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From: DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (9 articles)
Date: Wed, 16 May 2018 08:13:56 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
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POLICE: METHUEN MAN INJURED WHILE TRYING TO BLOW UP AN OLD BUS
METHUEN, Mass. (AP) ‰?? A man has been injured by what police call a ‰??fireball‰?? while trying to blow up an old vehicle in Massachusetts.
NBC 10 Boston reports the explosion happened shortly after 5 p.m. when an unidentified man tried to blow up an old bus on his property in Methuen.
Police say a ‰??fireball‰?? erupted from the vehicle. A bomb squad and hazmat team searched the area for the man, and found him with burns to his face and head. He was transported to an area hospital. The severity of his injuries is unknown.
State police are investigating why the man tried to blow up the bus.
us_MA public explosion injury unknown_chemical
CHLORINE LEAK CONFINED TO BUILDING
North Bay Fire personnel responded to a report of a chlorine leak at the sewage treatment plant on Memorial Drive at just after 9 am Monday.
Upon arrival, firefighters learned that internal sensors in the plant revealed that a small amount of chlorine was present and confined within the structure.
External monitoring revealed that there was no chlorine in the external atmosphere.
Fire personnel donned Level A protection HazMat suits, entered the structure and successfully isolated the chlorine to stop the leak.
Canada industrial release response chlorine
CARBON MONOXIDE LEAK EVACUATES SENIOR HOUSING COMPLEX
MONSEY - A wing in a senior living complex in Monsey had to be evacuated Tuesday night after a carbon monoxide leak.
Fire officials say it happened just before 8 p.m. at the Fountainview Nursing Home on College Road.
Multiple fire departments and the Rockland County hazmat team arrived on the scene to inspect the damage and residents. No one had dangerous levels of carbon monoxide in their system.
Fire officials believe they have tracked the source of the leak to a super heater for the dish washing system and were working to restart the unit to make sure the problem is solved.
us_NY public release response carbon_monoxide
REPORT: WELDING TORCH CAUSED 2017 EGLIN FIRE
EGLIN AFB ‰?? An explosion and fire at the McKinley Climatic Laboratory on July 5, 2017, that released toxic methylene chloride started when an oxy-acetylene torch was used near coils containing the refrigerant chemical, according to a recently released Air Force report.
A Friday news release from the Air Force Materiel Command‰??s public affairs office announcing the availability of the report said a private subcontractor‰??s welder was using the torch to remove a corroded steel beam near the coils containing the chemical, commonly known as R-30.
‰??Although stable at room temperature and pressure, R-30 can rupture or explode when exposed to heat,‰?? the Materiel Command noted in its news release on the Air Force Ground Accident Investigation Board report.
Methylene chloride is a carcinogen.
According to a one-page executive summary of the report, the corroded beam was within 3 inches of the methylene chloride coils in an air-mixing facility at the laboratory. The summary notes that a number of other flammable materials, including insulation adhesives, sealants and coatings, were located within 5 to 10 feet of the oxy-acetylene torch worksite.
us_FL laboratory follow-up environmental acetylene methylene_chloride
INVESTIGATORS CALL CHEMICAL FIRE AT SCHOOL AN ACCIDENT
HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) - The chemical fire at Merrol Hyde Magnet School was an accident, according to the Hendersonville Fire Department.
Fire Chief Scotty Bush released the findings from the city fire marshal, saying what caused the fire was not the result of any criminal act.
Six days ago, a chemistry lab experiment went awry when someone mixed boric acid and alcohol. Something was used to ignite the mixture, causing a flash fire lasting 3 - 5 seconds.
The fire injured 17 students and a teacher, and forced the evacuation of the entire school.
In a news release Chief Bush declared the official cause of ignition unintentional:
As we all know, anytime we deal with chemicals in any setting, accidents occur whether at home, school, business, factory or any other setting. Our department will be meeting with [School Director] Dr. Del Phillips and his staff to review current policies and procedures.
Related: Chemistry safety experts warn schools to stop unsafe science demonstrations
What happened at Merrol Hyde Magnet School was not a surprise to chemical safety experts across the country. They have been warning schools about unsafe lab demonstrations for years.
There have been 32 similar incidents at school labs across the country over the last 20 years.
