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: March 27, 2013 8:55:43 AM EDT
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: <EFF61C69-DEAA-4D20-962A-4F1A6BB3F294**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org>

Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, March 27, 2013 8:54:46 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)

HAZMAT CREWS PROBE CHEMICAL SPILL AT GWINNETT SHOPPING CENTER
Tags: us_GA, transportation, release, injury, hydrofluoric_acid

FIRE OFFICIALS CITE OWNERS OF BURNED GARFIELD APARTMENT BUILDING
Tags: us_PA, public, fire, injury, unknown_chemical

1 INJURED IN HOSPITAL LAB EXPLOSION: FIRE OFFICIALS SAY
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, explosion, injury, chlorine_dioxide

ALBANY AREA CHEMICAL PLANT FINED
Tags: us_NY, industrial, follow-up, environmental, flammables, oxidizer, resin

TEXAS HEALTH PLANO EMPLOYEE INJURED IN CHEMICAL FIRE
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, fire, injury, unknown_chemical

NO SERIOUS INJURIES IN EXPLOSION AT BISMARCK BUSINESS; DAMAGE TO BUILDING ESTIMATED AT $50,000
Tags: us_ND, industrial, explosion, injury, petroleum

O.C. BUSINESS EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_WI, transportation, release, injury, formaldehyde


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HAZMAT CREWS PROBE CHEMICAL SPILL AT GWINNETT SHOPPING CENTER
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/lawrenceville-possible-acid-spill/nW4z3/
Tags: us_GA, transportation, release, injury, hydrofluoric_acid

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. Ñ Hazmat crews are investigating a chemical spill at a Lawrenceville shopping center.

News Chopper 2 flew over the Springfield Park shopping center, where several vehicles with the county's fire department were in a back parking lot Tuesday afternoon. Members of the county's hazmat team were examining areas underneath a tractor-trailer. Firefighters said there was a spill involving hydrofluoric acid, a heavy cleaning chemical.

"The truck was delivering product and the product was inside of the truck, and it started spilling out," Gwinnett County fire Lt. Colin Rhoden told Channel 2's Kerry Kavanaugh.

The chemical was headed elsewhere, but officials with the Gwinnett Medical Center said the truck was making a separate delivery to its human resources building when the spill was discovered.

Rhoden said four people were exposed -- meaning the chemical was on their skin -- and they were taken to the Gwinnett Medical Center to be decontaminated. He said the spill involved half of a five-gallon container.

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FIRE OFFICIALS CITE OWNERS OF BURNED GARFIELD APARTMENT BUILDING
http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/3731672-74/building-fire-officials#axzz2Ogs659YD
Tags: us_PA, public, fire, injury, unknown_chemical

Pittsburgh firefighters responding shortly after 7 a.m. used ladders to rescue 24 people after flames and smoke from a chemical fire filled the stairwells of the three-story building in the 300 block of North Negley Avenue.

A number of residents told reporters that the only way to safety was out their apartment windows and that until firefighters arrived they feared they might have to jump.

They said climbing down the ladders was treacherous because of falling snow.

Investigators, who ruled the fire accidental, determined it started when chemicals maintenance workers left in a hallway ignited and quickly spread into the stairwells, trapping many residents inside their apartments.

Four people were hospitalized for smoke inhalation and paramedics treated 10 others at the scene.

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1 INJURED IN HOSPITAL LAB EXPLOSION: FIRE OFFICIALS SAY
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/1-Injured-in-Hospital-Lab-Explosion-Fire-Officials-Say-199876111.html
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, explosion, injury, chlorine_dioxide

One person has been injured in an explosion at a lab at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Plano, fire officials say.

According to the Plano Fire Department, an employee was cleaning a lab in the basement of Tower 3 and using chlorine dioxide when something sparked a flash fire and the chemical exploded.

The employee suffereed burns to the face and hands and was taken to the ER. Fire officials said the employee is lucky and that chlorine dioxide is very volatile. Further information on the condition of the employee was not yet available.

