Note the USA Today article on the CSB report
Chemical Safety Headlines =46rom Google
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 8:06:21 AM
A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
Table of Contents (15 articles)
REPORT FINDS FAULT WITH COLLEGE LABS OVER POOR SAFETY RECORD =96 USATODAY.COM Tags: laboratory, discovery, response, follow-up
SECOND WORKER IN INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT DIES
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, death, hydrogen_sulfide, waste, follow-up
CITY WORKER TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER HAZMAT INCIDENT
Tags: us_GA, laboratory, release, injury, irritant
TURLINGTON HALL EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, release, response
HAZMAT CALL FORCES CALIF. ART INSTITUTE EVACUATION
Tags: us_CA, education, release, injury, cleaners
FOUR PEOPLE SENT TO HOSPITAL AS CHEMICAL FUMES HIT CALGARY SWIMMING POOL
Tags: Canada, public, release, injury, chlorine
FLUORIDE LEAK REPORTED AT CITY WATER PLANT
Tags: us_VA, industrial, release, response, water_treatment
SCHOOL CLOSED IN POISONOUS GAS ALERT
Tags: United_Arab_Emirates, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
MFD FIRE REPORT =96 OCTOBER 18, 2011
Tags: us_KY, public, fire, response, fire_extinguisher
NINE WORKERS CHECKED OVER AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT FIFE PLANT
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, injury, nitric_acid, waste
NO ONE HURT IN GREENE COUNTY GAS WELL SITE FIRE
Tags: us_PA, public, fire, response, natural_gas
HAZMAT TEAMS AND RESCUE UNITS STOP NATURAL GAS LEAK IN DELRAY BEACH
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, natural_gas
UPDATE: FRUITVILLE ROAD REOPENS AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_FL, public, discovery, response, unknown_chemical
FERTILIZER, NOT REFRIGERATOR, RESPONSIBLE FOR RADIATION READINGS IN MORRIS, IL AND GRUNDY COUNTY, IL
Tags: us_IL, public, release, response, ag_chems, radiation, follow-up
TOXIC FUMES FORCE EVACUATION OF SCHOOL
Tags: us_CA, education, release, injury, cleaners
---------------------------------------------
REPORT FINDS FAULT WITH COLLEGE LABS OVER POOR SAFETY RECORD =96 USATODAY.COM Tags: laboratory, discovery, response, follow-up
An explosion that severely burned a Texas Tech graduate student last year suggests safety problems plague college labs nationwide, a federal watchdog agency warned.
A report released Wednesday by the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), an independent safety agency, examines the Jan. 7, 2010, detonation at Texas Tech University in Lubbock that cost the student, Preston Brown, three fingers and caused severe burns and eye damage. Brown had set out to produce 10 grams of an explosive compound =97 100 times more than an informal lab limit =97 for research sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security.
"The report serves as a cautionary tale for universities across the country," CSB's Daniel Horowitz says.
---------------------------------------------
SECOND WORKER IN INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT DIES
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, death, hydrogen_sulfide, waste, follow-up
The 22-year-old composting worker left brain dead after an industrial accident Wednesday in Lamont was taken off life support and died, according to the Kern County coroner's office.
Heladio Ramirez, of Arvin, died at 11:04 a.m. Friday in Kern Medical Center's intensive care unit. His family in the days prior had been agonizing over whether to end life support.
Days earlier, Ramirez' 16-year-old brother, Armando Ramirez, died inside an 8-foot-deep drainage tunnel at Community Recycling and Resource Co. when he was overcome by hydrogen sulfide, a deadly byproduct of the composting process that attacks the central nervous system.
The brothers were cleaning out the tunnel. Heladio Ramirez saw his brother unconscious and went down to rescue him, and was also overcome by fumes. A third worker who did not enter the tunnel was also overcome, but was treated and released.
---------------------------------------------
CITY WORKER TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER HAZMAT INCIDENT
Tags: us_GA, laboratory, release, injury, irritant
One city of Savannah employee was taken to a hospital after a HAZMAT incident at a water treatment facility this morning, a Savannah Fire and Emergency Services spokesman said.
Firefighters were sent to the President Street Reclamation Facility just before 10 a.m. when an employee was exposed to an irritant in a lab, said Mark Keller.
The employee was exposed to fumes of an unknown nature when she opened a cabinet in the water reclamation laboratory, and she complained of irritated eyes and a scratchy throat, said Keller. The firefighters evacuated the five employees on duty at the time and commenced a Level 1 HAZMAT operation.
The employee who opened the cabinet was treated on the scene and taken to St. Joseph=92s/Candler for further treatment, said Keller.