The American Chemical Society and the National Science Teachers Association are among several agencies telling schools that teachers need more training before they do chemical demonstrations in class, and they should use alternatives to alcohol- based flame tests or at least use safety equipment like fume hoods to safeguard students and teachers.
us_TN laboratory follow-up injury other_chemical
2 INJURED IN CHEMICAL FIRE AT MONROE LAB
MONROE, Conn. (WTNH) - Two workers were injured after a chemical fire broke out at a Monroe laboratory on Monday afternoon.
According to fire crews, around 2:20 p.m., officials were called to Axel Plastics Research Laboratories, Inc. at 50 Cambridge Drive following a report of a fire in the building.
Officials say a chemical fire broke out but was extinguished before the fire department arrived.
Crews say two employees suffered injuries and were transported to a local hospital.
There has been no word on their condition.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
us_CT laboratory fire injury plastics
ALL CLEAR GIVEN AFTER PIPELINE LEAK CREATES CHEMICAL FOG IN ST. MARY PARISH
A tractor collision Monday morning resulted in a chemical pipeline leak that produced a dangerous vapor cloud over the Baldwin-Franklin area.
The collision occurred in a field in the vicinity of Yokley Road. About 45 residents in the area were evacuated, according to the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office and State Police.
Emergency crews closed a valve in the pipeline and an all clear was given shortly before noon, allowing evacuees to return to their homes.
The plume, which contained a mixture of propane and butane, was gone when the all clear was given, and there was no remaining risk to public health, said Traci Landry, spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Office.
"We got everybody out pretty quickly. (We) started going door to door immediately," Landry said.
The leak did not result in any injuries or hospitalizations, she said.
us_LA transportation release response butane propane
EPA, DOD TRIED TO CURB FOAM CHEMICAL CONCERNS, EMAILS SHOW
Newly released emails appear to show EPA, DOD, and White House officials putting the clamps on PFAS safety limits lower than what the EPA has set forth.
In May 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency dropped a bombshell, setting new recommended limits for perfluorinated chemicals, also known as PFAS, in drinking water. The new safety level was as much as eight times lower than the amount considered safe just the day before.
The change meant millions of Americans were then drinking water with unsafe amounts of the chemicals, including tens of thousands of Bucks and Montgomery County residents. Local water authorities immediately closed public drinking water supply wells impacted by the chemicals, adding to those already closed two years prior based on the old limits.
But new emails obtained by the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists, along with reporting from specialty news publication InsideEPA, show the concern about how much of the chemicals can be safely consumed didn‰??t stop there. Instead, they show the EPA took part in an apparent effort earlier this year, along with the White House and Department of Defense, to stop another federal agency from releasing health limits far lower than what the EPA used in May 2016. The agency in question is the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, or ATSDR.
‰??The public, media, and Congressional reaction to these new numbers is going to be huge,‰?? one email stated. ‰??We (DoD and EPA) cannot get ATSDR to realize the potential public relations nightmare this is going to be.‰??
us_PA public discovery environmental other_chemical
FEDERAL PLAN OUTLINES EASTMAN'S WORST CASE SCENARIOS
KINGSPORT, TN (WJHL) - A Risk Management Plan filed with the Environmental Protection Agency outlines Eastman Chemical Company's worst-case scenarios for the community. While those scenarios could impact the health of people who live or work near Eastman, the company's top safety experts say the worst case does not mean there would be fatalities.
"There would be people who would (feel the) effects offsite. Illness. Odor," Eastman Chemical Company Process Safety Expert and Risk Management Plan author Pete Lodal said. "People could get sick."
Eastman, like every other company that uses extremely hazardous chemicals, is required to file a Risk Management Plan with the EPA every five years. The plan's goal is to keep the community safe. Of the thousands of similar companies that have filed Risk Management Plans, Eastman's safety experts said not a single one has experienced anything close to a worst-case scenario.
Eastman's toxic worst case scenario involves the release of anhydrous ammonia, according to the plan. The chemical can irritate the eyes and throat and can be fatal in large concentrations, according to federal records. The worst-case scenario assumes all of the company's multiple safety layers fail, the largest containers disintegrate, chemicals fully release into the air within 10 minutes and the wind blows 360 degrees.
us_TN industrial discovery environmental ammonia
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