From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (12 articles)
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2015 06:57:06 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 4E03F160-874C-4428-A416-0192A40ED978**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, September 28, 2015 at 6:56:47 AM

A membership benefit of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
All article summaries and tags are archived at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__pinboard.in_u-3Adchas&d=BQIFaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=koHTucvO2maKhLpHgmE3MXcrQ2qYbpx6Wp6H_gP5Qsk&s=g0BUm59sT0nK3Ua7AeR7VSQ42RIbgWIpXz5cFlDAwnM&e=

Table of Contents (12 articles)

TRAFFIC DELAYED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL ON MOORHOUSE AVE
Tags: New_Zealand, transportation, release, response, antifreeze

PERSON INJURED IN UGA LAB EXPLOSION RECOVERS
Tags: us_GA, laboratory, explosion, injury, sulfuric_acid, waste

ALL-CLEAR AFTER FUMES INSIDE STATE LAB CLEARED
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, release, response, sulfuric_acid

EXPLOSIVES CALL PROMPTS EVACUATIONS, STREET CLOSURES
Tags: Canada, laboratory, discovery, response, diethyl_ether, waste

JUDGE AGAIN DENIES DEFENSE REQUEST TO POSTPONE WEST EXPLOSION TRIAL
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, death, ag_chems, explosives

AMMONIA LEAK SHUTS DOWN BREWERY
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, ammonia

MERCURY SPILLED AT BATTLE CREEK HOME
Tags: us_MI, public, release, response, mercury

SMALL CHEMICAL EXPLOSION LEADS TO BUILDING EVACUATION
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, explosion, response, acids

CHEMICAL SPILL CLOSES HIGHWAY AT KARAPIRO
Tags: New_Zealand, transportation, release, injury, chlorine, cleaners, dust

TAKING ACTION: FIRE DEPARTMENT RESPONDS TO CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical

CHEMICAL SOLUTION SPILLED AT STONEHILL COLLEGE IN EASTON
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, release, response, copper_sulphate, hydrochloric_acid

LFR CALLED TO FIRE, MAN COVERED IN CHEMICALS THURSDAY MORNING
Tags: us_TX, public, fire, injury, propane


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TRAFFIC DELAYED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL ON MOORHOUSE AVE
Tags: New_Zealand, transportation, release, response, antifreeze

Traffic is flowing again on Moorhouse Ave, in Christchurch, after a chemical spill caused delays.

The Fire Service said 20L plastic drum of antifreeze rolled off a vehicle and hit another vehicle about 8.25am on Monday.

Christchurch Transport Operations Centre (CTOC) advisor Luke Thomas said Moorhouse Ave went down to two lanes westbound between Durham and Montreal streets because of the incident.

Emergency Services attended.

It took about 30 minutes to clear the spill.

A member of public who got antifreeze on them was treated at the scene but was uninjured.

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

PERSON INJURED IN UGA LAB EXPLOSION RECOVERS
Tags: us_GA, laboratory, explosion, injury, sulfuric_acid, waste

The man injured during an explosion in a lab at the University of Georgia campus this week has recovered.

The explosion happened about 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center on Riverbend Road.

One person, Fan Yi, 27, who police described as a visitor on campus, received injuries to his hand and face.

Yi was taken to Athens Regional Medical Center, where he was treated and released later that day.

Two other people were working in the lab when the explosion occurred, but they were not hurt, police said.

Officially, the cause of the explosion is unknown. However, witnesses told police that Yi was working with sulfuric acid and that a hazardous waste bottle Yi was using is what exploded.

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

ALL-CLEAR AFTER FUMES INSIDE STATE LAB CLEARED
Tags: us_FL, laboratory, release, response, sulfuric_acid

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -
The Jacksonville Fire-Rescue's hazardous materials team responded when a power failure at the state lab inside the Duval County Health Department allowed a buildup of sulfuric acid fumes.

JFRD send 12 units and the building on West 6th Street was evacuated until the power was restored and the fans came back on. At that point the fumes cleared by themselves.

There were no injuries, and the building was reopened to employees and visitors.

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

EXPLOSIVES CALL PROMPTS EVACUATIONS, STREET CLOSURES
Tags: Canada, laboratory, discovery, response, diethyl_ether, waste

Emergency crews and a hazmat team were called to Saskatoon‰??s north end Friday after a chemical disposal company discovered a highly unstable container of ether outside a laboratory.
The company was called to the lab on the 800 block of 58th Street West to pick up two containers of the expired chemical, but one container was deformed, according to the fire department. Emergency crews responded just after noon.
‰??The chemical was deformed and dangerous,‰?? the department said in a media release. ‰??The chemical is extremely unstable in this state.
Saskatoon emergency crews were called to a laboratory on 58th Street East after a deformed container of ether ‰?? a potentially explosive chemical ‰?? was discovered.
Ether is highly flammable and a potentially explosive chemical.
The Saskatoon police explosives disposal team and members of the fire department‰??s hazardous materials unit responded.
The lab and several nearby businesses were evacuated as a precaution and streets in the area were closed down.
The Saskatoon Fire Department disposed of the chemical in a vacant field by 60th Street and Faithfull Avenue around 9 p.m.

