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Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2011 08:22:07 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
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From: Ralph Stuart <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: Chemical Safety headlines from Google
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Chemical spill forces evacuation of U of M
facility
A building on the University of Michigan=92s North
Campus was evacuated Friday evening after a potentially dangerous
chemical spilled on a laboratory floor.
A student
working at the Herbert H. Dow Building, located at 2300 Hayward St.,
reportedly spilled a half gallon jug of Benzene on the floor at about
7:40 p.m., according to reports from the University of Michigan
Department of Public Safety.
-----------------------
NEWARK -- About 15 employees evacuated an industrial
gas product company and five workers were taken to the hospital as a
precaution Tuesday night after the building's alarms were set off, a
company spokesman said.
Nearly 20
firefighters, including the Alameda County Fire Hazardous Materials
Team, responded to an 8:35 p.m. call from Matheson Tri-Gas Inc., at 6775
Central Ave., fire spokeswoman Aisha Knowles said.
Meanwhile, five employees were taken to an East Bay
hospital as a precautionary measure and later released, Matheson
spokesman Stephen Stroud said.
Stroud
did not say what possible health threat prompted the employees to visit
the hospital.
"We're still investigating
that," Stroud said. "All I can say is there were no specific injuries at
the site."
The county Hazmat team
worked with Matheson personnel to identify the problem, a malfunctioning
piece of equipment called a "scrubber," which cleans the air inside the
facility, Alameda County fire Battalion Chief Terence Carey
said.
-----------------------
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. --
Traffic on southbound U.S. Highway 101 has been moving slowly through
San Rafael Wednesday evening, hours after a pickup truck loaded with car
batteries caught fire on the roadway, a California Highway Patrol
officer said.
A blue Ford F-150 was "fully
engulfed" in flames in the right lanes near the Lincoln Avenue exit, a
caller reporting the fire at about 3:20 p.m. told the CHP, Officer Peter
Van Eckhardt said.
A Bay
Area Freeway Service Patrol vehicle was first to arrive at the scene.
The patrol provides free assistance to disabled vehicles, Van Eckhardt
said.
Unable to cope with the
burning pickup truck, the patrol vehicle driver stood by until
firefighters arrived at about 3:30 p.m., he said.
Firefighters began dousing the burning truck with
water, but Van Eckhardt said they had to change tack after discovering
the Ford's bed was full of car batteries.
To neutralize the acid-spewing batteries, a base
substance was used.
"They
described it as being something like baking soda," he
said.
-----------------------
HOUSTON - Residents of a one-block area around
Colonial Park in West University had to evacuate Thursday after a hazmat
spill.
City officials said muriatic acid, a chemical used to
clean pools, was spilled at the park, which is located in the 4100 block
of Byron.
The acid is corrosive, but officials said it was
contained and posed no threat to water or sewer
systems.
As a precaution, residents within a block of the park
were asked to either evacuate or shelter in place.
-----------------------
Berkeley, Mo (KSDK) -- Hazmat crews are testing the
water of a creek in Berkeley after a chemical from a nearby business
leaked into it.
The North Central Fire chief said 5,400 gallons of
ammonium hydroxide leaked into the creek in the 8900 block of Seegar
Industrial Drive around 4:00 a.m. during a transfer
process.
The chemical was used by Univar USA, which is an
industrial chemical distributor that supplies products and distributes
services to all major industrial market segments.
Fire
officials believe the chemical has dissipated into the water, but crews
will test the water. A backhoe is also being brought in to dig in the
soil to make sure none of the chemical got into it.
-----------------------
About 40
people were evacuated from hotels near Auckland Airport last night after
fumes from a pesticide, which has historically been used in chemical
warfare, wafted through their windows from a neighbouring
farm.
International guests at Kiwi International Hotel and
the Airport Skyway Lodge on Kirkbride Rd, Mangere, started getting itchy
eyes due to strong fumes in the air, Fire Service incident controller
Grant Thompson said.
One neighbour told NZPA the sensation was similar to
when you cut onions.
The Fire Service was called around 10pm and it was
established the fumes were caused by a neighbouring strawberry farmer
who had poured the soil fumigant chloropicrin on his
paddock.
Mr Thompson said the chemical was treated with respect
because it has been used in chemical warfare.
