns.
During a warranted search of the residence by the Humboldt County Drug Task Force, agents located and seized approximately 109 pounds of marijuana, concentrated cannabis, 12 tubes used in the hash extraction process, a vacuum dehumidifier, a handgun, a shotgun, a rifle and U.S. Currency, according to a Humboldt County Sheriff‰??s Office press release.
Agents also observed hundreds of empty canisters of butane inside and outside the residence.
Humboldt County Sheriff‰??s Office Lieutenant George Cavinta said hash labs are ‰??very common‰?? in Humboldt County and can be as dangerous as meth labs.
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PROPANE TANK CONTAINING AMMONIA TRIGGERS SANDWICH HAZMAT RESPONSE
Tags: us_MA, public, discovery, response, ammonia, propane
SANDWICH, Mass. ‰??A hazmat team responded to a Sandwich hardware store Saturday morning for reports of a propane tank containing ammonia.
Sandwich firefighters also responded to Anchor Hardware at 267 Cotuit Road at around 10:30 a.m.
A hazmat team was requested to the scene shortly after for reports of a propane bottle containing ammonia inside the store.
More propane tanks were found in Sandwich Sunday at different locations, according to fire officials.
Firefighters, a hazmat team and Massachusetts State Police responded to those locations.
Sandwich police said part of the area near the hardware store had been evacuated for safety while crews work to remove the hazardous canister.
---------------------------------------------
SOUTH CAROLINA TRAIN DERAILS, SPILLS AMMONIUM NITRATE
Tags: us_SC, transportation, release, response, ammonia, ammonium_nitrate
An evacuation order has been lifted for all but four homes following a 39-car train derailment in rural South Carolina on Friday night, officials said.
Derrick Becker, public information officer for the South Carolina Emergency Management Division, said no one was injured following the crash, which happened at 8:30 p.m. Friday in Trenton, but precautionary evacuations were made after officials confirmed one of the Norfolk Southern tankers was carrying anhydrous ammonia and one was carrying ammonium nitrate, according to Becker.
In total, 15 cars derailed and ammonium nitrate has spilled, according to the South Carolina Emergency Management Division's Twitter account. No harmful spills were detected by Aiken County Hazmat officials who responded to the scene, Becker said.
---------------------------------------------
OFFICIALS OK OHIO TOWNSHIP‰??S WATER AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_OH, public, release, environmental, petroleum
WARREN, OHIO: State officials say the water in a northeast Ohio township is safe to drink after a chemical spill at an injection well facility left residents relying on bottled water for a week.
State Rep. Sean O‰??Brien says the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has assured him that tests on the water in Vienna Township indicate there‰??s no contamination from last week‰??s chemical spill.
Officials had been testing the water after residents last week reported dead animals near a local pond and a sheen on the water‰??s surface. The Warren Tribune Chronicle reports many relied on bottled water for a week while awaiting test results.
Inspectors traced the spill to a Kleese Development Associates facility, which operates five saltwater injection wells. The facility was ordered last week to cease operations.
---------------------------------------------
CREWS RESPOND TO HAZMAT SITUATION AT HOTEL ON JEFFERSON ROAD
Tags: us_NY, public, release, response, chlorine
Firefighters and emergency personnel were on the scene of a HAZMAT situation at a hotel on Jefferson Road Friday afternoon.
We're told six people were transported to the hospital as a precaution. The Monroe County fire coordinator says quick work on the part of firefighters helped minimize what could have been a serious situation.
We're told around 1 p.m. a worker accidentally mixed some cleaning liquids with chlorine and it off-gassed and created a vapor cloud in an area of the hotel as well as a strong odor. The worker moved the liquids, covered them, and then ran from the building.
We're told these were ordinary cleaning products, but when mixed with chlorine became dangerous. The Henrietta Fire District responded and evacuated workers and guests.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT SITUATION AT WATER PLANT IS BEING CLEARED
Tags: us_TX, industrial, release, response, water_treatment
The city of Weslaco made an agreement with the chemical manufacturer to remove the chemical mixture. That truck will arrive Friday evening or Saturday to remove the chemical mixture from the tank. Once they remove the chemical mixture, the tank will be cleaned and the original chemical replaced.
No chemical or gases escaped from the tank, so there was no danger to the staff or public.
Salinas said they erred on the side of caution and put their emergency response plan in place. He said the plan was successful. The fire department was contacted and the staff evacuated.
---------------------------------------------
LESSONS LEARNED FROM RECENT PROCESS SAFETY INCIDENTS
Tags: industrial, follow-up, environmental
These five incidents demonstrate how seemingly small mistakes or temporary lapses in judgment can result in disaster.
Failures of process safety management (PSM) systems are deadly and costly. Major accidents have emphasized the need for process safety within the chemical and petrochemical industries. For example, the founding of the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) was a response by industry to the methyl isocyanate release at Bhopal, India, in 1984 that killed over 2,000 people and injured tens of thousands. A fire and explosion at a PEMEX LPG terminal in Mexico City, also in 1984, killed more than 600 people and injured around 7,000.
Major environmental damage has also been caused by process safety incidents. The firefighting efforts during a fire in a Sandoz warehouse in Basel, Switzerland, in 1986 caused the release of many different chemicals, including pesticides, because responders failed to contain the water runoff. The release caused massive destruction to aquatic life in the Rhine River as far as 250 miles away; fishing was banned for six months. The environmental consequences of the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 and the Deepwater Horizon incident in 2010 have been well-documented.
Engineers and students can obtain safety incident reports from several sources. One useful source is the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB). The CSB is a government agency charged with investigating chemical accidents at industrial facilities. The reports of their investigations are available for download from the CSB website (www.csb.gov). Additionally, the CSB has created a series of videos about many process safety incidents.
The CCPS book Incidents that Define Process Safety (I) discusses many more events. The book also describes events from industries other than chemicals and petrochemicals, demonstrating that many PSM concepts are universal in their relevance to safe operations.
---------------------------------------------
MICHIGAN'S METH INCIDENTS SURGE TO ALL-TIME HIGH
Tags: us_MI, public, follow-up, environmental, meth_lab
LANSING ‰?? When Tim Haney saw yellow police barrier tape surrounding a building in downtown Charlotte two years ago, he joked to himself that a methamphetamine lab must have gone bad.
It only took a few minutes for this former addict ‰?? now 11 years clean ‰?? to find out that a real meth lab had exploded and caused thousands of dollars worth of damage near City Hall and the Fire Department.
"You know there are addicts," said Haney, a 47-year-old married father of two. "But I just had no idea that something going on here was on the same level as bigger cities."
Since 2013, Michigan police officers have found more than 1,500 meth labs and dump sites for lab equipment and the dangerous chemical byproducts that come from producing the highly addictive stimulant.
The number last year, 861, was a record and adds to the Great Lakes State's reputation as one of the fastest growing areas for production and distribution of the drug.
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HAZMAT LEVEL 3 TEAM CALLED TO UBC FOR 'ROUTINE' EMERGENCY
Tags: Canada, laboratory, release, injury, methanol, nitric_acid
Vancouver Fire and Rescue's highest level hazmat team was called to UBC Thursday afternoon after ingredients mixed in a test tube shattered and a small cloud of vapour was released into the air.
The incident happened in a classroom in the 2300 block of East Mall Road.
Spokesman Brian Hutchinson said the fire department deals with this type of situation on a regular basis ‰??when chemicals are mixed in labs. In this case, he said it's believed nitric acid was mixed with methanol.
One patient was transported to hospital in a routine manner, Hutchinson said, meaning without lights and sirens.
The building was temporarily cleared, but no one was evacuated.
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