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Table of Contents (11 articles)
OKLAHOMA CITY VA HOSPITAL PARTIALLY EVACUATED DUE TO CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_OK, public, release, response, cleaner
BIRMINGHAM FIRE RESPOND TO CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_AL, industrial, release, injury, chlorine, gas_cylinders
SEARCH COMES UP EMPTY SO FAR FOR MORE SOURCES OF GREENSBORO WATER CONTAMINANT
Tags: us_NC, industrial, discovery, environmental, unknown_chemical
STEADY FIRE DELAYS SEARCH FOR MISSING CHEMICAL PLANT WORKER
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical
BOMBA: HKL ENGINEERING TEAM PREVENTED OXYGEN TANKS FROM BLOWING UP
Tags: Malaysia, public, fire, injury, oxygen
HAZARDOUS GAS LEAK DISRUPTS ORTEGA HIGHWAY LABORATORY
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, release, response, ammonia
OTTAWA Y SHUT DOWN TO HANDLE SPILL THURSDAY
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, pool_chemicals
PRESSURE RELEASE AT WESTLAKE CHEMICAL PART OF ‰??DECOMP‰?? PROCESS
Tags: us_LA, industrial, explosion, response, flammables
WISCONSIN FIREFIGHTERS BURN APARTMENT BUILDING DUE TO VOLATILE CHEMICALS
Tags: us_WI, public, follow-up, environmental, bomb
FIRE IN ILLEGAL CHEMICAL WAREHOUSE LEAVES MANY HOMELESS IN KOLKATA
Tags: India, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
UPDATE: TOXIC AIR, EXPLOSION RISK KEEPS CREWS FROM TEXAS PLANT FIRE ‰?? HOUSTON PUBLIC MEDIA
Tags: us_TX, industrial, explosion, injury, metals, toxics
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OKLAHOMA CITY VA HOSPITAL PARTIALLY EVACUATED DUE TO CHEMICAL SPILL
http://kfor.com/2018/03/18/oklahoma-city-va-hospital-partially-evacuated-due-to-chemical-spill/
Tags: us_OK, public, release, response, cleaner
OKLAHOMA CITY ‰?? The local veterans affairs hospital has been partially evacuated due to a chemical spill.
The Oklahoma City Fire Department responded around 4:45 p.m. on Sunday at the hospital in the 900 block of N.E. 13th Street.
The fire department said a chemical used for cleaning and disinfecting was spilled on the sixth floor of the building, forcing the partial evacuation.
A hazardous materials team was also on scene.
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BIRMINGHAM FIRE RESPOND TO CHEMICAL SPILL
http://www.wbrc.com/story/37750500/birmingham-fire-respond-to-chemical-spill
Tags: us_AL, industrial, release, injury, chlorine, gas_cylinders
BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) -
Birmingham Fire and Rescue responded to the scene of a chemical spill near Bermco Aluminum on Messer Airport Highway Sunday morning.
According to Capt. Harold Watson, employees were changing out a cylinder tank full of chlorine when it spilled over. Two employees suffered minor injuries from inhalation.
Hazmat and decontamination crews responded to the scene for clean-up. The Emergency Management Agency is headed to the scene.
Police have roads blocked and expect roads to be closed for about an hour.
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SEARCH COMES UP EMPTY SO FAR FOR MORE SOURCES OF GREENSBORO WATER CONTAMINANT
http://www.greensboro.com/news/government/search-comes-up-empty-so-far-for-more-sources-of/article_8c5785ab-1852-5167-bb60-94084f6bfb3c.html
Tags: us_NC, industrial, discovery, environmental, unknown_chemical
GREENSBORO ‰?? Efforts by city officials to eliminate or sharply curtail the PFOS contaminant in local drinking water have not followed the traditional pathway taken by many such environmental mysteries.
Unlike many, the local dilemma does not trace back to a single industry with just one or a handful of well-defined release points for a bad-actor chemical that is being spewed carelessly into the environment.
Instead, city officials are seeking multiple sources for a chemical compound with origins that are difficult to pinpoint because PFOS has been so widely deployed for useful purposes that include snuffing out raging fires.
Local investigators remain alert for any industrial emitters of PFOS pollution in the manufacturing zone surrounding Piedmont Triad International Airport, the general area where much of the PFOS contamination seems to originate. But so far, they have come up empty, said Peter Schneider, Greensboro‰??s water quality supervisor, who has done much of the city‰??s PFOS sleuthing.
