From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (15 articles)
Date: March 9, 2012 7:18:17 AM EST
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, March 9, 2012 7:17:58 AM

A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
Connecting Chemistry and Safety at http://www.dchas.org
All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas

Table of Contents (15 articles)

UPDATE: CHEMICALS SICKEN 3 AT SEATTLE CLINIC
Tags: us_WA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

CHEMICAL INCIDENT AT STANCHEM
Tags: us_CT, industrial, release, response, plastics

ABINGDON: THERE WAS A MINOR CHEMICAL SPILL AT AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL THURSDAY.
Tags: us_MD, education, release, injury, mercury

HAZMAT TEAM DISPATCHED AFTER MERCURY SPILL AT BUCHANAN SCHOOL
Tags: us_IN, education, release, response, mercury

BREAKING NEWS: CREWS ON SCENE OF A TRAIN DERAILMENT IN ABBEVILLE
Tags: us_GA, transportation, release, response, ethanol

UCLA PROFESSOR CHARGED IN FATAL LAB FIRE CONTINUES PLEA TALKS
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, follow-up, death

CHEMICAL SPILL CLOSES HIGHWAY NEAR NEWELL, IA
Tags: us_IA, transportation, release, response, bleach, chlorine, phosphoric_acid

MOTORCYCLE CRASH, CHEMICAL ODOR LED TO HAZ-MAT RESPONSE
Tags: us_PA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

UPDATE 1-SMALL FIRE BREAKS OUT AT TESORO REFINERY
Tags: us_CA, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical

FIRE AT VALERO'S MEMPHIS REFINERY INJURES THREE PEOPLE
Tags: us_TN, industrial, fire, injury, petroleum

MYFOX8.COM - GREENSBORO, HIGH-POINT, WINSTON-SALEM NEWS & WEATHER FROM WGHP TELEVISION FOX8
Tags: us_NC, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical

VALVE MAY HAVE CAUSED CHEMICAL LEAK IN WHITTEN
Tags: us_IA, industrial, release, response, ammonia

DYNAMITE FOUND IN BARN IN GARFIELD
Tags: us_GA, public, discovery, response, explosives

HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL SPILLED IN 18-WHEELER CRASH ON I-10
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, response, pce

CHEMICAL SPILL STARTS FIRE AT COMPOSITE CENTER
Tags: us_OH, laboratory, fire, response, propanol


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UPDATE: CHEMICALS SICKEN 3 AT SEATTLE CLINIC
http://today.seattletimes.com/2012/03/possible-chemical-spill-sickens-3-at-seattle-clinic/
Tags: us_WA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

UPDATE AT 1:37 p.m.: According to Louise Maxwell of Seattle Children's hospital, a small amount of fluid leaked from equipment used to develop X-ray film at the dental clinic at Odessa Brown Children's Clinic. One staff member is currently under observation for a reaction to the fumes. All patients, their families and other staff are safe, Maxwell said.

The fluid presents no further health risks, she said.

UPDATE 11:50 a.m.: The Seattle Fire Department has determined the Odessa Brown Children's Clinic is safe to reoccupy. One adult patient was taken to Harborview with eye irritation and body aches, according to department spokesman Kyle Moore.

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CHEMICAL INCIDENT AT STANCHEM
http://berlin.patch.com/articles/chemical-incident-at-stanchem
Tags: us_CT, industrial, release, response, plastics

Thursday morning, shortly after 8 a.m., the Town of Berlin Fire Departments were dispatched to a chemical emergency at Stanchem, Berlin Street, East Berlin.

On arrival company safety staff reported that a chemical reaction had occurred involving one of their polymer products. The reaction occurred in a 275 gallon tote designed to hold the product.

Personnel from the fire department made entry and found the tote to be bulging and approximately 200 gallons of product had leaked from the tote onto the floor.

The entire building was evacuated as a safety precaution and DEP was requested to the scene. Air sampling was conducted of both the interior and the exterior of the building and based on that sampling it was determined that there was no health or safety hazard to the public.