---------------------------------------------
TURLINGTON HALL EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, release, response
A chemical spill in the basement of Turlington caused the entire building and the adjoining restaurants to be evacuated.
The building was closed for about an hour while UF Environmental Health and Safety employees cleaned up the spill.
Nader Abo Dya, 35, and Suvendu Biswas, 27, were combining chemical compounds in Room B115 when one of them dropped five grams of 2-Chloroethyl Isocyanate, a liquid compound that is combustible and moisture-sensitive.
The compound's uses range from chemotherapy treatment to the manufacturing of foams, paints and insulation materials, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It can be harmful if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT CALL FORCES CALIF. ART INSTITUTE EVACUATION
Tags: us_CA, education, release, injury, cleaners
Oct. 17--SAN BERNARDINO -- Firefighters evacuated more than 1,200 students and staff from the Art Institute of California on Monday after a bucket of cleaning solution sickened several students in a cooking class.
San Bernardino firefighters came to the campus, 674 E. Brier Drive at 9:20 a.m., when they received a call about four students who became sick after mixing a solution in a cleaning bucket.
"It turned into a mist or cloud and they had difficulty breathing," said San Bernardino fire spokesman Tom Rubio.
Firefighters took two of the four students to hospitals for treatment. The other two were examined at the scene for contamination, but were not hospitalized.
---------------------------------------------
FOUR PEOPLE SENT TO HOSPITAL AS CHEMICAL FUMES HIT CALGARY SWIMMING POOL
Tags: Canada, public, release, injury, chlorine
Four people were sent to hospital with breathing problems after a possible chlorine leak at a south side swimming pool Monday evening.
At around 6:30 p.m. fire crews were dispatched to a small privately owned swimming pool at 4652 Macleod Trail S.E., the Calgary fire department said in a news release.
When they arrived, they found a number of people with difficulty breathing and a strong smell of chlorine in the air.
Four people were sent to Rockyview Hospital while the building and neighbouring stores were evacuated and surrounding roads shut down, the department said.
---------------------------------------------
FLUORIDE LEAK REPORTED AT CITY WATER PLANT
Tags: us_VA, industrial, release, response, water_treatment
City officials expect a chemical leak that began over the weekend at Martinsville=92s water treatment plant to pose no health hazard to the public.
While the plant was operating normally on Sunday, two employees noticed a leak in a tank containing fluorosilicic acid, said city Fire Chief Kenneth Draper.
To help prevent tooth decay, the chemical =97 commonly known as fluoride =97 is put in drinking water distributed to city utility customers, he said.
According to Draper, officials think the chemical leaked out from a transfer pump due to the corrosion of pump components. After the leak was noticed, treatment plant employees notified city emergency personnel, who were on the scene late Monday coordinating remediation efforts, Draper said.
=93Most of it went into the ground between the tank and the parking lot,=94 he said of the chemical.
---------------------------------------------
SCHOOL CLOSED IN POISONOUS GAS ALERT
Tags: United_Arab_Emirates, industrial, explosion, response, unknown_chemical
DUBAI // A school has been shut down for the rest of the week because of what Civil Defence officials described as "poisonous gases" from a smouldering fire at a nearby chemical factory.
It is the second time Greenfield Community School has been closed since the blaze last Tuesday at the Reda Industrial Materials warehouse in Dubai Investments Park.
The warehouse burst into flames after what witnesses called an enormous explosion that sent a fireball hundreds of metres into the air.
More than 70 different industrial and food chemicals were believed to have been stored in the warehouse at the time of the fire.
"We would like to inform you that the air surrounding the site of the fire which took place at the chemical warehouse is still polluted by poisonous gases carried by plumes of smoke," the Civil Defence said in a notice to the school yesterday.
---------------------------------------------
MFD FIRE REPORT =96 OCTOBER 18, 2011
Tags: us_KY, public, fire, response, fire_extinguisher
MADISONVILLE, KY (10/18/11) =96 The following is your weekly fire report provided by the Madisonville Fire Department (MFD).
On October 14 MFD received an alarm from Central Dispatch for a fire at the Kroger gas pumps at 240 Island Ford Road. Upon arrival, crew found one vehicle at the pump with no fire showing. Gas fumes ignited when the vehicle owner removed the gas cap and static discharge occurred from touching the vehicle. A dry chemical extinguisher was used by a store employee to extinguish the fire prior to M.F.D. arrival. The employee advised that the emergency gas pump deactivation switch was activated. The rear of the vehicle was checked for any additional hot spots, but none were found. No further action was taken and all units returned to station.