HAZMAT was called to the scene at 6200 West Parker Road in Plano and the basement was evacuated. Officials are monitoring the air quality in the basement and on the first floor and expect to reopen the areas at about 1 p.m. Meanwhile, the hospital is not being evacuated and has not been affected.

Hospital officials released the following statement after noon Monday:

"There was a small explosion this morning in a lab at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano. No patient rooms are in the building where the lab is located, and no patients or visitors were affected by the accident. One worker sustained minor injuries. The lab was temporarily closed and has reopened."

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

ALBANY AREA CHEMICAL PLANT FINED
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Chemical-plant-fined-4383592.php
Tags: us_NY, industrial, follow-up, environmental, flammables, oxidizer, resin

One of the Capital Region's largest chemical plants has been hit with its third state pollution fine in less than two years, after air pollution control equipment exploded last fall due to improper operation.

SI Group, which operates its plant at Main Street in Rotterdam Junction, agreed to pay a $112,500 fine under the federal Clean Air Act, according to a consent order signed with the state Department of Environmental Conservation this month.

It was the fifth largest air pollution fine levied in the nine-county DEC Region 4 in the last 10 years.

SI Group also agreed to DEC oversight in obtaining and installing new pollution control equipment for its chemical resin processing operation, and to have a system acceptable to the state picked out by mid-May. If those conditions are not met, SI faces another $165,000 in fines.

An Oct. 10 explosion at the plant that destroyed an air pollution unit was preventable, according to DEC, and was caused because SI workers "lacked knowledge of the full range" of the explosive nature of the chemical reaction, and had "improperly engineered" a release of flammable vapor.

After a four-month investigation into the destruction of the equipment, called a regenerative thermal oxidizer, DEC "concluded that neither a malfunction nor an emergency existed" despite what the company had first claimed, according to a Feb. 21 report.

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

TEXAS HEALTH PLANO EMPLOYEE INJURED IN CHEMICAL FIRE
http://www.mesquitenews.com/articles/2013/03/25/plano_star-courier/news/7698.txt
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, fire, injury, unknown_chemical

An employee at Texas Health Presbyterian Plano suffered minor injuries after a chemical-induced flash fire occurred in a basement-level hospital lab this morning.

The employee, who was a member of the hospital's cleaning crew, was mixing chemical supplies when a chemical reaction sparked the fire, said Captain Peggy Harrell of Plano Fire-Rescue.

The employee suffered minor burns to his hands, face and scalp and was able to make his own way to the hospital emergency room, Harrell said.

Fire crews arrived at 10:30 a.m., by which time employees had already self-evacuated the area. A hazardous materials team was also called out due to test for traces of chemicals in the air.

The scene was cleared by crews around 12:15 p.m., Harrell said. The lab where the fire occurred was closed temporarily and has since reopened.

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NO SERIOUS INJURIES IN EXPLOSION AT BISMARCK BUSINESS; DAMAGE TO BUILDING ESTIMATED AT $50,000
http://www.pendletontimespost.com/view/story/201fd98e5ad3486cae8baccfe366aac5/ND--Bismarck-Business-Blast/
Tags: us_ND, industrial, explosion, injury, petroleum

BISMARCK, North Dakota Ñ Authorities say one worker had singed hair on his beard and two others reported hearing loss after an explosion inside a Bismarck business, but there were no serious injuries.

The blast at BEP Petroleum & Tank on Monday afternoon blew a hole in the roof of the building. Fire officials say workers welding on a tanker used to transport petroleum products ignited fumes inside the tank.

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

O.C. BUSINESS EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
http://oakcreek.patch.com/articles/oak-creek-business-evacuated-after-chemical-spill
Tags: us_WI, transportation, release, injury, formaldehyde

Employees at Dunham Express were evacuated and examined by paramedics after a chemical spill Monday night.

According to an Oak Creek police report, five gallons of Formalin spilled off a pallet at the business, 7420 S. 10th St., about 11:15 p.m.

Employees became overwhelmed by the fumes as they tried to clean it up, according to the report. Paramedics checked each employee, but none were taken to the hospital.

The Milwaukee Hazmat Team was called in for clean up, and fire departments from Oak Creek and Milwaukee also responded to the scene.

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


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

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