An environmental contractor was contracted by Stanchem to conduct the cleanup of the spill and DEP remained on scene to continue their investigation and assist in the cleanup.

No injuries to Stanchem employees or fire personnel was

---------------------------------------------

ABINGDON: THERE WAS A MINOR CHEMICAL SPILL AT AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL THURSDAY.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/harford/news/ph-ag-chemical-spill-0309-20120308,0,4816224.story
Tags: us_MD, education, release, injury, mercury

A Hazmat team was dispatched to an Abingdon elementary school Thursday morning for a report of a chemical spill. School officials confirmed the chemical was a small amount of metallic mercury.

No classes were disrupted.

A sink was being removed in the nurse's suite at William S. James Elementary School in Abingdon and there was a "minor chemical spill," according to Harford County Public Schools Manager of Communications Teri Kranefeld.

A "very small" amount of mercury was found in water in the trap of the sink and leaked out when the sink was removed for replacement, Kranefeld said.

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HAZMAT TEAM DISPATCHED AFTER MERCURY SPILL AT BUCHANAN SCHOOL
http://www.wsbt.com/news/sbt-hazmat-team-dispatched-after-mercury-spill-at-buchanan-school-20120307,0,3630270.story
Tags: us_IN, education, release, response, mercury

BUCHANAN Ñ A mercury spill in a classroom at Buchanan High School Wednesday morning resulted in the evacuation of a majority of students and a visit by state and Berrien County Health Department officials and the county Sheriff Department's Hazmat team.

There were no reports of injuries. Students in the classroom where the spill occurred were moved to a separate classroom for examination, Sheriff Paul Bailey said, but others were dismissed without their shoes which were left behind for fear they might contain contaminants.

Bailey commended the school for taking precautions to make certain the mercury was contained.

The sheriff said the student who had the mercury attends 8th grade and had a vial of the substance in his backpack. Classes were dismissed and students allowed to leave, except in the room where the spill occurred, because the student with the mercury had been in other areas of the building prior to the spill and there was a possibility the mercury might have leaked from the backpack, Bailey said.

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BREAKING NEWS: CREWS ON SCENE OF A TRAIN DERAILMENT IN ABBEVILLE
http://www.wrdw.com/homeandfamily/headlines/BREAKING_NEWS_Crews_on_scene_of_a_train_derailment_in_Abbeville_141883133.html
Tags: us_GA, transportation, release, response, ethanol

ABBEVILLE -- Hazmat crews, police and firefighters are working a train derailment right in the city of Abbeville.

There is an evacuation order for a half mile from the where the CSX cars went off the tracks just before 5 a.m. We're told the accident reportedly happened at the intersection of Redd and Haigler Streets. A Command Center has been set up on the 100 block of North Main Street.

The Associated Press is reporting ten homes have been evacuated so far.

Mason Speer, Fire Chief for the City of Abbeville, says there were a number of cars carrying ethanol and some of empty tankers. Right now, there's no word on if any spilled out, but some cars did overturn. Speer says hazmat crews will determine if any ethanol leaked out.

---------------------------------------------

UCLA PROFESSOR CHARGED IN FATAL LAB FIRE CONTINUES PLEA TALKS
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/03/plea-negotiations-continue-for-professor-charged-in-fatal-ucla-lab-fire.html
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, follow-up, death

Plea negotiations will continue in an unprecedented criminal case stemming from a 2008 lab fire that killed a UCLA staff research assistant and resulted in felony charges against a chemistry professor and the UC Board of Regents.

On Wednesday, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge postponed until April 11 the arraignment of professor Patrick Harran and the regents. The defendants were charged in December with three counts each of willfully violating occupational health and safety standards, resulting in the death of Sheharbano "Sheri" Sangji.

---------------------------------------------

CHEMICAL SPILL CLOSES HIGHWAY NEAR NEWELL, IA
http://www.kcautv.com/story/17104849/chemical-spill-closes-highway-near-newell-ia
Tags: us_IA, transportation, release, response, bleach, chlorine, phosphoric_acid

NEWELL - The rollover of a tractor-trailer owned by Packers Logistics out of Kieler, Wis., closed part of Highway 7 just east of Newell in Buena Vista County Wednesday.

