Check out Safety Emporium for your N95, N99, and face shield needs.
From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (11 articles)
Date: Fri, 15 May 2015 08:04:12 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: A4376A9B-E87F-4E33-A937-2CC07CAE6048**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, May 15, 2015 at 8:03:53 AM
A membership benefit 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 (11 articles)
EXACT SOURCE OF MERCURY SPILL UNKNOWN
Tags: us_CA, public, follow-up, response, mercury
AKRON HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO METAL FIRE, CLOSE EAST EXCHANGE STREET NEAR DOWNTOWN
Tags: us_OH, industrial, fire, response, magnesium, metals
AIR QUALITY TESTS DEEM JENKINS TWP. AREA SAFE AFTER CHEMICAL FIRE AT ACTON TECHNOLOGIES INC. STUDENTS RETURN TO PITTSTON AREA HIGH SCHOOL AFTER BEING SENT HOME WEDNESDAY
Tags: us_PA, industrial, follow-up, response, acetone, paints
TEXAS A&M NUCLEAR SCIENCE CENTER EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, release, response, toluene
CHEMICAL-FUELED INFERNO AT PHILIPPINES FACTORY LEAVES NO SURVIVORS, OFFICALS SAY
Tags: Philippines, industrial, follow-up, death, flammables
MONTEREY APPLE STORE PACKAGE THAT HOSPITALIZED 4 PEOPLE WAS CONTAMINATED AT FEDEX FACILITY
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, injury, peroxide
HAZ MAT INCIDENT SENDS FIVE TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_WA, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
AT LEAST 45 WORKERS DIE IN MANILA FACTORY FIRE
Tags: Philippines, industrial, fire, death, unknown_chemical
FIREFIGHTERS FIGHT CHEMICAL FIRE
Tags: us_PA, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
STATE POLICE DETONATE HOMEMADE BOMB IN FAIRHAVEN, ARREST 18-YEAR-OLD
Tags: us_MA, public, discovery, response, bomb, illegal
JUDGE REJECTS BANKRUPTCY PLAN FOR COMPANY IN CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_WV, industrial, follow-up, environmental
---------------------------------------------
EXACT SOURCE OF MERCURY SPILL UNKNOWN
Tags: us_CA, public, follow-up, response, mercury
Several days after 3 pounds of mercury was found on a Cochran Street driveway, directly exposing 10 people to the hazardous liquid metal and prompting a partial street closure, authorities are still not sure what caused the spill in the first place.
With the investigation still underway, the closure of Cochran Street between Tapo Street and Tapo Canyon Road remained in place as of press time Thursday. Officials were hopeful residents of the neighborhood would be able to return home by Saturday afternoon, City Manager Eric Levitt told the Simi Valley Acorn.
Levitt said the colder temperatures and forecasted rain has been an issue for repaving the contaminated areas.
??Right now the plan is we??re hoping to have the (repaving) completed both in the street as well as the private drive,?? he said. ??If that works as planned, then the streets should be reopened by end of day Saturday.??
---------------------------------------------
AKRON HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO METAL FIRE, CLOSE EAST EXCHANGE STREET NEAR DOWNTOWN
Tags: us_OH, industrial, fire, response, magnesium, metals
AKRON, Ohio -- Water from an overhead sprinkler system reacted with metal shavings to start a fire in an industrial building on East Exchange Street in Akron this morning.
The Akron fire department sent HAZMAT crews to 600 East Exchange St. just after 4 a.m. after metal shavings inside the building caught on fire, according to Fire Department Spokeswoman Inspector Sierjie Lash.
Lash said that smoke inside the building activated the sprinkler system, but the water reacted with the smoldering metal causing the fire to grow.
The fire department closed East Exchange Street in both directions and continue to monitor the building for potential hot spots and flareups, Lash said. The street ropened at about 8 a.m.
A fire department spokesperson told reporters this morning hat they believed the fire started spontaneously. Lash said information on the exact type of metal -- mentioned in other news reports as either magnesium or nickel -- was not yet available.
---------------------------------------------
AIR QUALITY TESTS DEEM JENKINS TWP. AREA SAFE AFTER CHEMICAL FIRE AT ACTON TECHNOLOGIES INC. STUDENTS RETURN TO PITTSTON AREA HIGH SCHOOL AFTER BEING SENT HOME WEDNESDAY
Tags: us_PA, industrial, follow-up, response, acetone, paints
JENKINS TWP. ?? A state Department of Environmental Protection official said Thursday air quality tests at the site of a chemical fire at Acton Technologies Inc. revealed ??very low?? levels of chemical compounds.
