About This Archive  | DCHAS-L 2009 Index   | DCHAS-L Yearly Index
person wearing a disposable face shield and surgical style mask

Check out Safety Emporium for your N95, N99, and face shield needs.

Previous by Date:
Subject: EPA Recognizes Organizations for Improving Chemical Safety in
Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:22:50 -0400
Author: List Moderator 		Next by Date:
Subject: Re: Lab Incident: Lab explosion in Montana
Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:07:37 -0400
Author: List Moderator


Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:35:51 -0400
Reply-To: List Moderator <ecgrants**At_Symbol_Here**UVM.EDU>
Sender: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
From: List Moderator <ecgrants**At_Symbol_Here**UVM.EDU>
Subject: Chemical Incident: HAZMAT teams called to MCC Mercury spill, Texas

HAZMAT teams called to MCC Mercury spill

Posted: Oct 22, 2009 3:44 PM EDT 

WACO - Emergency Crews rushed to the Science building on the McLennan
Community College Campus just after 2:30 p.m. Thursday after Mercury was
spilled in the doorway.

Asst. Fire Chief Patrick Kerwin reported 10 pounds of Mercury spilled
onto the concrete; firefighters cordoned off the area while they
formulated a plan to clean up the mess.

According to Kerwin, the spill does not pose a major threat to the
campus; classes are being held as usual.

MCC staff members were moving the Mercury on a rolling cart when the
container fell to the ground and shattered.

*********
Go to the story on-line for some pictures:
http://www.kxxv .com/Global/story.asp?S=11367300


===
< font class="Apple-style-span" face="monospace">
http://www.kwtx. com/home/headlines/65619572.html
    
Waco HAZMAT Team Responds To Chemical Spill At MCC

WACO (October 22, 2009)=97The Waco Fire Department=92s HAZMAT team responded to a mercury spill Thursday afternoon in front of the new science building on the McLennan Community College campus.

An area in front of the building was taped off, but no evacuations were ordered.


A crew will remain on standby until an environmental cleanup team hired by the school arrives to contain and remove the mercury.

An MCC lab technician was using a cart to move about 10 pounds of mercury into the new building when the container spilled just outside the door at around 2 p.m. Thursday.

Waco Assistant Fire Chief Patrick Kerwin said because the temperature is relatively cool and the mercury is so heavy, there=92s no concern about vapors.

Mercury vaporizes at 70 degrees, officials said.

The temperature on campus when firefighters arrived was 65.

It=92s the team=92s second response to a campus chemical spill in a little more than a week.

On Oct. 13, Baylor University=92s three-story science building was evacuated after a graduate student spilled a small quantity of isobutyl cyanide, which is toxic and potentially dangerous if ingested, inhaled or absorbed through the skin.

The female graduate student was removing vials of the chemical from a packing case when one of the vials fell to the floor.

The student, whose name wasn=92t released, placed the vial under a containment hood.

Only about 1 milliliter of the substance was spilled, a university spokeswoman said.

That=92s less than a teaspoonful, but enough to be dangerous.

Previous post   |  Top of Page   |   Next post


The content of this page reflects the personal opinion(s) of the author(s) only, not the American Chemical Society, ILPI, Safety Emporium, or any other party. Use of any information on this page is at the reader's own risk. Unauthorized reproduction of these materials is prohibited. Send questions/comments about the archive to secretary@dchas.org.
The maintenance and hosting of the DCHAS-L archive is provided through the generous support of Safety Emporium.