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: Wed, 5 Nov 2014 07:44:02 -0500
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: A0564872-14D9-45FF-A576-849FDBA59272**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, November 5, 2014 at 7:43:39 AM

A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas

Table of Contents (10 articles)

CSB RECOMMENDS STRICTER CONTROLS FOR EDUCATIONAL DEMOS
Tags: laboratory, follow-up, injury, flammables

UPDATE: NO CHEMICAL LEAK FOUND AT RAIL YARD, FUMES FROM NEARBY BUSINESS BLAMED
Tags: us_LA, public, release, response, unknown_chemical

WHEN ‰??FIRE TORNADO‰?? RUNS WILD
Tags: us_CO, education, follow-up, injury, flammables, methanol

1 INJURED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT PHOENIX STORE
Tags: us_AZ, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

FRACKING NEAR MARSHALL CHEMICAL PLANT ON HOLD
Tags: us_WV, industrial, discovery, environmental, methane, natural_gas

HASH OIL LAB FIRES A GROWING, EXPLOSIVE THREAT IN CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, fire, response, butane, drugs

WARRANT: FBI LOOKING FOR RICIN IN OSHKOSH
Tags: us_WI, laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical

MHFD: NO ONE INJURED IN SPLASH'S BLAZE
Tags: us_AR, public, fire, response, unknown_chemical

UPDATE: WALLACE ROAD REOPENS AFTER IODINE SPILL CLEARED
Tags: us_OR, transportation, release, response, ag_chems

EXPLOSION ON REDMOND SCHOOL PARKING LOT INJURES BUS DRIVERS
Tags: us_WA, education, explosion, injury, bomb


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CSB RECOMMENDS STRICTER CONTROLS FOR EDUCATIONAL DEMOS
Tags: laboratory, follow-up, injury, flammables

The U.S. Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board released a report last week with ‰??Key Lessons for Preventing Incidents from Flammable Chemicals in Educational Demonstrations.‰?? When C&EN posted my story about the report on Friday, we said that 20 children and two adults had been injured in fires from educational demos since the start of September.
As we posted the story, there was another incident, at a high school in Chicago: ‰??The students were mixing chemicals in the chemistry lab to create a green flame when something went wrong and there was an explosion, police said.‰?? That incident brings the injury count to 22 children and two adults.

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

UPDATE: NO CHEMICAL LEAK FOUND AT RAIL YARD, FUMES FROM NEARBY BUSINESS BLAMED
Tags: us_LA, public, release, response, unknown_chemical

Authorities have given the all-clear sign at a rail yard near Walker Road after finding no chemical leaks in any of the rail cars, Alton Trahan with the Lafayette Fire Department said.

Parts of Walker Road were closed earlier Tuesday afternoon and hazardous materials teams were brought in to check the railyard after someone smelled chemicals, Trahan said.

It turns out that what the person smelled were fumes from the Cameron Street business where workers were painting and sealing the roof, Trahan said.

"Everything was coming from that business," Trahan said.

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

WHEN ‰??FIRE TORNADO‰?? RUNS WILD
Tags: us_CO, education, follow-up, injury, flammables, methanol

DENVER ‰?? Science teachers need more safety training before running dazzling chemical experiments that can result in dangerous flash fires, according to a recommendation from a federal board charged with investigating such accidents.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board reviewed three fires stemming from science demonstrations during the last two months. The incidents in Nevada, Colorado and Illinois inflicted burns on students and adults when methanol caught fire while an educator was attempting a demonstration.

Federal investigators say the fires had common problems: The demonstrators lacked proper safety training, and they used flammable chemicals in greater quantities than necessary. No safety barriers such as a clear shield were used between the experiment and the audience.

The fires caused painful injuries but no deaths.

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

1 INJURED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT PHOENIX STORE
Tags: us_AZ, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

One person was injured after a chemical spill at a wholesale restaurant-supply store in Phoenix on Tuesday, a fire official said.

The spill occurred after a pallet of mixed chemicals, including some cleaning products, fell over at the Restaurant Depot, located near Indian School Road and 27th Avenue, said Capt. Troy Caskey, a spokesman for the Phoenix Fire Department.

The injured person was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Caskey said.

The store was evacuated after the spill, and a HAZMAT team was called to clean up the store, Caskey said.

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

FRACKING NEAR MARSHALL CHEMICAL PLANT ON HOLD
Tags: us_WV, industrial, discovery, environmental, methane, natural_gas

A Houston company‰??s plans to hydraulically fracture natural gas wells near a Marshall County chemical plant are on hold, pending a full hearing before a local judge.

Late last week, Marshall County Circuit Judge David Hummel Jr. issued a temporary restraining order that blocks the ‰??fracking‰?? by Gastar Exploration Inc. of wells located near Axiall Corp.‰??s chemical manufacturing plant at Natrium.

In a four-page order, Hummel noted that previous fracking in the area ‰??did cause significant harm‰?? to Axiall, and that the chemical maker faced ‰??significant‰?? likelihood of ‰??irreparable harm.‰??

