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: November 19, 2012 8:03:12 AM EST
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: <40DBA006-B624-4220-959B-0ABE952C7AC6**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org>

Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, November 19, 2012 8:02:38 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)

HUGE CHEMICAL PLANT FIRE LEADS TO EVACUATIONS
Tags: us_LA, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical

ACCIDENT REPORT, OR ONE DAMN THING AFTER ANOTHER.
Tags: laboratory, fire, response, other_chemical

HEARING BEGINS FOR UCLA PROF CHARGED IN LAB DEATH CASE
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, fire, death

METH LAB REPORTS UP 39 PERCENT NATIONALLY IN PAST THREE YEARS
Tags: us_FL, public, follow-up, response, meth_lab

ROAD SALT LEADS TO CONCORD HOSPITAL HAZMAT SCARE
Tags: us_MA, public, release, response, sodium_chloride

TRAFFORD PARK CHEMICAL LEAK: RESIDENTS WARNED
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, release, response, hydrochloric_acid

INVESTIGATOR CALLS GULF PLATFORM EXPLOSION "VERY SERIOUS"
Tags: us_LA, industrial, explosion, death, petroleum

MASSIVE EXPLOSION & CHEMICAL FIRE AT GARLAND PLANT
Tags: us_TX, industrial, explosion, response, methanol

BOMB DISPOSAL TEAM MAKE CHEMICAL SAFE IN SECONDARY SCHOOL • THE SCORE
Tags: Ireland, laboratory, discovery, response, dinitrophenylhydrazine, time-sensitive

CHEMICAL SPILL ON COUNTY ROAD 286 RESULTED IN NO INJURIES, DAMAGE
Tags: us_OH, transportation, release, response, hydrofluoric_acid


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HUGE CHEMICAL PLANT FIRE LEADS TO EVACUATIONS
http://www.wafb.com/story/20133212/huge-tanker-fire-leads-to-evacuations
Tags: us_LA, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical

SLAUGHTER, LA (WAFB) -
A fire at a chemical plant forced some people out of their homes early Monday morning.

The fire sparked at Monolyte Laboratory on LA 19 near Meadowood Drive in Slaughter a little before 1:30 a.m.
....
The cause of the fire has not been determined.

"The cleanup is going to be a major issue of the facility," Jackson explained. "It was a total loss, totally engulfed and protecting the property around it, the other properties, and I think there's going to be somewhat of an environmental impact. That'll be addressed and I'm sure DEQ will be on that."

Investigators with the state fire marshal's office are on the scene.

Jackson added no one was on site when the fire started and no injuries were reported.
....
The facility is a biochemical research center that deals with mostly environmentally friendly chemicals.

Monolyte employs 25 people and there are usually 15 to 20 people on site at any given time.

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

ACCIDENT REPORT, OR ONE DAMN THING AFTER ANOTHER.
http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2012/10/26/accident_report_or_one_damn_thing_after_another.php
Tags: laboratory, fire, response, other_chemical

Accident Report, or One Damn Thing After Another

I have this from a lab-accidents-I-have-known discussion over on Reddit. It is, of course, unverified, but it's depressingly plausible. As a chemist, this one is guaranteed to make you bury your head in your hands - it's the second law of thermodynamics come to take vengeance, with the entropy increasing as you go along:

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

HEARING BEGINS FOR UCLA PROF CHARGED IN LAB DEATH CASE
http://centurycity.patch.com/articles/hearing-begins-for-ucla-prof-charged-in-lab-death-case
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, fire, death

A staff research assistant who died about two and a half weeks after being injured in a December 2008 laboratory fire at UCLA suffered burns over almost half of her body, a doctor testified Friday.

Dr. Peter H. Grossman told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench that it initially appeared that 45 percent of Sheharbano "Sheri" Sangji's "total body surface area" had been burned, but the amount was later increased to 48.5 percent.

The testimony came during the first day of a hearingÑset to resume MondayÑto determine if there is enough evidence to require UCLA chemistry professor Patrick Harran, 43, to stand trial on three felony counts of willful violation of an occupational safety and health standard causing the death of an employee.

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

METH LAB REPORTS UP 39 PERCENT NATIONALLY IN PAST THREE YEARS
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/nov/18/meth-lab-reports-up-39-percent-nationally-in/
Tags: us_FL, public, follow-up, response, meth_lab

Special Agent Jeffrey Scott of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington, D.C., said the public has it wrong if it thinks the meth threat has disappeared just because we aren't hearing about "trailers catching fire or hotel rooms exploding." Meth remains a growth industry with heavy demand across the country, federal officials say. The number of meth lab "incidents" rose 39 percent from 2008 to 2011.

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

ROAD SALT LEADS TO CONCORD HOSPITAL HAZMAT SCARE
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20121117road_salt_leads_to_concord_hospital_hazmat_scare/srvc=home&position=recent
Tags: us_MA, public, release, response, sodium_chloride

CONCORD - Officials say road salt led to a hazardous materials scare that shut down a hospital emergency room in Concord for several hours.

