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Elgin-area emergency crews responded to reports of two
separate potential hazardous material spills Wednesday, one prompting
the temporary closure of Duncan Avenue and the Fox River Trail bike path
north of the city.
Elgin spokeswoman Susan Olafson said authorities
received a call around 12:45 p.m. that a 55-gallon steel drum was
leaking an unknown fluid near Duncan Avenue a mile north of
I-90.
The Kane County Office of Emergency Management and
Elgin Fire Department were called to the scene, as well as crews from
Carpentersville, East Dundee, South Elgin and Hanover
Park.
It was unknown as of Wednesday evening what kind of
material had leaked. East Dundee Fire Department officials said the
spill was contained to the ground around the drum, and did not pose any
danger to the public.
In a written release, East Dundee Fire Lt. Jason
Parthun stated officials determined that no chemicals reached the nearby
Fox River or any other adjacent waterway.
The drum
was removed, he said, and the area was cleaned up by a chemical
remediation company.
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Graham firefighters and Central Pierce Fire &
Rescue HAZMAT technicians responded to an odor complaint in South Hill
Wednesday night.
A caller around 8:25 p.m. reported a gas smell on the
8600 block of 165th Street Ct. E, according to scanner chatter.
Responding crews traced the smell to a shed in the backyard of a
residence, according to Battalion Chief Daniel Hannah. Liquid fertilizer
had escaped from its container and mixed with other yard chemicals in
the shed.
The HAZMAT team disposed of the chemicals. There were
no injuries or property damages.
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HAZMAT SITUATION AT GAS
STATION CLOSES 701; REOPENS | SCNOW, http://www2.scnow.com/scp/news/local/gr
and_strand/article/hazmat_situation_outside_of_loris/215459/
CONWAY -
Highway Patrol tells News13 a log truck left unattended rolled into a
gas pump causing gas to spill at Gerald=92s Convenience Store on Highway
701.
The road was closed for a
few hours, but has since been reopened.
Hazmat crews were on scene to clean up the
mess.
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MADISON COUNTY - A potentially hazardous chemical
spill near Archer has hazmat teams on alert.
Around 4
p.m. Wednesday afternoon, police responded to a home on 2000 West. They
were there on a complaint the owner had too many broken down cars on his
property. They found something that may be much more
dangerous.
"It's a very large area of 5-gallon buckets, different
storage containers containing chemicals in different states of leeching
out of buckets [that are] rusting," said Captain Travis Williams of the
Madison County Sheriff's Office.
The homeowner, Max Spatig,
says the chemicals are just ordinary household paints and primers,
nothing hazardous about them.
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Neighbours are in shock after explosives were allegedly found
in a police raid on an illegal drug laboratory in Sydney=92s north-west
today.
Officers from the Middle Eastern crime squad stormed a
house in Bidgee Road, Ryde, about 6am and arrested a 33-year-old man and
a 32-year-old woman.
Explosive devices were removed from the house by the
Bomb Squad and Hazmat crews were called in to dismantle the lab, police
said.
Nearby residents have been evacuated and traffic has
been diverted as the area is blocked off.
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PENSACOLA
BEACH, Florida -- When Ryan Heffernan, a volunteer with Emerald
Coastkeeper, noticed a bag of oily debris floating off in Santa Rosa
Sound, she ran up to BP's HazMat-trained workers to ask if they would
retrieve it.
"No, ma'am," one replied politely. "We can't go in the
ocean. It's contaminated."
Ryan waded in and retrieved the bag. That was
Wednesday, June 23, the first day visible oil hit Pensacola Beach. Ryan
had been swimming off the beach the day before, as she said, "to get in
my last swim before the oil hit." The trouble is that not all of the oil
coming ashore is visible. Dispersed oil - tiny bubbles of oil encased in
chemical dispersants - are in the water column. On Thursday Ryan was
treated at a local doctor's office for skin rash on her
legs.