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STEADY FIRE DELAYS SEARCH FOR MISSING CHEMICAL PLANT WORKER
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/texas/articles/2018-03-17/steady-fire-delays-search-for-missing-chemical-plant-worker
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, unknown_chemical
CRESSON, Texas (AP) ‰?? The search for a man missing since a North Texas chemical plant exploded and caught fire on Thursday has been postponed because of dangerous site conditions.
Cresson Mayor and Assistant Fire Chief Bob Cornett said Saturday that fires are still burning at the 15,000-square-foot (1,400-square-meter) Tri-Chem Industries plant in Cresson.
Cornett says, "They've pulled everybody out. It's just too dangerous."
Cornett identified the missing worker who is presumed dead as 27-year-old Dylan Mitchell.
Two other workers were injured in the explosion. One remained in the hospital Friday in serious condition with severe burns from the waist up. His condition could not be immediately be confirmed on Saturday.
Hood County Fire Marshal Ray Wilson said Saturday that hazardous-material crews are preparing for expected rain, which could aggravate the plant's exposed chemicals.
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BOMBA: HKL ENGINEERING TEAM PREVENTED OXYGEN TANKS FROM BLOWING UP
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/03/17/bomba-hkl-engineering-team-prevented-oxygen-tanks-from-blowing-up/
Tags: Malaysia, public, fire, injury, oxygen
KUALA LUMPUR: The engineering team from Hospital Kuala Lumpur prevented a larger disaster from happening when they removed 163 oxygen tanks from storage close to the room where a fire had broken out.
The 12.20pm fire on Saturday, which was mainly contained to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine storage room where it started, could have been much worse if it had spread to 163 oxygen tanks stored in another room nearby.
City Fire and Rescue Department director Khirudin Drahman said the quick action of the hospital's engineering team to move the tanks and shut off the electricity and the oxygen pipelines avoided a larger disaster.
He added that a short circuit is believed to have sparked off the fire at the storeroom.
"It was fortunate that today is also Saturday so only two people were working in the building ‰?? a technician and a cleaner.
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HAZARDOUS GAS LEAK DISRUPTS ORTEGA HIGHWAY LABORATORY
https://patch.com/california/sanjuancapistrano/hazardous-gas-leak-disrupts-ortega-highway-laboratory
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, release, response, ammonia
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA ‰?? An ammonia leak caused evacuations at an Orange County laboratory and spurred over 50 firefighters and the hazardous materials team to the scene Friday morning, Orange County Fire Authority said.
Though workers did not see or feel the detrimental effects of ammonia poisoning, an internal alarm alerted them of the danger, OCFA Capt. Steve Horner told Patch. The commercial laboratory business, located in the 33000 Block of Ortega Highway, evacuated approximately 150 workers, he said.
"Alarms activated at approximately 9:45 a.m. Friday, alerting employees to leave the building," OCFA Capt. Steve Horner told Patch. When ammonia is present, symptoms can include an onset of lightheaded-ness or burning sensation, as the chemical is very strong in gas form, he said.
The HazMat team, in full protective gear, made entry into the business.
'They located and stopped the ammonia leak, using instrumentation to find and stop the leak. Then, they made sure the building was clear of any other hazards before it was returned back to supervisors.
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OTTAWA Y SHUT DOWN TO HANDLE SPILL THURSDAY
http://www.mywebtimes.com/news/local/ottawa-y-shut-down-to-handle-spill-thursday/article_6d7a746e-ef65-5b1e-8ccb-c4300a88fa36.html
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, pool_chemicals
Ottawa firefighters responded at 1:14 p.m. Thursday to the Ottawa YMCA for a report of a woman coughing from a reaction to a chemical.
The building was evacuated for a chemical spill in the filter room under the pool as firefighters arrived.
YMCA Executive Director Joe Capece said the facility was evacuated for an hour and a half as some spilled pool chemicals blended with water on the floor causing fumes to go through the building.
"Unfortunately it's an incident that occasionally can occur," Capece said. "We don't like to see that, but we got everyone out in a timely fashion."
The fire department was called and tested the acidic/alkaline levels in the building with pH paper.
Capece said firefighters created a wind tunnel in the facility to fan the fumes. The building was ventilated and pH levels returned to normal.