The Newell Fire Department, Buena Vista County Emergency Management, Buena Vista County Environmental Health and Zoning, and the DNR have been on site since early this morning.

The accident threw at least three chemical products into the ditch causing the containers to leak or rupture. They include three 55-gallon drums of phosphoric acid, three to five 275-gallon plastic containers of sodium and potassium hydroxide mix, and one 55-gallon drum of chlorine bleach.

"Fortunately, there have been no injuries and the chemicals do not appear to have impacted state waters," said Ken Hessenius, supervisor of the Spencer DNR field office.

---------------------------------------------

MOTORCYCLE CRASH, CHEMICAL ODOR LED TO HAZ-MAT RESPONSE
http://palmer.patch.com/articles/police-crashed-mobile-drug-lab-did-not-bring-out-haz-mat-team
Tags: us_PA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

According to Bushkill Township Police, the day's events began around 3:13 p.m. when Dean A. Tomsic, 51, crashed his Harley-Davidson motorcycle near the intersection of Old Allentown and Male roads.

When police arrived, according to a press release, the motorcycle was on the side of the road, and Tomsic had been taken back to his home on Old Allentown Road.

When police and Bushkill Township EMS found Tomsic, they discovered that he was injured in the crash.

As Tomsic was placed in the ambulance, the emergency medical technicians (EMTs) detected a strong "chemical type" odor. Officials from the Bushkill Township Volunteer Fire Company then requested a Haz-Mat response for decontamination of Tomsic before he was transported to the hospital.

Two EMTs felt symptomatic from being exposed to the chemical, according to police. Tomsic and the two EMTs were decontaminated by members of the Lehigh County Haz-Mat Response Team and transported to local hospitals for observation.

Haz-Mat officials then checked inside Tomsic's home for possible contamination or exposure and found the home to be safe.

---------------------------------------------

UPDATE 1-SMALL FIRE BREAKS OUT AT TESORO REFINERY
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL2E8E7GPM20120307
Tags: us_CA, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical

March 7 (Reuters) - A small fire broke that out early Wednesday morning at Tesoro Corp's 166,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Martinez, California, refinery was quickly extinguished as the facility continued the restart of production units after a two-month overhaul, company and public officials said.

The small fire on a unit broke out shortly before midnight Pacific time (0800 GMT), a Tesoro spokeswoman said in a statement.

"The fire was immediately extinguished," said Tesoro spokeswoman Tina Barbee. "There were no injuries and no damage to equipment. This event did not have any impact on our ability to meet regional contractual product supply commitments."

---------------------------------------------

FIRE AT VALERO'S MEMPHIS REFINERY INJURES THREE PEOPLE
http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2012/03/06/fire-at-valeros-memphis-refinery-injures-three-people/
Tags: us_TN, industrial, fire, injury, petroleum

NEW YORK - A fire Tuesday at Valero Energy Corp.'s (VLO) oil refinery in Memphis, Tenn., has injured three people, according to a local NBC television news affiliate report.

"The Memphis fire department is on the scene," the 4:00 p.m. CST report said.

The Memphis Commercial-Appeal newspaper said on its website that two of the three injured suffered burns over 90 percent of their bodies.

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MYFOX8.COM - GREENSBORO, HIGH-POINT, WINSTON-SALEM NEWS & WEATHER FROM WGHP TELEVISION FOX8
http://myfox8.com/2012/03/07/chemical-plant-spill-reported-in-greensboro/
Tags: us_NC, industrial, release, response, unknown_chemical

GREENSBORO, N.C. Ñ Patterson Street is now open after being closed from South Holden Road to High Point Road due to a spill at a chemical plant.
The Greensboro Fire Department responded to Ecoflo at 2750 Patterson St. around 6:15 a.m., according to police.
A vapor cloud was released during overnight tests at Ecoflo, according to Guilford Co. Emergency Management Coordinator Don Campbell. Campbell said the vapor cloud is not a danger to the public.

