From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (7 articles)
Date: October 17, 2012 7:14:11 AM EDT
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: <0E3FDF6F-764A-40FF-8517-38F98322A0C0**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org>

Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, October 17, 2012 7:13:58 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 (7 articles)

FIREFIGHTERS INVESTIGATE CHEMICAL FIRE IN NORTH UTICA
Tags: us_NY, industrial, fire, response, waste

CHEMICAL SPILL CANCELS SCHOOL AT LEWIS & CLARK
Tags: us_WA, laboratory, release, response, hydrochloric_acid

CHEMICAL SPILL REPORTED AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, release, injury, trichloroacetic_acid

CU-BOULDER ENGINEERING CENTER TO REOPEN AT 6:30, EVACUATED OVER UNIDENTIFIED ODOR
Tags: us_CO, education, release, response, unknown_chemical

THOUSANDS EVACUATED IN CHEMICAL ACCIDENT ALERT
Tags: Germany, industrial, release, response, nitric_acid, sodium_hydroxide

CREWS WORK TO CLEAN OIL SPILL
Tags: us_VA, public, release, response, petroleum

BODIES IN COROMANDEL MINE: EXPLOSION REPORTED BEFORE...
Tags: New_Zealand, laboratory, follow-up, death, carbon_monoxide, drugs, gasoline


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FIREFIGHTERS INVESTIGATE CHEMICAL FIRE IN NORTH UTICA
http://www.uticaod.com/features/x1292876109/Firefighters-investigate-chemical-fire-in-North-Utica
Tags: us_NY, industrial, fire, response, waste

UTICA Ñ
City firefighters still were at the scene of a chemical fire Tuesday night at the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority on Leland Avenue in North Utica.

The fire was called in shortly after 2 p.m. and was in a large building filled with garbage and debris, city fire Chief Russell Brooks said.

Firefighters quickly realized there was a chemical in the fire, he said.

It was determined it was a quicklime that becomes flammable when in contact with moisture, and had been accidentally taken there by Special Metals, Brooks said.

Some workers were sent home, while others who were close to the fire had to go through a decontamination process. No one was harmed, Brooks said.

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CHEMICAL SPILL CANCELS SCHOOL AT LEWIS & CLARK
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/oct/16/chemical-spill-cancels-school-lewis-clark/
Tags: us_WA, laboratory, release, response, hydrochloric_acid

Students and staff at Lewis and Clark High School were sent home for the day after a jug of hydrochloric acid was spilled down a stairwell this afternoon.

A student science assistant was transporting the acid when the spill happened.

The school was evacuated just after noon while Spokane Fire Department hazardous material crews responded and cleaned up the mess.

There were no reported injuries or facility damage because of the spill.

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CHEMICAL SPILL REPORTED AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY
http://brookline.patch.com/articles/chemical-spill-reported-at-boston-university
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, release, injury, trichloroacetic_acid

A research assistant at Boston University spilled trichloroacetic acid on himself which touched off a building evacuation on Cummington Street, according to the Boston Fire Department.

Firefighters responded to 24 Cummington St. at 4:08 p.m. on Monday after receiving a call on a chemical spill. According to a department tweet, the research assistant spilled the acid on himself and then was able to decontaminate himself using equipment in the eighth floor lab.

The victim was taken to the hospital for further observation, and there were no other reported injuries at the lab. Firefighters did evacuate the building as a precaution while responding to the lab.

The university will handle the lab cleanup, according to the fire department. Cummington Street is a small street tucked away behind Commonwealth Avenue where Boston University houses many science, math, computer and engineering labs.

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CU-BOULDER ENGINEERING CENTER TO REOPEN AT 6:30, EVACUATED OVER UNIDENTIFIED ODOR
http://www.dailycamera.com/cu-news/ci_21778380/cu-boulder-engineering-center-evacuated-over-unidentified-odor
Tags: us_CO, education, release, response, unknown_chemical

Several hundred students have been evacuated from the Engineering Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder so firefighters could investigate an odor that was first noticed in the chemical wing, according to CU police.

The Hazmat team from the Boulder Fire Department didn't find anything that posed an "immediate danger," police said, and the center is expected to reopen at 6:30 p.m. The basement of the chemical wing will remain closed.

A little before 4 pm. the smell prompted someone to pull the fire alarm in the chemical wing, according to police, and the chemical wing was evacuated. About 45 minutes later, the entire center was evacuated.

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THOUSANDS EVACUATED IN CHEMICAL ACCIDENT ALERT
http://www.thelocal.de/national/20121016-45575.html
Tags: Germany, industrial, release, response, nitric_acid, sodium_hydroxide

Around 2,000 people were evacuated from their houses on Monday night after a chemical accident in a food factory in Lower Saxony sparked a catastrophe alarm.

"At around 1 pm a tank of sodium hydroxide solution was by mistake filled with nitric acid," said Heike Hauerken, spokeswoman for Kraft Foods, at the factory in Bad Fallingbostel, between Bremen and Hannover. The chemicals are used for cleaning.

A reaction started while fire fighters tried to pump the nitric acid out of the tank, producing a poisonous cloud of nitrous gases considered extremely harmful if they come into contact with skin or are inhaled.

The 250 or so people working at the factory were evacuated, as were around 800 people living in the immediate vicinity - but shortly afterwards the risk zone was enlarged to around 500 metres in radius and a further 1,000 or so people were told to leave their houses.

Emergency accommodation was set up for them in nearby halls, and Stephan Meier, spokesman for the regional fire brigade, said the evacuation ran smoothly. The A7 autobahn was also closed for a short while.

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

CREWS WORK TO CLEAN OIL SPILL
http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/crews-work-to-clean-oil-spill
Tags: us_VA, public, release, response, petroleum

HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) - More than 3,000 gallons of motor oil leaked from a storage tank into a drainage ditch in the Briarfield neighborhood Sunday.

Hampton hazmat crews contained the spill to area about a quarter mile, said Hampton Fire Department spokesman Capt . Anthony Chittum . However, residents faced the smell of oil for several hours while cleanup crews worked to remove the spill.

Hampton fire units first responded to the leak in the 2100 block of Mingee Drive at 12: 50 p.m. They notified the business owner who told them the tank had contained from 3,000 to 3,500 gallons of oil.

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BODIES IN COROMANDEL MINE: EXPLOSION REPORTED BEFORE...
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7815175/Mine-pair-electrocuted-in-P-lab-accident-say-locals
Tags: New_Zealand, laboratory, follow-up, death, carbon_monoxide, drugs, gasoline

The two men killed in an abandoned Coromandel mine on Saturday died of carbon monoxide inhalation.

They were Kerry Alexander Murphy, 40 and Grant Christopher Wyllie, 49, both from Whitianga.

Significant amounts of chemical were found which is consistent with a drug lab, police told media at a press conference in Whitianga today.

There was no explosion in or around the mine, said acting Detective Sergeant Ross Patterson.

The mens' deaths were treated as sudden deaths as opposed to homicide and police were not looking for anyone else.

He said there were inherent risks to life in operating petrol powered generators in confined spaces.
He warned people to be diligent in operating generators under ground.

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


Ralph Stuart
secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Secretary
Division of Chemical Health and Safety
American Chemical Society

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