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PRESSURE RELEASE AT WESTLAKE CHEMICAL PART OF ‰??DECOMP‰?? PROCESS
http://www.americanpress.com/news/local/pressure-release-at-westlake-chemical-part-of-decomp-process/article_df66417a-2927-11e8-b288-6f3c43c35a53.html
Tags: us_LA, industrial, explosion, response, flammables
A momentary flash of light filled the sky, and the sound of an explosion carried as far west as Texas on Wednesday, jolting residents awake and sending them scrambling for answers that evening.
The blast came from Westlake Chemical, where pressure had built up in one of the units containing ethylene, a highly flammable gas, company spokesman Joe Andrepont said Thursday.
He said the buildup triggered what‰??s known in the industry as a ‰??decomp‰?? or a controlled pressure release into the atmosphere around 10:15 p.m.
No employees were injured, he said, and no residents were endangered, although many were understandably frightened by the sound and the resulting ‰??fireball‰?? of burning gas.
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WISCONSIN FIREFIGHTERS BURN APARTMENT BUILDING DUE TO VOLATILE CHEMICALS
http://www.firefighternation.com/articles/2018/03/wisconsin-firefighters-burn-apartment-building-due-to-volatile-chemicals.html
Tags: us_WI, public, follow-up, environmental, bomb
BEAVER DAM, Wis. (AP) ‰?? Bomb technicians from the FBI conducting a final sweep of the apartment building where a fatal explosion occurred last week were able to retrieve some important items for tenants who were not allowed to collect personal belongings.
The technicians were sweeping the building for ammunitions and hazardous materials prior to Thursday's controlled burn of the building. Because of the volatility of the chemicals inside the building, residents had to leave behind family heirlooms, important papers, jewelry and other belongings.
The city said Thursday the bomb technicians were able to grab some important property on behalf of the tenants.
Authorities set a controlled fire Thursday to burn the chemicals that could not be removed because of their volatility. The explosion March 5 killed one tenant, 28-year-old Benjamin Morrow, who police believe was making bombs.
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FIRE IN ILLEGAL CHEMICAL WAREHOUSE LEAVES MANY HOMELESS IN KOLKATA
https://www.ndtv.com/kolkata-news/fire-in-illegal-chemical-warehouse-leaves-many-homeless-in-kolkata-1824495
Tags: India, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical
KOLKATA: A massive fire broke out in a chemical warehouse in Kolkata on Thursday, leaving more than 20 families homeless.
The fire, which started at a warehouse where chemicals were allegedly being stored illegally, spread out within minutes to the nearby area where several families were residing. No casualties have been reported in the incident which happened near Strand Road, near Howrah.
20 fire engines rushed to the spot immediately. According to a fire officer, initially it was extremely difficult to control the fire because of the obnoxious smell from the chemical compound was preventing them to enter the core area.
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UPDATE: TOXIC AIR, EXPLOSION RISK KEEPS CREWS FROM TEXAS PLANT FIRE ‰?? HOUSTON PUBLIC MEDIA
https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2018/03/15/273484/two-injured-one-missing-after-chemical-plant-explosion-in-hood-county/
Tags: us_TX, industrial, explosion, injury, metals, toxics
Investigators believe a worker dragging his foot along a factory floor sparked a Thursday explosion at a Texas chemical plant that injured two workers and left a third unaccounted for, and fears of another blast amid the toxic chemicals prevented crews from battling the ensuing blaze, an official said.
Nine emergency-rescue and fire departments responded to the blaze at the Tri-Chem Industries plant in Cresson, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Dallas, but were evacuated from the vicinity because of risk of exposure and of another explosion, Cresson Mayor Bob Cornett told The Associated Press.
The worker who dragged his foot while chemicals were being mixed caught fire from the waist up and was airlifted with critical burn injures to a Dallas hospital. Another worker with less severe injuries also was treated at a hospital. Cornett identified the missing worker as 27-year-old Dillon Mitchell.
Rescuers ‰??haven‰??t even attempted to try to find him. It‰??s too hot,‰?? Cornett said late Thursday, as the fire continued to burn.
Aerial photos showed that the plant‰??s metal beams had caved in, and Cornett said the earliest rescuers could begin searching for Mitchell was Friday morning, after the fire had extinguished itself and heavy excavation equipment could be brought to the site.
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