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From: DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (8 articles)
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2020 08:04:28 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: 356A8586-FDBD-426C-8DCB-36F559BC2C51**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, February 12, 2020 at 8:03:35 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 (8 articles)
FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO HAZMAT SITUATION AT CHEMSTAR IN MCPHERSON
Tags: us_KS, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
PHILLY PROPOSES BAN ON HYDROFLUORIC ACID IN REFINERY USES
Tags: us_PA, industrial, follow-up, response, hydrofluoric_acid
MOM OF PA. STUDENT BURNED IN CLASSROOM CHEMISTRY EXPERIMENT RENEWS QUEST FOR DAMAGES
Tags: us_PA, education, follow-up, injury, methanol
SHUTDOWN ‰?? DANGEROUS NARCOTICS LAB HIDDEN IN SUITES
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, release, response, drugs, illegal
CHEMICAL VAPORS SEND 3 TO HOSPITAL; ONE MAN KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS
Tags: us_GM, education, release, injury, bleach
WESTWEGO CITY COUNCIL DENIES PERMITS FOR CHEMICAL COMPANY PRODUCTION AND STORAGE
Tags: us_LA, industrial, discovery, environmental, flammables
LITHIUM ION BATTERY
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental, batteries
CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD TO REQUIRE ACCIDENT REPORTING
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental
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FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO HAZMAT SITUATION AT CHEMSTAR IN MCPHERSON
https://www.kwch.com/content/news/Firefighters-respond-to-hazmat-situation-at-Chemstar-567782181.html
Tags: us_KS, public, release, response, unknown_chemical
MCPHERSON, Kan. (KWCH) The McPherson Fire Department responded to a hazardous materials situation at Chemstar in McPherson Tuesday evening.
MFD said the crews were in the process of making entry in level-a suits.
McPherson police officers were placed on standby while firefighters responded to the situation.
Police said there is no danger to the public. People have been asked to stay away from the scene.
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PHILLY PROPOSES BAN ON HYDROFLUORIC ACID IN REFINERY USES
https://whyy.org/articles/philadelphia-proposes-banning-hydrofluoric-acid-toxic-chemical-in-refinery-explosion/
Tags: us_PA, industrial, follow-up, response, hydrofluoric_acid
Legislation to ban a deadly chemical from refining operations will be introduced this week in Philadelphia City Council. Hydrofluoric acid, or HF, is one of the most dangerous industrial chemicals in use.
The proposal stems from last summer‰??s explosion at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in South Philadelphia. The shuttered refinery is winding its way through bankruptcy and the future of the site is unclear.
The June 21 explosion released more than 5,000 pounds of the toxic chemical. Although no one was injured, Philadelphia Managing Director Brian Abernathy said the city narrowly escaped a disaster.
‰??We want to make it very clear that should a refinery restart at that location, HF shouldn‰??t be used,‰?? Abernathy said. ‰??No matter what happens at that site, we want it to be safer, we want it to be cleaner, and we want it to be better for public health.‰??
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MOM OF PA. STUDENT BURNED IN CLASSROOM CHEMISTRY EXPERIMENT RENEWS QUEST FOR DAMAGES
https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/02/mom-of-pa-student-burned-in-classroom-chemistry-experiment-renews-quest-for-damages.html
Tags: us_PA, education, follow-up, injury, methanol
SUNBURY ‰?? The mother of a student burned in a liquid methanol demonstration in a Mount Carmel Area High School classroom in 2018 has renewed her attempt to collect damages.
Karen Green of Locust Gap on behalf of her daughter has sued the school district and chemistry teacher Tammy Michaels in Northumberland County court seeking in excess of $50,000 for negligence and infliction of emotional distress.
They were claims U.S. Middle District Judge Matthew W. Brann last April chose not to accept jurisdiction when he dismissed Green‰??s federal suit.
The daughter, identified as M.G., suffered second-degree burns in an Aug. 30, 2018, explosion that caused flaming liquid methanol to spill onto her leg and desk.
In dismissing the suit, Brann ruled Green failed to allege facts that infer the defendants were aware of the risks of the demonstration, noting Michaels had performed it for 23 years without incident.
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SHUTDOWN ‰?? DANGEROUS NARCOTICS LAB HIDDEN IN SUITES
http://www.crimevoice.com/2020/02/10/narcotics-lab/
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, release, response, drugs, illegal
POMONA ‰?? When a property manager alerted Pomona Police Department ‰?? Patrol Division that two leased suites were leaking water into the main building, officers gave quick response. They arrived on-scene on Wednesday, February 5th, 2020 at 2:53 PM, and discovered a large marijuana grow operation.
‰??Dispatch notified the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) who sent members to the location to assess the incident. While there, SIU developed information on the suite next to the primary location which led investigators to believe that a ‰??Honey Oil Lab‰?? was active and related to the marijuana grow,‰?? said Special Investigation Unit (SIU) Sergeant Scott Hess.
SIU notified L.A. County Fire Dept.‰??s HAZMAT Unit, who verified the SIU team‰??s findings. ‰??SIU authored a multi-location search warrant for the violations,‰?? said Sgt. Hess
Search warrants were executed throughout the night, and continued into the wee hours of the morning. The results included a ‰??large marijuana grow operation and a a sophisticated Honey Oil Lab.‰??
