From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (10 articles)
Date: August 6, 2012 7:10:18 AM EDT
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: <F2693CE3-219B-49B8-A959-9573E20C259F**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org>

Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, August 6, 2012 7:09:57 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 (10 articles)

BNSF TRAIL DERAILS ON KFYR-TV NORTH DAKOTA'S NBC NEWS LEADER
Tags: us_ND, transportation, fire, response, ethanol

I-5 NORTHBOUND IN SEATTLE REOPENS AFTER HAZMAT SPILL
Tags: us_WA, transportation, release, response, bleach

17 ROOMS SEALED OFF AT HOTEL DUE TO CHEMICAL LAB
Tags: us_MA, public, release, environmental, flammables, meth_lab

NH CHARGED WITH MAKING HOMEMADE BOMBS
Tags: us_NH, public, explosion, response, bomb

FIREFIGHTERS, HAZMAT TEAM RESPOND TO CA ACID LEAK
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, chlorine, pool_chemicals

SPAULDING HIGH SCHOOL EVACUATED AFTER LABORATORY INCIDENT
Tags: us_VT, laboratory, release, injury, unknown_chemical

ROOF WORK LEADS TO PORT ORANGE CITY HALL EVACUATION
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, epoxy

HOUSTON-AREA TRUCK WRECK CREATES HAZMAT SITUATION
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, injury, unknown_chemical

CROW HAZMAT RESPONSE
Tags: us_WA, public, discovery, response, dust

CHEMICAL FIRE ON ROOF OF HOLLYWOOD SCHOOL CAUSED BY PAINT
Tags: us_FL, education, fire, response, metals, xylene


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

BNSF TRAIL DERAILS ON KFYR-TV NORTH DAKOTA'S NBC NEWS LEADER
http://www.kfyrtv.com/News_Stories.asp?news=58515
Tags: us_ND, transportation, fire, response, ethanol

A train headed for Montana derailed Sunday afternoon.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe says around 2:45 M.T. fifteen cars veered off a railroad track. Fourteen of them were carrying denatured alcohol, which is used as a fuel additive. The other was carrying cardboard.
Eight cars caught fire and are continuing to burn. BNSF authorities say the fire does not pose an environmental threat. Local hazmat responders are on the scene.

BNSF employees are assessing if they can rerail some of the cars. BNSF says about eight to ten cars operate on the track every day. The company estimates it`ll take about three weeks to remove all the wreckage.

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

I-5 NORTHBOUND IN SEATTLE REOPENS AFTER HAZMAT SPILL
http://www.nwcn.com/news/washington/164680416.html
Tags: us_WA, transportation, release, response, bleach

All northbound lanes of Interstate 5 coming into Seattle were closed Wednesday afternoon due to a hazardous substance spill.
The freeway was closed around 1:30 p.m. ahead of the South Holgate Street/Interstate 90 exit, after a tanker truck carrying sodium borohydride, used to bleach wood products, spilled some of its load onto the highway.
Traffic was halted on the northbound lanes for nearly two hours. By late Wednesday afternoon, traffic was moving again, but several lanes remained closed.
Seattle Fire officials initially thought that about 50 gallons of the substance had spilled over a 1,500 yards; however, they later said the spill was only two gallons.

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

17 ROOMS SEALED OFF AT HOTEL DUE TO CHEMICAL LAB
http://peabody.patch.com/articles/17-rooms-sealed-off-at-hotel-due-to-chemical-lab
Tags: us_MA, public, release, environmental, flammables, meth_lab

One of the costly side effects of the makeshift chemical lab found in a room at the Holiday Inn last Sunday is that the hotel has had to close off 17 other rooms as well. Not to mention that nearly 200 guests were temporarily evacuated that night as a precaution.

Building Commissioner Kevin Goggin says the additional rooms had to be sealed off and decontaminated due to the chemicals found inside the one ground floor room. Authorities have still not confirmed whether it was in fact a crystal meth lab, but either way the environmental effects were similar.

Drug authorities say the vapors from the toxic and highly flammable chemicals used in makeshift meth labs can permeate walls and carpeting, rendering the areas uninhabitable without remediation.

Goggin said the rooms essentially had to be "scrubbed down" and the furnishings and furniture tossed. Before the rooms can be reopened, environmental testing must be performed, and if there are positive results, Goggin will then inspect the rooms and allow them to be unsealed if he finds no lingering problems.

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

NH CHARGED WITH MAKING HOMEMADE BOMBS
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2012/08/03/nh_charged_with_making_homemade_bombs/
Tags: us_NH, public, explosion, response, bomb

CONWAY, N.H.ÑPolice in Conway, N.H., say a man has been accused of building and exploding several homemade bombs near his home.

Police arrested Andrew Schroeder of North Conway on Thursday.

WMWV radio reports hazmat team technicians neutralized five of the bombs. Three were in glass bottles and two were large plastic containers.

Conway Fire Chief Steve Solomon said the bombs had enough energy to blow off someone's fingers or blow up a mailbox. No one was hurt.

