From: Secretary ACS DCHAS <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] CHAS Tweets and Chemical Safety headlines (7 articles)
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 07:28:20 -0500
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 76859D15-27A7-4465-BDA2-679F1D56A97D**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


**At_Symbol_Here**ACSDCHAS and **At_Symbol_Here**LabSustain tweets and Chemical Safety Headlines
A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
Connecting Chemistry and Safety at http://www.dchas.org
Tweets available on our ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety (DCHAS) Facebook Page
Tagged Article summaries are available at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas

cornelllabsafe ES&T: Decision Support Framework for Developing Regional Energy Strategies http://t.co/szWDtyXXRk http://t.co/I5Y6Z596Jf

acsdchas ES&T: Integration of Risk and Sustainability in Regulatory Decision Making http://t.co/r2pSRPQuFq http://t.co/WuYp2YUzbP

SafetyStratus ACS Webinar: Tragic Chemical Accidents: Tales, Investigations, and Lessons Learned http://t.co/eMM0fwSL9m

cornelllabsafe C&EN: Toxicity Unknown: Lack of data hampers response to chemical spill in West Virginia http://t.co/npz1bW33qL http://t.co/hqKJ6lEU3X

SustainCornell Comstock Energy Cons.Project Saves $108,000 & 270 tons CO2e Annually #CUGreenergy energy use lower- improved comfort http://t.co/ebR9BDioog

CCOHS Get the scoop on shoveling snow safely. Here are 10 tips: http://t.co/yUiEzoEKUG

acsdchas Cornell: Inflatable Dancing Scarecrows Save Crops http://t.co/MC4gZF2iCU http://t.co/9mB4ELfwvn

cornelllabsafe Cornell Faculty Senate Urges Fossil Fuel Divestment http://t.co/OQvYZJcLDZ

acsdchas ACS Webinar: Top 10 Tips to Publish Your Research Work in English Language Journals http://t.co/lqhDKWxtwn http://t.co/iWw90gkCqf

cornelllabsafe Jan 29 Webinar: Students and Safety Culture in Laboratories http://t.co/57GTlwwMD6

JChemHealthSafe New Articles in Press for **At_Symbol_Here**JChemHealthSafe on **At_Symbol_Here**sciencedirect : Adding amines to steam humidification systems and Explosives Safety

acsdchas RT **At_Symbol_Here**CHMMNews: Freedom Industries Ordered To Remove Storage Tanks After West Virginia ? ? Huffington Post http://t.co/aqDqYWgY8s #HazMat 21 hours ago reply reply all retweet fwd

Table of Contents (7 articles)

TRANSCANADA GAS PIPELINE EXPLODES IN MANITOBA, RAISES SAFETY CONCERNS
Tags: Canada, transportation, explosion, response, methane, natural_gas

EMERGENCY SERVICES SPEND THE NIGHT CLEANING TOXIC CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: Australia, transportation, release, response, pesticides

CREWS BATTLE TANK BATTERY FIRE NEAR PERRY
Tags: us_OK, industrial, fire, response, batteries

GERMAN COWS CAUSE METHANE BLAST IN RASDORF
Tags: Germany, industrial, explosion, injury, ammonia, methane

CSB RETREAT ON REFINERY REFORM
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, injury

BUDGET CUTS SLOW CHEMICAL LEAK PROBE
Tags: us_WV, industrial, follow-up, response, other_chemical

THE INTELLIGENCER / WHEELING NEWS-REGISTER
Tags: us_WV, public, follow-up, response


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TRANSCANADA GAS PIPELINE EXPLODES IN MANITOBA, RAISES SAFETY CONCERNS
http://www.cos-mag.com/safety/safety-stories/3797-transcanada-gas-pipeline-explodes-in-manitoba-raises-safety-concerns.html
Tags: Canada, transportation, explosion, response, methane, natural_gas

A natural gas pipeline operated by TransCanada exploded and caught fire in a rural area of Manitoba early on Jan. 25, but there were no injuries, a federal regulator said.
The explosion happened near Otterburne, Man., about 25 km south of Winnipeg. The area was evacuated as a precaution, said the National Energy Board, which oversees parts of Canada's energy industry.

"We could see these massive 200- to 300-meter high flames just shooting out of the ground and it literally sounded like a jet plane," said resident Paul Rawluk, as quoted by the CBC.

The line was shut down and was depressurized to contain the fire, the energy board said, adding it would work with the federal Transportation Safety Board to determine the cause.

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EMERGENCY SERVICES SPEND THE NIGHT CLEANING TOXIC CHEMICAL SPILL
http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/emergency-services-spend-the-night-cleaning-toxic-chemical-spill/story-fnhocxo3-1226812746764
Tags: Australia, transportation, release, response, pesticides

UP to 300L of herbicide spilt from a sea container being transported by truck between Fremantle and Maddington yesterday.

