Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2010 07:21:45 -0400
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From: Ralph Stuart <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: Chemical Safety headlines from Google

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us_ma: Route 47 in Hadley closed due to HAZMAT incident 
HADLEY, Mass. (WGGB) -- A portion of Route 47 is closed while officials investigate a hazardous material situation. 
Hadley Police tells abc40 and FOX 6 that someone found a bucket of acid in a barn.  This discovery prompted officials to close a quarter-mile stretch of Route 47 between French Street and Mount Warner Road around 4:00 p.m. Thursday. 
No injuries have been reported.  Motorists are advised that that section of roadway will be closed for several hours while State Police bomb squad and HAZMAT technicians investigate.

us_az: New River Meth Lair Goes Up in Flames 
NEW RIVER - Firefighters in New River are battling a hazmat fire at a residence where meth was apparently being produced. 
Daisy Mountain and Phoenix firefighters were sent to a home at 7th St. and Desert Hills on reports of heavy smoke. 
They found giant flames inside when they entered the house. It's not clear if anyone was inside the house when the fire started -- crews have not seen any bodies. 
After the roof collapsed and several explosions occurred, firefighters made entry and found several dangerous and toxic chemicals that are commonly used to manufacture meth.  
Hazmat crews were then called out to help. The many explosions and the rapid acceleration of the fire tipped crews off that it was a hazardous materials fire. 
Daisy Mountain Fire District Captain Phil Dyer says that two firefighters have been sent to the hospital on a precautionary basis with respiratory and heat-related issues.

us_va: Two Hurt In Prince George HazMat Scare 
Two people were taken to the hospital overnight after an ammonia leak at a Food Lion distribution center in Prince George County. 
Units responded to the facility on Route 460 for a hazardous materials incident around 9:45 p.m. Wednesday. The warehouse was evacuated while crews got the leak under control. 
Two people suffered minor injuries and were transported to the hospital. 
The incident was marked under control around 1:15 a.m. No responders were injured during the cleanup. 

Bangladesh: 72 killed in Dhaka fire 
At least 72 people were killed in a devastating fire here in the Bangladesh capital on Thursday night, officials said. The fire broke out in a chemical factory in the old Dhaka city at about 9.20 pm local time. It spread to four or five houses in the congested residential area, trapping hundreds of residents, Xinhua reported. Fire-fighters rushed to the spot and after frantic efforts managed to bring the fire under control. The injured have been admitted at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. According to witnesses, there was an explosion in an electrical transformer, which later caught fire and spread to nearby residential and commercial buildings.72 killed in Dhaka fire- Hindustan Times

Iberia Worker In Jail, Arson Is Alleged 
An Iberia worker is behind bars tonight. His bond is set at $50,000 for allegedly starting a fire that ruined a building and everything in it at Parkway Mechanical. Daniel S. Regan was an employee there for a little more than four years. Owners are calling what happened a bad joke that went the wrong way. 
Parkway Mechanical owner Clint Dore received a call Tuesday afternoon informing him of a chemical explosion. "It was quite frightening. My immediate concern was not about the business, but who got hurt, and I couldn't find out until I got there," said Dore. He was in Lafayette at the time. 
Dore's employee, Daniel S. Regan was arrested and now faces charges of aggravated arson. 
We reported Tuesday, Regan threw a cigarette in what he thought was a drum of water, but it was actually paint thinner. The state fire marshal's investigation reveals Regan allegedly lit the paint thinner in good fun, joking it wouldn't burn. Workers say the explosion was so big it was felt through out the entire facility. "It was a bad judgment call by one of my employees," said Dore. 
The blast destroyed an entire building in the back, which included a forklift, lots of mechanical equipment and more than 500-thousand dollars in damage. The good news is, clean up has already begun. "The business is functional, but we'll be limping along for two weeks before we get everything up and running again," said Dore. One employee was injured trying to put out the fire, everyone else is safe. 
Parkway Mechanical provides radiator and cooler work to company's statewide along the coast.

us_tx: Minor explosion at school was chemical reaction 
DICKINSON =97 A McAdams Junior High School student was accused of bottling a concoction of household cleaners that created an explosion in the school=92s gym Tuesday, sheriff=92s officials said. 
Sheriff=92s deputies monitoring the cafeteria about 2 p.m. heard a loud noise then saw smoke in the gym, Galveston County Sheriff=92s Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo said. 
Christine Cervantes=92 son, an eighth-grader at McAdams, felt the bleachers vibrate when the bottle exploded and said the noise was similar to a gunshot, she said. 
Deputies found a plastic bottle filled with household cleaners and aluminum foil. 
One of the substances was toilet cleaning fluid, Dickinson spokeswoman Tammy Dowdy said. 

us_ma: Concerns over Framingham chemical facility resurface 
There=92s a familiar ring to recent complaints about the General Chemical Corp. on the south side of Framingham. For years, townspeople and officials have sounded alarms about the hazardous-waste facility. 
=93If you look at Board of Health records into the 1980s, there have been discussions about General Chemical,=92=92 said the board=92s director, Ethan Mascoop. =93You see it popping up. Spills, even explosions.=92=92 
Pollution at General Chemical=92s site on Leland Street probably dates to the 1920s, when Gulf Oil built a gasoline terminal on the property, officials said. But government didn=92t keep extensive environmental records at the time. The company=92s facility and the neighborhood=92s homes almost certainly wouldn=92t be allowed to be built so close to each other nowadays, they added. 
=93This is the story of a grandfathered facility in a neighborhood where, if you wanted to site the facil ity today, you wouldn=92t pick this area,=92=92 said Steven DeGabriele, director of the state Department of Environmental Protection=92s Business Compliance Division. =93You probably wouldn=92t site a school or residence in that location.=92=92 
The latest scare involving the company stems from the heavy rains that drenched the region in March and April. The downpours flooded the basement of Carrie Lyn Woodsum, who lives next to the company=92s plant.

us_ny: White Plains Fuel Leak Found, Stopped 
A government spokeswoman says police and hazmat workers have found and stanched a fuel oil leak that fouled the Bronx River. 
White Plains spokeswoman Antoinette Biordi says the leak was traced to 235 South Lexington Ave., a downtown office building. 
She said Wednesday that workers were able to stop the leak. She had no further details. 
Officials have estimated the leak at hundreds of gallons. It was discovered Wednesday morning. Officials said it leached into the Bronx River through storm sewers and spread about two miles downriver. 
The smell of oil filled the air along the Bronx River Parkway, a major commuter route, at the end of the morning rush hour. Workers extended booms into the river to trap the spill and used vacuum pumps to siphon it off.

us_il: SIU student rushed to hospital after chemical fire 
CARBONDALE, IL (KFVS) - A Southern Illinois University student was taken to the hospital Wednesday afternoon after a fire broke out in a campus lab room, according to SIU spokesman Rod Sievers. 
Sievers said the fire occurred in lab room 102 of the Neckers Building, which houses SIU's College of Science, shortly after 1 p.m.  The fire somehow sparked as the student was cleaning parts for a pump with Hexanes, an extremely flammable chemical solvent prone to causing flash fires.  It can be harmful or fatal if swallowed, or harmful if inhaled. 
The student, whose name was not released, was taken to the hospital for precautionary measures.  He suffered no major injuries. 
Sievers said the fire was contained to the lab room, which suffered heavy damage.  The building was evacuated as a precaution, and the gas was shut off. 
No one else was hurt.




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