---------------------------------------------
NINE WORKERS CHECKED OVER AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT FIFE PLANT
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, release, injury, nitric_acid, waste
Workers are being checked over after a chemical spill at a recycling centre in Fife.
Fire crews, ambulance and police were called at around midday on Tuesday after the nitric acid was spilt at Wellwood Recycling Plant near Dunfermline.
Nine people had to be taken to hospital to be treated after they inhaled the fumes from the fluid.
The area around the container has been cordoned off and workers who may have come into contact with or inhaled the fluid are being checked over.
The 10 litres of fluid is 68% nitric acid and cannot be cleaned up by firefighters, who are having to call in specialist company.
---------------------------------------------
NO ONE HURT IN GREENE COUNTY GAS WELL SITE FIRE
Tags: us_PA, public, fire, response, natural_gas
No one was injured when natural gas production equipment at an EQT Corp. well pad site in Morgan Township in Greene County caught fire on Friday, the company said.
The fire started in natural gas piping away from the well at 4 p.m. The well is in the production stage, which means drilling is no longer taking place, according to Karla S. Olsen of Pittsburgh-based EQT.
Employees shut off the flow of gas through the piping in 15 to 20 minutes and Greene County emergency personel contained the fire, Olsen said.
The prompt shut off of the gas prevented the fire from spreading, she said, adding that damage was limited to the one piece of equipment.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT TEAMS AND RESCUE UNITS STOP NATURAL GAS LEAK IN DELRAY BEACH
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, natural_gas
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. - Hazmat teams were called to the scene of a natural gas leak Monday after a 2-inch underground line was ruptured by a backhoe in Delray Beach.
Delray Beach Fire Rescue units responded to the scene at a construction site at 1005 Tamarind Road slightly before noon and utilized =93hydraulic vapor suppression=94 to ensure safe gas levels for emergency workers and residents. Florida Public Utilities was also on the scene.
---------------------------------------------
UPDATE: FRUITVILLE ROAD REOPENS AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_FL, public, discovery, response, unknown_chemical
SARASOTA - The eastbound lanes of Fruitville Road have reopened near Shade Avenue. The road was shut down earlier Monday after unknown chemicals apparently were dumped illegally into a residential yard nearby, Sarasota fire officials say.
Eastbound lanes of Fruitville Road were closed around 1:30 p.m. after authorities arrived on the scene and found the chemicals in the yard of a home at 2420 Fruitville Road, said Battalion Chief Rob Bennett of the Sarasota County Fire Department.
---------------------------------------------
FERTILIZER, NOT REFRIGERATOR, RESPONSIBLE FOR RADIATION READINGS IN MORRIS, IL AND GRUNDY COUNTY, IL
Tags: us_IL, public, release, response, ag_chems, radiation, follow-up
When the Kane County Sheriff's Office Bomb Unit opened the refrigerator that was allegedly giving off nuclear radiation near Coal City Friday afternoon, they found a 2-liter bottle of Squirt, according to Deputy Chief Greg DeGroot of the Coal City Fire Department.
At about 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14, the Grundy County HazMat team responded to a report of a small refrigerator found in a ditch on Spring Road, west of Carbon Hill, near Coal City. The refrigerator was wrapped in nuclear warning tape.
When DeGroot arrived at the scene, he said his personal radiation detector was reading two microrems, not an unusual reading. But as he got closer, the readings went up to six and then 11 microrems.
So he backed off and a bomb unit was requested.
After speaking to a farmer, however, the original bomb unit request was canceled because he reported the refrigerator had been there for about two weeks, Grundy County Sheriff Terry Marketti said Friday.
Later, the unit was called again to the scene and eventually found the pop bottle.
Neither the bottle nor the refrigerator were giving off radiation, DeGroot said. The radioactivity was coming from the farming fertilizer used in that area.
The fertilizer contained potash, a soluble source of potassium used in agricultural fertilizer, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's website, www.usgs.gov.
---------------------------------------------
TOXIC FUMES FORCE EVACUATION OF SCHOOL
Tags: us_CA, education, release, injury, cleaners
A San Bernardino Fire Department hazmat team was called to the Art Institue of San Bernardino after four students were overcome by noxious fumes early Monday.
The students had difficulty breathing after inhaling a bucket of cleaning materials.
The fumes forced the evacuation of 1,250 persons from the campus located along the 600 block of East Brier Drive in San Bernardino.
The incident happened around 9:20 a.m. when students were mixing the cleaning solution in a bucket intending to clean up some paint.
=93They inhaled it and it irritated their lungs,=94 San Bernardino City Fire Department spokesman Tom Rubio said.
---------------------------------------------