The judge‰??s order is the latest move in an ongoing effort by Axiall to stop or at least slow down more natural gas development near the site of a ‰??near catastrophic‰?? fracking incident that damaged brine wells Axiall uses to obtain saltwater, one of the key materials used in its manufacturing process.

‰??While the experts disagree as to the risk associated with the current fracking plan, should the plan fail, [Axiall] and the public would be significantly damaged,‰?? the judge‰??s order said. ‰??The potential permeation of natural gas through plaintiff‰??s brine wells into the atmosphere would cause great danger of explosion and harm.‰??

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

HASH OIL LAB FIRES A GROWING, EXPLOSIVE THREAT IN CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, fire, response, butane, drugs

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY (CBS SF) ‰?? Crews say a fire at an Antioch apartment Monday was started by a butane hash oil lab, making it the second fire in four days involving an explosive chemical inside a Contra Costa County home.
‰??Unfortunately, we are seeing a significant increase in these kinds of fires, in part due to the relative ease of the process, and because of the ability to purchase the pure butane in large amounts,‰?? said Contra Costa County Fire Marshal Robert Marshall.
On Monday night, crews found an extinguished fire on the balcony of a second story apartment in the 2200 block of Sycamore.
They quickly discovered that the cause of the fire was due to an accumulation of high purity butane being used to extract hash oil from marijuana.

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

WARRANT: FBI LOOKING FOR RICIN IN OSHKOSH
Tags: us_WI, laboratory, discovery, environmental, other_chemical

OSHKOSH ‰?? Last Friday police and the FBI said they found hazardous materials in an Oshkosh home on the 800 block of Fredrick Street.
A search warrant obtained by FOX 11 shows the crews were looking for a deadly poison, called ricin.
Police arrested the 21-year-old Oshkosh man who lives at the home. That man is still in the Winnebago County Jail.
The search warrant also shows the man is a student at UW-Oshkosh.
The warrant goes on to say two professors contacted police about the student.
....
On Friday police and the FBI searched the home.
‰??When we went inside the residence, we located the hazardous materials,‰?? said Joseph Nichols with the Oshkosh Police Department.
A search warrant says officials found a white powder substance inside.
A spokesperson with the FBI tells FOX 11 evidence was sent to the agency‰??s lab in Quantico, Virginia.
According to the search warrant, on Wednesday, October 29, the 21-year old student asked UW-Oshkosh professor Terri Gohmann about making extractions from seeds.

The warrant states, when Gohmann referred the student to a biology professor, the student said, ‰??‰?|they‰??re all interested in life and I‰??m interested in, like, ending it‰??
The document says that same day, biology professor Stephen Bentivenga also spoke with the student.
During their meeting Bentivenga said the student talked about making a ribosomal-inhibiting protein.
The search warrant says Bentivenga was immediately concerned because he knows the protein can be a potentially deadly poison.

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

MHFD: NO ONE INJURED IN SPLASH'S BLAZE
Tags: us_AR, public, fire, response, unknown_chemical

Mountain Home Fire Chief Ken Williams reported that no one was inside the building when a major blaze erupted at Splash's, a swimming pool business located on U.S. Highway 62 East, on Monday night.

The cause of the fire that shut down both lanes of U.S. 62, however, remains unknown. It is believed the fire started in a chemical storage area, according to the preliminary investigation.

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

UPDATE: WALLACE ROAD REOPENS AFTER IODINE SPILL CLEARED
Tags: us_OR, transportation, release, response, ag_chems

A hazardous material spill in West Salem shut down a busy portion of Wallace Road NW for most of the morning Monday after a semi truck heading into town lost its load.

According to Salem Fire Battalion Chief Brian Hoaglin, the semi was carrying two containers that each contained approximately 400 gallons of agricultural iodine. Iodine is used as a disinfectant on crops.

But for an unknown reason, the two containers were lost off the truck and smashed on the pavement, where they began leaking onto the road shortly before 9:30 a.m.

Salem Fire and a hazardous materials truck quickly headed to the scene to clean up the mess before any of the chemical could leak into city water.

Hoaglin said a small amount did get into the city's storm drains. Crews with the city of Salem public works were able to mop up most of the mess.

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

EXPLOSION ON REDMOND SCHOOL PARKING LOT INJURES BUS DRIVERS
Tags: us_WA, education, explosion, injury, bomb

REDMOND, Wash. ‰?? An explosion in an elementary school parking lot injured two school bus drivers Monday morning.

It happened around 8 a.m. at Emily Dickinson Elementary School.

A Lake Washington School District spokesperson said two buses were in the parking lot, waiting to begin their routes to pick up the elementary students. One of the drivers was walking between the two buses when a device ‰?? described by the King County Sheriff's Office as a 2-liter pop bottle with an explosive chemical inside ‰?? blew up.

The acid bomb, commonly made by juveniles, is not a sophisticated device, the sheriff's office said.

Both drivers were transported with minor injuries. No students and a few teachers were on campus when it happened.

Bomb deputies cleared the school grounds after the explosion.

Classes were canceled for both Emily Dickinson Elementary and Explorer Community School, which shares the same campus. Evergreen Middle School was placed in a modified lockdown.

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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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