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

FIREFIGHTERS, HAZMAT TEAM RESPOND TO CA ACID LEAK
http://www.fireengineering.com/news/2012/08/03/scores-evacuated-after-acid-leak.html
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, chlorine, pool_chemicals

Fire officials and a hazardous-materials team evacuated nearly 100 people from a Salvation Army Community Center on Wednesday after reports of an acid leak.
Faculty and children at the center in the 1500 block of West North Street reported smelling an odd gas about 1:50 p.m., said Maria Sabol, a spokeswoman for the city Fire Department.
The fumes reportedly came from below a junior Olympic-size swimming pool. About 70 children and 20 faculty members were evacuated to across the street; they were uninjured.
About 16 firefighters, including a hazmat team dressed in suits to protect against any liquid, responded. The firefighters located a pump for the pool in the basement. The pump somehow became loose and began splashing acid into dry chlorine pellets, causing a chemical reaction, Sabol said.
Firefighters shut down the pump and were trying to determine what cause the burst of liquids. It was unclear how much of the acid had spilled, Sabol said.

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

SPAULDING HIGH SCHOOL EVACUATED AFTER LABORATORY INCIDENT
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20120803/NEWS07/308030011/Spaulding-High-School-evacuated-after-laboratory-incident?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE&nclick_check=1
Tags: us_VT, laboratory, release, injury, unknown_chemical

The Vermont Hazmat Response Team responded Friday afternoon to a chemical spill at Spaulding High School in Barre.

The two school employees who discovered the spill and three firefighters who might also have been exposed to the fumes were transported to and evaluated at Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin, according to the city's police department.

"The incident appears to be accidental and is under investigation," the Barre City Police Department stated in a news release.

Barre Supervisory Union Superintendent John Bacon said the building was evacuated at about 12:30 p.m. when workers saw smoke in a chemistry lab's storage room. Classes were not in session at the time, he said.

"The fire department has taken over and they're determining what the nature of the problem is," Bacon said.

In addition to the Barre Fire Department, firefighters from nearby stations also responded to the scene.

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

ROOF WORK LEADS TO PORT ORANGE CITY HALL EVACUATION
http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/east-volusia/2012/08/04/roof-work-leads-to-port-orange-city-hall-evacuation.html
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, epoxy

Port Orange City Hall employees were evacuated Friday afternoon when epoxy vapors got into the air-conditioning system, a Port Orange spokesman said.

Employees were allowed back inside about 3:40 p.m. after the air conditioner was vented and tested twice, said Kent Donohue, special assistant to the city manager.

About 12:30 p.m., employees began noticing a strange smell throughout the building, especially on the second floor, Donohue said. Not long after that, the building was evacuated and Port Orange Fire Rescue, South Daytona Fire Rescue and a Volusia County hazmat team began investigating.

Donohue said roof workers using epoxy happened to be near the air conditioning intake unit and the vapors made their way into the building.

One City Hall employee was treated at the scene and sent home for the day, Donohue said.

He also said the city's public works staff, city manager's office and the construction contractor will be meeting Monday to discuss having workers perform the construction at different times to avoid similar issues.

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

HOUSTON-AREA TRUCK WRECK CREATES HAZMAT SITUATION
http://www.dailytribune.net/news/state/article_4e598346-7789-5aa6-b092-3e8152baa950.html
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, injury, unknown_chemical

Officials say a trucker has been critically hurt in a Texas wreck that led to a hazardous materials scare when a soap-making chemical leaked.
Hospital authorities say five emergency workers were treated Wednesday for possible exposure to what turned out to be a non-hazardous material.
The Department of Public Safety says the accident happened near Cleveland, about 40 miles northeast of Houston. A freight-hauling truck hit a tree.
Officials say the driver was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston. Further details on the trucker weren't immediately released.
Bryan McLeod with the Harris County Hospital District says hospital officials initially were not sure of the chemical. A decontamination area was set up. McLeod says experts later determined the chemical was alkaline sulfate, which is used to make soap products.

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

CROW HAZMAT RESPONSE
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2012/07/morning-memo-wednesday-7/
Tags: us_WA, public, discovery, response, dust

Those darn crows. Some crows raised a hazmat alarm yesterday when they found a bag of white powder and dropped it in the middle of a street in Edmonds, according to a story in The Herald in Everett. A jogger saw the bag, picked it up and threw it in a trash bin. Someone else later saw the white power left behind in the street and called authorities, which resulted in a two-alarm hazardous materials response. The powder turned out to be flour. It took an hour to clear the scene.

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

CHEMICAL FIRE ON ROOF OF HOLLYWOOD SCHOOL CAUSED BY PAINT
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/04/2933356/chemical-fire-on-roof-of-hollywood.html
Tags: us_FL, education, fire, response, metals, xylene

A chemical fire started on the roof of Red Apple Charter School in Hollywood Saturday morning when metal canisters filled with paint and primer were left on the roof in the summer sun, Hollywood Police Spokesman Joel Medina said.

Xylene, a chemical in the paint, was the catalyst that caused the paint to ignite.

After the fire was put out, the canisters continued to rise to temperatures over 120 degrees and emit fumes, Medina said. The Hollywood Hazardous Material team said the fumes were not harmful to residents of the area. The fumes were gone by Saturday evening.

The Environmental Protection Agency's Broward office said the fire and chemicals would not cause damages to the area around the school, Medina said.

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

Previous post   |  Top of Page   |   Next post



The content of this page reflects the personal opinion(s) of the author(s) only, not the American Chemical Society, ILPI, Safety Emporium, or any other party. Use of any information on this page is at the reader's own risk. Unauthorized reproduction of these materials is prohibited. Send questions/comments about the archive to secretary@dchas.org.
The maintenance and hosting of the DCHAS-L archive is provided through the generous support of Safety Emporium.