-----------------------
Seven road workers have been taken to hospital after
being exposed to a dangerous chemical on Queensland's Sunshine
Coast.
The Main Roads Department
maintenance crew came into contact with a drum containing toxic
pesticide on the Bruce Highway near Nambour this
morning.
Fire crews hosed down the
workers, who suffered facial swelling and watery eyes.
Six men were taken to the Nambour Hospital for
treatment and one woman was taken to the Royal Brisbane
Hospital.
-----------------------
The Sleep Inn at 485 Madison Ave. in North Liberty was
evacuated Wednesday morning after a chlorine spill was reported to the
North Liberty Fire Department.
One person was treated on
scene for exposure to the chemical, Capt. Craig Voparil of the North
Liberty Fire Department said. According to Voparil, firefighters were
dispatched to the hotel at 7:10 a.m. Wednesday.
The
Johnson County Haz-Mat Team, North Liberty Police Department and Johnson
County Ambulance responded to the incident. Voparil said it took crews
about seven hours to dilute and clean up the spill.
-----------------------
RANCHO
BERNARDO =97 More than 200 students at Rancho Bernardo High School were
evacuated for about 90 minutes Thursday, and one student was taken to a
hospital, after teachers noticed a strong odor in the science
building.
The odor most likely came from a gas-powered leaf
blower that had been used by a gardener along the sidewalk in front of
the science rooms, said Maurice Luque, spokesman for the San Diego
Fire-Rescue Department.
One 15-year-old girl who reported trouble breathing
was taken to a hospital by ambulance, Luque said. A second ambulance
crew was brought in to evaluate other students claiming to have
headaches and other symptoms of the fumes.
-----------------------
The smell that forced the evacuation of a couple of
Altamonte Springs buildings on Orange Drive was spilled
fuel.
Altamonte Springs Senior Officer Robert Pelton said a
man had taken his motorized scooter inside of his Royal Arms
Condominiums unit overnight and it leaked fuel inside the
apartment.
The man was transported to a local hospital for
medical evaluation.
-----------------------
CORNELIUS - Investigators now believe that
spontaneous combustion of papers and chemical cleaners in a recycling
bin started a fire that destroyed two houses and damaged two others
Friday, April 8, in the Glenridge community.
Investigators have sent evidence to a lab to determine the
chemicals involved, Capt. Andrew Bridges, of Cornelius-Lemley Fire
& Rescue, said.
No one was injured in the
conflagration.
The bin was sitting next to the side of the house at
10246 Meadow Crossing Lane, and the fire quickly moved to the home=92s
vinyl siding, which is petroleum-based, Bridges said Tuesday, April 12.
The flames raced up the side and spread quickly through the attic, which
did not have interior firewalls.
-----------------------
DAQING,
Heilongjiang (Xinhua) - At least nine people were killed in an
explosion at a chemical plant in Lamadian Town of Daqing City in
northeast China's Heilongjiang Province Wednesday night, local officials
said Thursday morning.
The explosion and fire occurred at about 10:10 p.m.
Wednesday at a three-storey building at Fuxin Chemical Plant located in
Lamadian Town of Ranghulu District in Daqing.
Fourteen
people were inside the building when the accident happened, local
government said.
Nine people died on the scene while the other five
fled the building.
The fire had been extinguished by firefighters,
according to Xinhua's on-the-spot reporter.
Local
environmental protection authority said air surrounding the plant had
not gone beyond the criteria for industrial waste gas emissions and
would not affect residents and the environment nearby.
According
to a preliminary investigation, the fire was caused by the
volatilization of a great amount of methanol gas to a level that might
lead to the blast.
-----------------------
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Fire
investigators are still trying to figure out what caused an explosion at
a chemical company with a history of safety problems in Southeast
Columbus.
The fire at Howard
Industries broke out before 8pm.
Battalion Chief Doug Smith
says the company stores sodium chlorite which is a chemical used to
manufacture paper.
He says
when that mixed with the water firefighters used, it created sodium
chlorine.
He says
that chemical can be hazardous to your health.
Hazmat
crews were called in to deal with the chemical.
No evacuations had to be made.
OSHA, the
agency that enforces worker safety rules recently found 23 violations at
Howard Industries, including electrical hazards to
workers.
-----------------------
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