Three days later on Pensacola Beach, I watched BP's
HazMat-trained workers shovel surface oiled sand and oily debris into
bags early in the morning. The workers followed the waterline like
shorebirds, scurrying up the beach in front of breaking waves and moving
back down with receding waters.
The late morning sun retired
the workers to the shade of their tents and the job of "observing,"
while it brought out throngs of beach-goers -- children, parents,
grandparents -- who happily plunged into the "contaminated" ocean
without a second thought.
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The toxic-levels of ammonia gas inside the mobile home
owned and occupied by Betty Johnson is reportedly the result of animal
urine and feces, according to a certified Hazmat technician and an
investigator with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and
Forestry.
The
dwelling located at 1664 Fuller Rd. in Minden, which has been labeled a
health hazard, has landed its owner in the hospital for ammonia
inhalation. Her neighbors who own the land, Johnson=92s daughter and
son-in-law have been charged with not having visible rabies tags on
their dogs as mandated by law, and cruelty to animals.
Issues at
Johnson=92s home stem back to approximately 11 p.m. June 6, when
Pafford EMTs were dispatched to the residence on a medical
call.
=93I was directed to respond to a call, where an EMT
had fallen out inside a residence due to ammonia,=94 Hazmat Technician
Deputy Don Willis said while being questioned by the jury=92s legal
counsel during a public hearing conducted by the Webster Parish Police
Jury Tuesday.
=93The
ammonia gas at the home took my breath away,=94 Willis said.
Willis
added that after opening the back door of the home, he estimates 10 to
15 cats ran out.
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A FIREFIGHTER was airlifted to hospital yesterday
after part of a shed collapsed on him as he tackled a chemical fire at a
golf club.
He was one of 35
firefighters sent to the Gunsgreenhill course at Eyemouth, in the
Borders, to deal with a blaze in the greenkeeper's
shed.
The 44-year-old was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary
with a suspected broken leg then transferred to the Southern General
Hospital in Glasgow.
Fire crews were called to the course at around 5.30am.
Seven fire service vehicles were involved in tackling the fire at the
shed, where chemicals were being stored.
A Lothian
and Borders Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said: "The firefighter
was airlifted to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
"At the
moment the extent of his injuries is unclear, but we believe he has a
broken leg."
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Bayonne firefighters extinguished a blaze at a
chemical plant warehouse on Bergen Point in Bayonne, fire officials
said.
Indianapolis-based Vertellus Specialties Inc., the
owners of the plant at Avenue A and Gertrude Street, released a
statement saying that the fire was reported at 2 a.m. this morning.
Company officials say the Bayonne Fire Department
fought the blaze after discussing what materials were being stored in
the building.
The building was "primarily
used" for storage of non-hazardous materials for disposal -- such as
material from castor oil processing, company officials said. But a
spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection said
hazardous materials were stored in the warehouse, and sulfuric acid
leaked from some of the containers that had been damaged in the
fire.
The Hudson County Health Department had at least one
representative on site testing the air and found that no toxic smoke was
released.
No injuries were reported and there is "no significant
off-site impact" or significant interruption to production, company
officials said.
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FIELDSBORO =97 An industrial material caught fire at a local
chemical plant last week, where hazardous substances have previously
earned the site a spot on a watchdog group=92s list.
The fire occurred July 1 at the Stepan
Chemical Company plant on Fourth Street. Production superintendent Dan
Callahan said a 55-gallon tub of about 200 pounds of solid sulfur was
found smoldering just before 5 p.m.
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A mishap
on Brookside Avenue that saw two industrial chemicals mixed improperly
led to a closed road and a visit from a HAZMAT team, Wellesley officials
said today. The chemicals were not spilled, and police say there is no
danger to the public.
At 7:18 a.m., two chemicals being used to reline
piping were combined in a 55-gallon drum being stored in the back of a
truck. The chemicals were allowed to remain too long, and began heating
up and emitting vapors.
"As far as we know, the situation was unpleasant, but
not dangerous," said Officer Marcia Cleary of the Wellesley Police
Department. "The Fire Department responded to the incident and
originally requested a Tier 1 HAZMAT response, which is standard
procedure."