---------------------------------------------

VALVE MAY HAVE CAUSED CHEMICAL LEAK IN WHITTEN
http://www.kimt.com/news/state/story/Valve-may-have-caused-chemical-leak-in-Whitten/JgE9mXC0NEOrZ1acXMmybQ.cspx
Tags: us_IA, industrial, release, response, ammonia

WHITTEN, Iowa (AP) Ñ Authorities say a valve malfunction may have a caused an anhydrous ammonia spill at a grain elevator in Whitten in northern Iowa.

The Times-Republican in Marshalltown says three supply tanks began leaking at the Mid-Iowa Co-Op late Tuesday morning.

Gundy County Sheriff Rick Penning estimates they spilled about 80 percent of their 28,000 gallons by the time a hazardous materials crew got the leak under control Tuesday afternoon.

No one was hurt and no evacuations were ordered, but a nearby highway was closed for most of the day.

Penning says a vapor cloud created by the fertilizer quickly dissipated in the strong wind.

---------------------------------------------

DYNAMITE FOUND IN BARN IN GARFIELD
http://www.forest-blade.com/news/community/article_71b7d706-67d6-11e1-8f87-001871e3ce6c.html
Tags: us_GA, public, discovery, response, explosives

Friday, March 2, started out as a normal warm spring day. All that changed in the late afternoon. A report was received that old dynamite had been found in a barn next to Highway 23 in Garfield. This triggered a response by the Swainsboro/Emanuel County Hazmat team and the Garfield Fire Department. A command center was established next to the fire station.
A hazmat technician made entry into the barn and determined that 3 sticks of commercial grade dynamite wrapped in a 1970's newspaper were in the building. Once this was confirmed, Chief Mike Strobridge notified the GBI bomb squad and requested their response to the scene. While the bomb squad was enroute from Savannah, plans were developed for the mitigation of the hazard. The final plan was to destroy the dynamite by burning it in the open.
Upon the arrival of the specially equipped bomb squad truck, final preparations were made. Highway 23 was shut down to all traffic, charged fire hose lines were put in place. Bales of hay were prepared to be burnt with the dynamite placed inside. After a final check by the GBI bomb technicians, an announcement "Fire in the hole" was given three times, followed by a small igniter charge starting the hay bales on fire. Within 10 minutes the fire had been reduced to a pile of glowing embers and the hazard destroyed.

---------------------------------------------

HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL SPILLED IN 18-WHEELER CRASH ON I-10
http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Hazardous-chemical-spilled-in-18-wheeler-crash-on-3386761.php
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, response, pce

An 18-wheeler hauling a flammable and potentially hazardous chemical has overturned in the westbound lanes of Interstate 10. The accident site is near the downtown Beaumont exit.

Beaumont Fire Captain Earl White said that the driver picked up a load of tetrachloroethylene (also known as perchloroethylene or perc) from Lake Charles, La.

Approximately 20 gallons of the chemical has been contained by Beaumont Hazmat, but it is the responsibility of the trucking company to clean up the spill, said Officer Carol Riley with Beaumont Police Department.

---------------------------------------------

CHEMICAL SPILL STARTS FIRE AT COMPOSITE CENTER
http://www.newstalkradiowhio.com/news/news/local/chemical-spill-starts-fire-composite-center/nLMhY/
Tags: us_OH, laboratory, fire, response, propanol

KETTERING, Ohio Ñ A chemical spill that occurred during research at the National Composite Center on Tuesday night led to an alcohol-based fire in one of the laboratories on the center's campus.
Fire crews were dispatched at about 6:30 p.m. to the center in the Kettering Business Park, 2000 Composite Drive, on a report of a fire.
Three employees were running an experiment when the spill occurred, said Tom Butts, shift commander, Kettering Fire Department.
"They were doing research unknown to us," Butts said, and an estimated 20 gallons of isopropanol ("high based 100 percent rubbing alcohol") that spilled sought out an electric ignition source and caught fire.
The alcohol was "consumed in the fire," Butts said. The building's suppression system put out the fire.

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