Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2010 07:22:50 -0500
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From: Ralph Stuart <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: Chemical Safety headlines from Google

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WSVN-TV - UNKNOWN CHEMICAL FOUND IN APT. COMPLEX, http://ww w.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/21003066985911/

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. (WSVN) -- Crews responded to the scene of a HazMat situation at an apartment complex.

Coral Springs Fire Rescue and HazMat crews responded to an apartment building, located at 9630 NW 35th St., after an officer was exposed to an unknown chemical.

Officials said the officer walked into a meter room and found an unknown chemical in an open container. The officer had to be transported to Coral Springs Medical Center.

A bus was on the scene to house and treat residents until authorities cleared the incident. Two other people were treated and released.

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CHEMICAL REACTION SPARKS EVACUATION - LOCAL NEWS - BAY OF PLENTY TIMES, http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/local/news/chem ical-reaction-sparks-evacuation/3934947/

A reaction at a Mount Maunganui chemical plant led to a section of Totara St being blocked off by police and the building being evacuated while firefighters diluted the chemicals.

A plume of white steam erupted from the hydrogen peroxide container filling the facility at Orica Chemnet about 3.15pm yesterday, due to a valve accidently being left open on the filling line.

Site manager Paul Hastie said the hydrogen peroxide - used for bleaching and disinfecting in industrial processes - then flowed into the catchment pit, which was designed to contain such leaks.

"The leaked hydrogen peroxide reacted with dust and dirt residing in the catchment pit, which reacted to form oxygen and water," he said.

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SUSPICIOUS SUBSTANCES DISPOSED OF | NEWS TRIBUNE, http://www.newstribune.com/news/2010/dec/21/suspicious-substanc es-disposed/

uthorities had to dispose of some suspicious substances found behind a Jefferson City drug store, Tuesday.

According to Jefferson City Fire Department Spokesman Jason Turner, the call came in around 11:45 p.m.

The substances were reported at Super D Drug Store in the Jefferson Plaza Shopping Center on Missouri Boulevard.

=93A person discovered two bottles, a soda bottle and a detergent bottle, with tubes going into and coming out of the bottles which concerned the individual that contacted authorities,=94 he said.

Turner said they determined there was some type of chemical in the bottles.

=93We couldn=92t rule out that these were possibly being used for the making of an illegal substance,=94 Turner said.

Around 12:15 p.m. the Cole County Hazmat Team was contacted and they transported the bottles to an approved Hazmat drop off point.

No injuries were reported.

=93This did pose not only a health risk, but an environmental risk and could have been potentially very dangerous.=94 Turner said. =93If citizens find something out of the ordinary like this they should call authorities.=94

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POLICE INVESTIGATE SECOND 'DETERGENT SUICIDE' - DAILYLOCAL.COM, http://dailylocal.com/articles/2010/12/21/news/srv0000010363202.txt

WEST GOSHEN =97 A man who committed suicide Friday morning did so by using the same chemicals that investigators say a Kennett Square man used to kill himself in October.

Police said the method =97 known as "detergent suicide" =97 is an alarming trend across the country and is believed to have originated in Japan.

"This is the second one here (in Chester County)," West Goshen Police Lt. Greg Stone said Monday. "I've heard about it across the country."

Stone said investigators do not want to disclose the ingredients used to help prevent a reoccurrence. But he said the ingredients were combined to create hy

drogen sulfide, the same colorless, poisonous gas discovered in a vehicle on Oct. 11 along East Hillendale Road in Pennsbury, where a 30-year-old man was found dead in what police also classified as a suicide.

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WB I-70 BACK OPEN AFTER HAZMAT SPILL NEAR TUNNEL - DENVER NEWS STORY - KMGH DENVER, http:// www.thedenverchannel.com/news/26210812/detail.html

DENVER -- The Colorado Department of Transportation reopened the westbound Interstate 70 lanes approaching the Eisenhower Tunnel at midnight Tuesday after a truck crash on the west side involving a tanker truck carrying hazardous materials.
The tanker truck was carrying an estimated 40,000 pounds of an explosive gel when it was involved in a collision with a heavy tow truck about 2:34 p.m.
Both drivers were injured and were taken to Summit Medical Center in Frisco, according to CDOT.
A tanker carrying such hazardous substances normally would have been routed over Loveland Pass, U.S. Highway 6, but CDOT said that highway had been closed due to the snowstorm.
"The explosive gel is considered stable inside the container, but the concern is that static electricity could cause an explosion," said CDOT spokesman Steve Lipsher. "As a result, crews are remaining a third of a mile away."