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

JUDGE AGAIN DENIES DEFENSE REQUEST TO POSTPONE WEST EXPLOSION TRIAL
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, death, ag_chems, explosives

The judge presiding over the West fertilizer plant explosion cases denied a motion Friday to postpone the upcoming trial despite defense assertions that federal investigators recently shared evidence with them that could prove important to the litigation.
While Dallas attorney Carlos Balido said the information from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives shared Thursday with the defense is a ‰??significant break in the case,‰?? 170th State District Judge Jim Meyer was not persuaded to postpone the first trial, set to begin Oct. 12.
‰??I can see this dragging on for a year,‰?? Meyer said in denying the motion for continuance.
Meyer has already delayed the trial twice from its initial trial setting. Friday‰??s request was the third time since January that defense attorneys have sought a delay.

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

AMMONIA LEAK SHUTS DOWN BREWERY
Tags: Canada, public, release, response, ammonia

Pacific Western Brewery was evacuated and Prince George Fire Rescue was called in to deal with an ammonia leak on Thursday afternoon.

PGFR deputy chief Cliff Warner said the leak erupted when a valve was hit and cracked. He said the leak was isolated to an enclosed room and firefighters were to go in to try to further contain the damaged equipment and ventilate the building.

Firefighters were called in at about 12:15 p.m. and were on the scene for most of the afternoon.

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

MERCURY SPILLED AT BATTLE CREEK HOME
Tags: us_MI, public, release, response, mercury

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. -- A chemical spill in Battle Creek Thursday morning prompted a response from HAZMAT crews, according to the Calhoun County Sheriff's Department Dispatch.

The spill happened at 73 S. Union Street just before 11 a.m. Thursday, dispatchers said.

Officials say that 16 ounces of mercury was spilled on a small porch on the back of the house. Two technicians were able to contain the spill to one small area. They are waiting for an environmental company to come and take it away. It is unknown where the mercury came from.

Two people were being isolated and decontaminated. A third was being pulled from school to be tested.

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

SMALL CHEMICAL EXPLOSION LEADS TO BUILDING EVACUATION
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, explosion, response, acids

BROWNSVILLE -
A small chemical explosion led to the evacuation of a building at Texas Southmost College in Brownsville. The explosion happened in a lab on Thursday morning at the science, engineering and technology building.

Physics professor Ahmed Touhami said one of his students was cleaning his station, when he put an acidic chemical in another container and then sealed the container. The container exploded moments later.

The student was the only person in the lab at the time. He was not injured.

Safety officials transported the student to the hospital as a precaution

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

CHEMICAL SPILL CLOSES HIGHWAY AT KARAPIRO
Tags: New_Zealand, transportation, release, injury, chlorine, cleaners, dust

A chemical spill on SH1 at Karapiro last night around 11.30 pm has kept the road closed all night and not due to open until 11am this morning....

Three police officers were taken to hospital after becoming unwell from fumes off a chemical spill that closed a Waikato highway for 12 hours.

The Mainfrieght truck carrying a load of chemicals crashed on State Highway 1, at Karapiro, at 11.30pm on Thursday and emergency services worked through the night to contain the spill.

....
When the first fire crews arrived chlorine could be smelled up to 8km away, near the Mobil service station, he said.

At its peak, 40 firefighters were working to contain the spill overnight with rotating crews, a hazardous substance unit and showers set up to decontaminate.

"When some of the powder form mixes with water it gives off a chemical smell," Breeze said.
....
The mostly 20 to 100 litre drums contained chemicals including everyday cleaning products like hand wash, teet-washers, chlorine powder and pool cleaner, Breeze said.

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

TAKING ACTION: FIRE DEPARTMENT RESPONDS TO CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical

An evacuation followed a chemical spill at the M1 Biology Lab on Thursday at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley‰??s campus in Brownsville
Patrick Gonzales, UTRGV assistant vice president for marketing and communications, said a student spilled a liter of chemicals, and the emergency call to the Brownsville Fire Department was made at 10:51 a.m.
The entire building was evacuated, Brownsville‰??s Assistant Fire Chief Mario Guerrero said, and the fire department‰??s hazardous materials team was called to the scene but not needed.
However, after the situation had been assessed, the hazardous materials team did not need to be activated, Guerrero said.
Only one other person was in the building at the time of the spill, and that person was evacuated safely, Gonzales said.

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

CHEMICAL SOLUTION SPILLED AT STONEHILL COLLEGE IN EASTON
Tags: us_MA, laboratory, release, response, copper_sulphate, hydrochloric_acid

EASTON ‰?? The science building at Stonehill College was evacuated Thursday afternoon after a student dropped a chemical solution, officials said.
The Shields Science Center was evacuated just before 1 p.m. as local firefighters and a state department responded to the college.
A glass jar containing a chemical solution was dropped by a student and the liquid spilled inside one of the science rooms, fire officials said.
‰??There is a possible chemical spill in the Science Center and the building has been evacuated,‰?? said Martin McGovern, a college spokesman. ‰??It will be closed for at least three hours.‰??
A state hazardous materials response team responded for a Tier 1 incident, which is the lowest of five levels.
They later determined that a student carrying a 4-liter glass jar containing a ‰??water-based solution‰?? of ‰??the diluted chemicals copper sulphate and hydrochloric acid‰?? spilled, McGovern said.

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

LFR CALLED TO FIRE, MAN COVERED IN CHEMICALS THURSDAY MORNING
Tags: us_TX, public, fire, injury, propane

Lubbock Fire Rescue responded to the report of a fire Thursday morning at Thermo King, 2420 East Slaton Highway.

According to a photojournalist at the scene, firefighters extinguished a fire that was near a large propane tank. LFR also found a man covered in chemicals. He was decontaminated at the scene before EMS took him to University Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

According to the photojournalist, the business was evacuated during the incident. The fire marshal was asked to come investigate. Specifics were not yet available on how the fire and the chemical contamination happened.

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