Emergency services spent hours cleaning up the weed killer at two sites in Maddington and Kewdale, which spilt between 4pm and 6pm.

Roads in both suburbs were closed while the area was cleaned.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services said the chemical was been identified as Paraquat.

The herbicide is toxic when it comes into contact with skin, irritation with redness and itchiness. Skin irritation can be relieved by washing the affected area with warm soapy water.

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CREWS BATTLE TANK BATTERY FIRE NEAR PERRY
http://www.news9.com/story/24557983/crews-battle-oil-field-fire-near-perry
Tags: us_OK, industrial, fire, response, batteries

PERRY, Oklahoma - Thick black smoke filled the sky as crews battled a tank battery farm fire west of I-35 Monday afternoon.
The fire struck eight tanks two miles west of Perry off of John Wayne Rd.

The fire was contained after 5:30 p.m. once crews used foam to put the fire out.

No injuries were reported.

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GERMAN COWS CAUSE METHANE BLAST IN RASDORF
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25922514
Tags: Germany, industrial, explosion, injury, ammonia, methane

Methane gas released by dairy cows has caused an explosion in a cow shed in Germany, police said.

The roof was damaged and one of the cows was injured in the blast in the central German town of Rasdorf.

Thanks to the belches and flatulence of the 90 dairy cows in the shed, high levels of the gas had built up.

Then "a static electric charge caused the gas to explode with flashes of flames" the force said in a statement quoted by Reuters news agency.

Emergency services attended the farm and took gas readings to test for the risk of further blasts, said local media.

Cows are believed to emit up to 500 litres of methane each per day.

Cattle ranching is a polluting business - methane is a potent greenhouse gas and cows also release large amounts of ammonia, which can lead to toxic acidification of soil and water bodies.

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CSB RETREAT ON REFINERY REFORM
http://cen.acs.org/articles/92/i4/Retreat-Refinery-Reform.html
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, injury

By a divided vote, the Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) nixed a staff recommendation for an overhaul of California refinery regulations. As a consequence, California?s potential to be a test bed for a new approach to refinery safety regulations is postponed, if not dashed.
The vote by board members Beth Rosenberg and Mark Griffon opposed that of CSB Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso and the views of most community members at a crowded, nearly five-hour hearing in Richmond, Calif., on Jan. 15.
The recommendation sprang from CSB?s investigation of an August 2012 accident involving a ruptured pipe at the Chevron refinery in Richmond, which sent 15,000 residents to area hospitals. CSB?s accident report noted that the accident?s cause was a result of a ?patchwork? of inadequate U.S. refinery regulations and urged a sweeping change in those regulations (C&EN, Dec. 23, 2013, page 7).

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BUDGET CUTS SLOW CHEMICAL LEAK PROBE
http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201401260066
Tags: us_WV, industrial, follow-up, response, other_chemical

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The state and federal agencies that have been responding to the Elk River chemical leak all have one thing in common: They have had their budgets cut in the last few years.

And people connected with those agencies say, perhaps not surprisingly, that the cuts have hurt their ability to prevent and respond to situations like the water crisis in West Virginia.

The federal Chemical Safety Board is conducting a long-term investigation into what went wrong at Freedom Industries' site on the Elk, and what can be done to prevent future incidents.

The CSB has 41 employees, about half of whom are investigators. Its investigation in Charleston is expected to take about a year. The agency's budget -- about $10.5 million -- has been essentially flat for the last five years, although after the leak its 2014 funding was increased by $500,000, following a request by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives previously passed a broad spending bill that would have cut the CSB's funding by 25 percent, to about $8 million per year.

Rafael Moure-Eraso, the CSB's chairman, said that his agency had also lost $450,000 in 2013 due to the automatic federal budget cuts known as sequestration. He said that funding issues have slowed down and hampered his agency's investigations.

"Oh very much so. We have three active investigative teams, so in order for Mr. Banks to be here with his team, he has to stop the work on the particular investigation he was running," Moure-Eraso said.

Lead investigator Johnnie Banks had to leave his investigation of an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, to come to the Kanawha Valley.

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THE INTELLIGENCER / WHEELING NEWS-REGISTER
http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/595083/Chemical-Storage-Rules-Needed-Soon.html?nav=511
Tags: us_WV, public, follow-up, response

A bill aimed at preventing chemical spills like the disastrous one earlier this year in Kanawha County is moving through the West Virginia Legislature with lightning speed.

That is appropriate. Mountain State residents were right to be upset upon learning neither state nor federal agencies monitor chemical storage tanks such as the one that leaked, contaminating water used by about 300,000 customers.

Some lawmakers worry the proposed new law will be an unnecessary burden on chemical businesses and public water systems. They, too, are right to consider that aspect of the bill.

Still, something needs to be done quickly to reassure West Virginians our water is safe from being tainted by hazardous chemicals. Lawmakers should enact the bill - with a "sunset" provision requiring it be reevaluated later this year.

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