Hospital officials say a patient walked into the ER at Emerson Hospital around 5 p.m. Saturday with medical complaints and an unidentified white powdery substance.

Hospital officials secured the area and diverted new patients to other facilities. At least five people were put through a decontamination process.

After hours of testing, the substance was identified as road salt, which can cause burning to the skin. The ER was reopened around 9 p.m.

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

TRAFFORD PARK CHEMICAL LEAK: RESIDENTS WARNED
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-20371841
Tags: United_Kingdom, industrial, release, response, hydrochloric_acid

Residents were warned to stay indoors after a leak of hydrochloric acid gas in Greater Manchester.

About 50 firefighters dealt with the spill at the Chemtura chemical plant on Trafford Park.

The building was evacuated and several roads in the Tenax Road area were closed as a precaution.

By late on Friday night Greater Manchester Fire Service had managed to contain the leak. There were no reports of any injuries.

Supt Chris Ullah, from Greater Manchester Police, said: "Emergency services have been working at the chemical plant at Trafford Park this evening and have isolated the leak.

"There are no reports of injuries or any people requiring medical attention.

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

INVESTIGATOR CALLS GULF PLATFORM EXPLOSION "VERY SERIOUS"
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2012/11/16/investigator-calls-gulf-platform-explosion-very-serious/
Tags: us_LA, industrial, explosion, death, petroleum

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is examining an explosion Friday in the Gulf of Mexico, which a board official described as "very serious," after two workers went missing and 11 were injured.
....
"The fact that people are reported to be fatally injured or missing, the fact that a number of folks are hospitalized, the fact that it involves, as reported , a maintenance procedure on a platform with hazardous materials present Ñ all of those speak to the seriousness of the incident," Horowitz said.

The explosion occurred on a production platform off the Louisiana coast Friday morning.

Construction contractors on the facility were in the final stages of a maintenance job when they were to perform a "clean cut" with a saw on a water line, a procedure that went wrong, said John Hoffman, CEO of Black Elk Energy, which operates the platform.

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

MASSIVE EXPLOSION & CHEMICAL FIRE AT GARLAND PLANT
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/11/16/massive-explosion-chemical-fire-at-garland-plant/
Tags: us_TX, industrial, explosion, response, methanol

GARLAND (CBSDFW.COM) - An explosion and subsequent massive fire at a chemical plant in Garland sent workers scrambling and businesses nearby into a panic.

The plant is owned by Nexeo Solutions, LLC a Houston-area company that distributes chemicals, plastics, and composites and also offers environmental services.

According to the company, the chemical methanol was being unloaded from a rail-car when the explosion occurred. Methanol is a highly flammable, toxic, wood alcohol.

The fire burned roughly 10,000 gallons of methanol.

Representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other health agencies are on location at the plant in the 3100 block of Wood Drive, and are monitoring air quality in the area.

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

BOMB DISPOSAL TEAM MAKE CHEMICAL SAFE IN SECONDARY SCHOOL • THE SCORE
http://www.thescore.ie/bomb-disposal-christ-king-cork-677705-Nov2012/
Tags: Ireland, laboratory, discovery, response, dinitrophenylhydrazine, time-sensitive

AN ARMY BOMB Disposal Team visited a Cork girls' secondary school today to make an unstable chemical safe.
The Defence Forces deployed the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team to Christ the King Secondary School, Douglas following a request from the garda’.
Theteam were called to made safe a quantity of the unstable chemical Dinitrophenylhydrazine and arrived on scene at 4pm. The chemical was found in a school laboratory during a routine audit, and was removed to a safe location where it was made safe through the use of a controlled explosion.

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

CHEMICAL SPILL ON COUNTY ROAD 286 RESULTED IN NO INJURIES, DAMAGE
http://www.coshoctontribune.com/article/20121116/NEWS01/311150026/Chemical-spill-County-Road-286-resulted-no-injuries-damage?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFrontpage&nclick_check=1
Tags: us_OH, transportation, release, response, hydrofluoric_acid

COSHOCTON Ñ A small chemical spill Thursday afternoon on County Road 286 resulted in no injuries, property damage or water contamination.

Franklin Conesville Virginia Volunteer Fire Department Chief Randy March said about eight ounces of 30 percent strength hydrofluoric acid spilled shortly after 1 p.m. from a semi-tanker truck parked in a lot on County Road 286, off of Ohio 16 across from AK Steel.

According to the truck driver, it's believed the spill came from an overfill line on the tanker, he said.

"Anything that says acid, that's considered to me as serious, because acid can eat anything," March said. "The truck driver took his rubber gloves and was wiping on the side of the tank to see where it was leaking at and (the acid) ate the paint off the side of the tank."

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

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