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OPRD SAFETY ISSUE | THE SAFETY ZONE, htt p://cenblog.org/the-safety-zone/2010/12/oprd-safety-issue/

In the last issue of every year, Organic Process Research &amp; Development puts together a =93Safety Special Section.=94

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PEPPER SPRAY RELEASE AT REHAB HOSPITAL SENDS TWO TO EMERGENCY ROOM; 20 TREATED AT SCENE - MONDAY, DEC. 20, 2010 | 12:29 P.M. - LAS VEGAS SUN, http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/d ec/20/20-nursing-home-treated-possible-pepper-spray/?home-news

An unintentional discharge of pepper spray sent two patients from the Harmon Medical and Rehabilitation Hospital to the emergency room Monday.

Eric Poleski, battalion chief for the Clark County Fire Department, said a call for emergency respiratory care came around 11:30 a.m. at the hospital, 2170 Harmon Ave.

Although initial reports varied about how many were affected, he said 20 people were treated for respiratory irritation. A personal pepper canister appeared to have been accidentally discharged in a nursing area.

"Nothing intentional or malicious," Poleski said.

Five ambulances and Metro's Hazmat unit were on the scene, he said, and crews used gas and electrical fans to ventilate the affected area. Two female patients were transported to Desert Springs Hospital for non-life threatening symptoms, Poleski said. The spill has been cleaned up, and the hospital has resumed operations.

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THE FISH WRAP - MAN ARRESTED FOR METH LAB EXPLOSION, http://www.c edartownstd.com/view/full_story/10729906/article-Man-arrested-for-meth-lab -explosion?instance=home_news_1st_left

A man familiar to the Polk County Jail is behind bars again on drug charges after a methamphetamine explosion was reported Friday in Rockmart.

James Van Dover Jr., 51, of 2051 Old Cedartown Road, Rockmart, was taken into custody after being treated for burns. He is charged with manufacturing methamphetamine and trafficking methamphetamine.

No bond has been issued and Dover remains in the Polk County Jail.

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SGGP ENGLISH EDITION- FIRE DESTROYS CHEMICAL WAREHOUSE IN BAC LIEU, http://w ww.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/National/2010/12/88185/

A fire broke out in a chemical warehouse in an administrative zone in Bac Lieu City, southern Bac Lieu Province on December 18, severely destroying the warehouse.

 
A view of the chemical warehouse after the fire (Photo: Dan Tri)

The fire started at the warehouse of Bac Lieu Aquaculture Department at about 8pm.  The fire was put out after an hour.

According to the department=92s head, an electrical short circuit caused the fire, which spread quickly to chemical tanks.

So far, there are no estimates to the actual amount of damage caused by the fire.

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SUNLIVE - FIRE FIGHTERS CALLED TO KAWERAU - THE BAYS' NEWS FIRST, http://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/10193-fire-fighters-called-to-kawera u.html

The Greerton fire fighter hazmat unit was called to Kawerau on Monday night to assist in dealing with a hazardous chemical spill at the Norske Skog pulp and paper mill.

Black liquor, a caustic mix of chemicals used in the pulping process, was leaking from a valve.
Shutting the valve took two men wearing fully encapsulated hazard suits about 25 minutes to shut off, says Kawerau station officer Bill Rackham, but shutting off the valve was able to be done until the support crews were in place.

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BRIDGES SEEPING MERCURY TO BE REMOVED IN WAYNE COUNTY UNDER AGREEMENT | TENNESSEAN.COM | THE TENNESSEAN, http://www .tennessean.com/article/20101220/NEWS01/12200313/Bridges+seeping+mercury+t o+be+removed+in+Wayne+County+under+agreement

Three of dozens of Wayne County bridges seeping mercury will get attention right away under an agreement signed between the state, the county and Occidental Chemical Corp., the state announced Friday.

Aside from the bridges, additional parts at the Wayne County Highway Department yard will be dealt with, according to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

The bridges will be removed or the mercury contained.

"We believe these bridges were constructed of former mercury cell parts from a chlor-alkali plant," Environment and Conservation Deputy Commissioner Paul Sloan said in an e-mailed announcement.

Some chlor-alkali plants produce chlorine and caustic soda using a process that employs "mercury cells" and leaves elemental mercury residue.

The scrap metal that ended up as the small Wayne County bridges may have originally been discarded cells from the 1960s used at a plant in Muscle Shoals, Ala., now owned by Occidental, according to the state.

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