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CHEMICAL VAPORS SEND 3 TO HOSPITAL; ONE MAN KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS
https://www.postguam.com/news/local/chemical-vapors-send-to-hospital-one-man-knocked-unconscious/article_78f94602-4bfe-11ea-aa7c-777081fda110.html
Tags: us_GM, education, release, injury, bleach
One man was unconscious and unresponsive, and two of his co-workers were feeling ill after they were overcome by chemical vapors while cleaning at Simon Sanchez High School.
Guam Fire Department's Engine 10 and Medic 10 from the Yigo Fire Station responded to the school and found that workers that were exposed to chemical vapors, said GFD spokesman Firefighter Kevin Reilly stated.
The unconscious man, who is in his 40s, had a pulse and was breathing, Reilly confirmed. The other two patients, women ages 21 and 54, were conscious and alert but stated feeling ill. According to the two women, they were using bleach to sanitize the boys locker room and were overcome by the vapors due to poor ventilation. All three were transported to the Guam Regional Medical City.
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WESTWEGO CITY COUNCIL DENIES PERMITS FOR CHEMICAL COMPANY PRODUCTION AND STORAGE
http://www.louisianaweekly.com/westwego-city-council-denies-permits-for-chemical-company-production-and-storage/
Tags: us_LA, industrial, discovery, environmental, flammables
On January 28, the Westwego city council unexpectedly voted to deny any permits to Wanhua Chemical, a Chinese company hoping to produce and store chemicals for plastics production along the Mississippi River in south Louisiana.
The vote, at a meeting intended as solely a question and answer session, came just days before the release of a new report on benzene emissions from refineries, with EPA data showing levels of fenceline benzene emissions at Chalmette Refinery at more than three times the level deemed safe for public health.
Benzene is a component in the production of MDI, methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, the chemical Wanhua hoped to store and distill in Westwego. It‰??s also released as part of the oil refining process. Long-term exposure to benzene has been shown to increase the risk of cancer, and short-term exposure can weaken immune systems, suppressing white blood cell formation.
At the January 28 meeting, Wanhua U.S. CEO Roberto Do Val told a 150-person audience and the city council that manufacturing MDI was inappropriate for Westwego, but that storing and distilling the chemical was safe. The $500 million Westwego facility would have taken MDI from China and distilled it into a number of component products that go into consumer products like paint, shoe soles, insulation and padding for furniture and automobiles. Do Val called the process ‰??benign.‰??
When council members, the mayor and emergency officials began questioning Do Val, he was unable to provide detailed responses and pledged to work with them over time. Council members were unsatisfied and called for a vote, ending the meeting early with a unanimous decision to deny the company‰??s permits.
Residents and advocates in the audience applauded the decision. ‰??We were overjoyed,‰?? said Anne Rolfes with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. ‰??We were glad to finally see some serious questions asked of a facility. That‰??s all we ask,‰?? she said.
Rolfes characterized parts of Do Val‰??s presentation as ‰??misleading,‰?? specifically when he claimed chemicals in the facility weren‰??t flammable. ‰??That would make you think it can‰??t catch fire, but when the fire chief asked, Do Val later said, ‰??yeah, it burns,‰?? and then he couldn‰??t tell us what it emits when it burns. We need to know what would happen if there was an accident,‰?? she said.
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LITHIUM ION BATTERY
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a30814305/battery-chemical-reactions-fire/
Tags: laboratory, discovery, environmental, batteries
Scientists from the U.S. Army and the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) have used a new ‰??molecular eye‰?? to watch chemical reactions inside a battery in real time for the first time. The eye uses real-time mass spectrometry to examine how the components interact inside a solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI), which is the mechanism that powers most of our batteries.
In a new paper in Nature, the team of government researchers describes using the molecular eye to watch how the electrode and electrolyte interact in a lithium-ion battery. The scientists identified specific phenomena that they say will help engineers make better batteries in the future, but the bigger takeaway is really the observation method.
Scientists are racing to develop more durable, flexible, and stable lithium-ion batteries by changing up the electrode material, the electrolyte material, and basically everything that can be iterated and tested. But without a way to observe what‰??s happening as it‰??s happening, scientists have been operating in a black box environment. They can predict outcomes and measure that against what actually happens, but the fine details of what‰??s going on inside the battery are concealed.
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CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD TO REQUIRE ACCIDENT REPORTING
https://cen.acs.org/safety/industrial-safety/Chemical-Safety-Board-require-accident/98/web/2020/02
Tags: industrial, discovery, environmental
Operators of chemical companies, refineries, and other facilities that experience a significant chemical accident must report the incident to the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board within 8 hours, under a long-delayed regulation issued Feb. 5.
‰??The rule requires prompt reports to the CSB from owners or operators of facilities that experience an accidental release‰?? of a regulated or extremely hazardous substance that results in death, serious injury, or substantial property damage, says CSB Interim Executive Kristen Kulinowski in a statement.
‰??The CSB anticipates that these reports will provide the agency with key information important to the CSB in making prompt deployment decisions,‰?? she says. Although hundreds of accidents a year might qualify for investigation, the agency has the resources to investigate only a few.
Previously, to determine which accidents to pursue, the CSB has relied primarily on media reports and information collected by the National Response Center, a database maintained by the US Coast Guard. After the CSB released its draft reporting rule for public comment, it received feedback from several industry organizations urging the agency to continue to rely on response center information rather than require new reports.
However, the CSB found the response center data to be inadequate. It examined 1,923 incidents that occurred over a 10-year period and met its investigation criteria. CSB found the center identified only 13% of these incidents.
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