The fire alarm at Acton Technologies Inc. on Thompson Street Wednesday summoned nearly 80 Greater Pittston firefighters into action and sent Pittston Area High School students home early.
Classes at Pittston Area, located less than a mile away from Acton Technologies Inc., resumed on Thursday.
The fire was ruled accidental by state police deputy fire marshal Trooper Ron Jarocha, and the investigation determined a static discharge was the cause of the blaze.
Acton Technologies Inc. creates coating material for cookware, and according to state Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Colleen Connolly, the storage area that caught fire contained acetone, a chemical used to remove glue-like substances such as nail polish.
It took firefighters three hours to quell the flames. One firefighter was treated by paramedics for minor injuries.
---------------------------------------------
TEXAS A&M NUCLEAR SCIENCE CENTER EVACUATED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, release, response, toluene
The Nuclear Science Center on the Texas A&M campus was evacuated Thursday morning after a chemical spill.
University Police Lt. Allan Baron said about four liters of toluene were spilled inside the facility. Fifteen people were evacuated and there were no injuries.
Baron said the spill happened at 9 a.m., and multiple agencies were on scene. At 10 a.m, the building was being ventilated and the chemical was still being cleaned up, he said.
---------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL-FUELED INFERNO AT PHILIPPINES FACTORY LEAVES NO SURVIVORS, OFFICALS SAY
Tags: Philippines, industrial, follow-up, death, flammables
MANILA, Philippines ?? Police will open a criminal investigation into a Philippines factory fire that killed at least 72 workers who became trapped in the building's second floor, where iron grills on windows prevented their escape, a victims' relative said Thursday.
....
Gatchalian said the fire was apparently ignited by sparks from welding work at the factory's main entrance, triggering an explosion of the chemicals used to make the slippers. Workers fled to the second floor where they were trapped, he said.
District Fire Marshal Wilberto Rico Neil Kwan Tiu said that the building had other exits but apparently the workers were overwhelmed by the thick black smoke from the burning rubber and chemicals, which are highly flammable and caused the blaze to spread quickly.
---------------------------------------------
MONTEREY APPLE STORE PACKAGE THAT HOSPITALIZED 4 PEOPLE WAS CONTAMINATED AT FEDEX FACILITY
Tags: us_CA, transportation, release, injury, peroxide
Monterey >> Monterey fire officials confirmed four people were hospitalized Wednesday afternoon after being exposed at Del Monte Shopping Center to a hazardous chemical that spilled on a package at a FedEx distribution facility.
The ??clear liquid?? that made a dozen people feel nauseated was determined to be organic peroxide, Monterey Fire Chief Gaundenz Panholzer said. The chemical spilled on an Apple Store package being delivered to Del Monte Center from Apple headquarters, Panholzer said.
Panholzer said the package was contaminated at a FedEx distribution center and was then put on a FedEx truck. FedEx spokeswoman Connie Avery said an event like this is ??very unusual.??
??Our immediate concern is for the well-being of those involved,?? FedEx said in a statement. ??We are cooperating with authorities investigating the cause of the incident.??
---------------------------------------------
HAZ MAT INCIDENT SENDS FIVE TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_WA, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical
On Monday, May 11 five employees at a local company in the 19800 block of 84 Ave. S. in Kent were sent to local hospitals for treatment following exposure to a possible airborne chemical.
The Kent Fire Department RFA was dispatched to the call at 9:04 am, after the employees reported to the company??s nurse station complaining of shortness of breath and dizziness.
All the employees worked in the same area of the building.
One other person was treated at the property for a medical issue unrelated to the haz mat incident.
The call was upgraded to include hazardous materials teams from not only Kent but from throughout south King County.
This type of response is normal and necessary in order to have the number of hazardous materials technicians needed to investigate and mitigate a chemical problem on scene.
A team sent in to determine what took place was unable to find any obvious problem. The building was ventilated to remove any remaining airborne chemicals.
It will be up to the company to investigate what was happening at the time of the incident and to take any measures necessary to prevent it from happening in the future.
---------------------------------------------
AT LEAST 45 WORKERS DIE IN MANILA FACTORY FIRE
Tags: Philippines, industrial, fire, death, unknown_chemical
At least 45 workers are confirmed dead and another 25 or more remain missing after a fire broke out at noon on Wednesday inside the Kentex factory on the northern outskirts of Metro Manila in the Philippines.