At 8:40, the fire department amended their request to
include more HAZMAT responders.
"The drum was contained in
the back of a truck, and it was difficult for us to get at it or see any
weaknesses in the drum," said Captain Nat Brady of the Wellesley Fire
Department, who was on the scene. "We felt it better to have a backup
team in case something happened."
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A propane
leak in Georgia closed Route 104A Tuesday afternoon.
The road
was shut down after the leak was discovered in a tank at a private home.
Fire officials say the leak has been contained, but nearby residents
were evacuated as a precaution.
Officials said it could be
some time before the road reopened.
"We're cooling the tank and
the Vermont hazmat team is here and we're going to actually get closer
to the tank and see if we can move it or mediate the leak in whatever
way needed," Georgia Fire Chief Chris Gonyeau said.
Fire
crews asked people to use Route 104 or Route 7 instead Tuesday, because
they said Route 104A could be shut down for several
hours.
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ETNA TOWNSHIP -- Medics transported a janitor to an
area hospital Tuesday after the janitor's floor cleaning supplies came
in contact with another agent, creating a possible chemical
reaction.
No other staff members or students were hurt in the
incident at the high school, 8868 Watkins Road SW.
West
Licking Joint Fire District received a call concerning a person feeling
ill at around 9:50 a.m., fire Chief David Fulmer said.
When
medics arrived at the scene, the janitor was having trouble breathing.
Medics transported the janitor to an area hospital for precautionary
reasons, Fulmer said.
Few other details were available early Tuesday, but
Fulmer said the janitor was cleaning a floor in one of the school's
hallways when the incident occurred. The janitor was using two regular
cleaning products to mop the floor when the products "came in contact
with an unknown (chemical), which caused the reaction," Fulmer
said.
The Licking County Haz-Mat team responded to the high
school, along with firefighters from West Licking. A Licking County
Sheriff's Deputy closed the entrance to the high school on Watkins
Road.
Other janitors, a handful of building administrators
and some band students were inside the school when the incident
happened. Firefighters evacuated them, in addition to students lifting
weights in a nearby weight-lifting building. No other injuries were
reported, Fulmer said.
Because of the extreme heat, the Haz-Mat team was
proceeding slowly Tuesday. Team members donned heavy chemical-resistant
suits before entering the high school to ascertain the cause of the
chemical reaction.
Afterward, Fulmer said they intended to treat the chemical or
air out the building.
Watkins
Memorial likely will be closed for part of the early afternoon as the
Haz-Mat team works, Fulmer said.
Earlier reports of Watkins
Road closing as a result of the situation were in
error.
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Metro police investigated a potential
hazmat situation at the North Police Precinct on Tuesday
afternoon.
It happened around 3:30 p.m. at the precinct at 2231
26th Avenue North at Clarksville Pike. Fire Department's Hazmat team was
called out after a woman came in to report that her soon to be
ex-husband may have tampered with her car.
Police
said she had removed the floor mats and the head rests and put them in
the trunk. She went inside the police precinct and got an officer.
When they both went back to the car and opened the truck, they were hit
with fumes that stung their eyes and throat. That's when
hazmat crews were called in to investigate.
They
tested the substance and determined it was not hazardous. Metro police
spokesperson Don Aaron said it is believed that the substance may have
been pepper spray.
A detective from the domestic violence squad is
working this case to see if charges need to see if charges need to be
filled against the woman's husband.
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EVANSVILLE, Ind. =97 Authorities say two workers were
badly burned in a flash fire at an auto parts factory in
Evansville.
City Fire
Department District Chief Dan Grimm says the workers at Guardian
Automotive Trim were using a chemical to clean a paint booth Monday when
a halogen light was knocked onto the floor and ignited the fumes.
Grimm
said the initial explosion was out quickly, but the workers' clothing
caught on fire. The names of the man and woman weren't immediately
released and they were taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in
Nashville, Tenn., for treatment of their burns.
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