Kentex manufactures rubber slippers at the plant in the city of Valenzuela. According to an interview with its owner, Veato Ang, it employed 200 to 300 workers.
The two-storey factory occupied 3,000 square meters but had only two working exits. The building had no alarms, no sprinkler system, and, it seems, no fire extinguishers. It was a mass of unpainted concrete, and poorly ventilated despite the chemicals being used throughout the building.
The fire department managed to have the fire under control by 5 p.m., and announced that the fire was out at 7 p.m. The blaze burned for seven hours.
---------------------------------------------
FIREFIGHTERS FIGHT CHEMICAL FIRE
Tags: us_PA, industrial, fire, injury, unknown_chemical
Jenkins Township, Luzerne County- Smoke filled the air as several fire crews battled an early morning fire Wednesday. It happened at Acton Technologies Incorporation in Jenkins Township. Officials are calling the building that caught fire a total loss. Jenkins Township Fire Chief Dan Kosisky declined to speak to us on camera. But he does say this was a dangerous fire to fight with all the chemicals inside. The Department of Environmental Protections Emergency Response Team was there, conducting air quality testing near the plant.
"DEP did some air monitoring and there is no hazard in the air", said Lucille Morgan, Director of Luzerne County Emergency Management Agency in Luzerne County
Firefighters even set up a hose to redirect run off from the burning building to an area stream.
"They had two containment systems in the back and they overflowed. so its mostly water but there is some liquid plastic in it", Morgan added
People who live nearby had problems with Acton Technologies Incorporation in the past.
"A few years ago we had major problems with the odors. Very, very bad odors", said Hugh Corcoran
Now Hugh Corcoran and his neighbors want answers.
"It was just a concern what they're making back there. but now with this fire I don't know what exactly was burned, were there any problems? No one even warned us!" he added
Spokespeople for Acton Technologies Incorporation refused to speak to us. According to officials, the fire appears to be accidental, although the investigation is still on going. Employees were inside when the fire broke out. At least one employee was injured, but his or her condition is unknown.
---------------------------------------------
STATE POLICE DETONATE HOMEMADE BOMB IN FAIRHAVEN, ARREST 18-YEAR-OLD
Tags: us_MA, public, discovery, response, bomb, illegal
FAIRHAVEN ?? State police detonated a bomb on Jeanette Street on Wednesday morning and arrested an 18-year-old man, who told police he left it outside to scare coyotes from his property, police said.
James Dillon of 6 Jeanette St., who turns 19 next month, is charged with placing an explosive device on the property, which is a felony, punishable by either a maximum sentence of 2 1/2 years in the House of Correction or 20 years in state prison and/or a fine of $25,000, according to police.
He left the homemade bomb in his driveway under a wheelbarrow, according to Sgt. Kevin Kobza, public information officer of the Fairhaven Police Department.
On Wednesday evening, a resident of 6 Jeanette St., who declined to give her name, said they were not concerned by the incident. Her cousin, "wasn't trying to hurt anybody," she said.
According to State Police Sgt. Gerald Galizio, the bomb was "toxic and harmful" and had the capability to spray acid and create harm to anyone who approached it, if it exploded, Kobza said.
---------------------------------------------
JUDGE REJECTS BANKRUPTCY PLAN FOR COMPANY IN CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_WV, industrial, follow-up, environmental
judge has rejected a $6.7 million bankruptcy plan by the company behind a January 2014 chemical spill in West Virginia.
In a federal bankruptcy court filing Wednesday, Judge Ronald Pearson said Freedom Industries and state environmental regulators haven't agreed on cleanup terms at the Charleston spill site. Pearson ordered Freedom to comply with state cleanup orders.
Freedom's plan would have offered spill victims $2.7 million.
The spill contaminated 300,000 residents' tap water for days. Businesses that couldn't operate without water, including restaurants, and individuals are seeking compensation.
Professionals hired for the bankruptcy case would have received $2.2 million. Among other distributions, $150,000 would go toward spill site cleanup. Regulators want $1 million.
An insurance settlement would provide $3.2 million. Ex-Freedom officials would contribute $3.1 million, which Pearson said initially seems inadequate.
---------------------------------------------
Ralph Stuart
secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Secretary
Division of Chemical Health and Safety
American Chemical Society
Previous post | Top of Page | Next post