From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (8 articles)
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 2016 07:57:58 -0500
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, February 26, 2016 at 7:57:35 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=8tROCk-YajHlVyUqiLK6bty7CCtivlOEe3jsGwrdkic&s=rSg1yscv59P1spj5jo48nO3w3gz5rxjs4fSkpbuEQmM&e=

Table of Contents (8 articles)

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA METHANE LEAK WAS LARGEST IN U.S. HISTORY
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, methane

JFRD HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDING TO FLAG STREET
Tags: us_FL, transportation, explosion, response, bomb

DECATUR CREWS RESPOND TO GAS LEAK AT DAIKIN PLANT, CHEMICAL SPILL AT HEXCEL
Tags: us_AL, industrial, release, response, hydrofluoric_acid, nitric_acid

PHOTOS: 17TH ANNIVERSARY OF FATAL JAHN FOUNDRY BLAST IN SPRINGFIELD
Tags: us_MA, industrial, follow-up, death, dust, resin

EPA EFFORTS TO IMPROVE CHEMICAL SAFETY WOULDN'T INCLUDE A PLANT LIKE WEST
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ammonium_nitrate

FEMALE HARDHAT IN CRITICAL CONDITION FROM CHEMICAL FUMES
Tags: us_NY, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical

'MAKE IN INDIA' FIRE: BMC BLAMES ORGANISERS OF 'GROSS NEGLIGENCE'
Tags: India, public, fire, response, butane, propane

CREWS HOSING DOWN RUBBER PLANT AFTER CONTAINING CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_KY, industrial, release, response, solvent


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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA METHANE LEAK WAS LARGEST IN U.S. HISTORY
Tags: us_CA, industrial, release, response, methane

Engineers finally capped the massive methane leak in Southern California earlier this month. The leak, at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility, had spewed the potent greenhouse gas into the atmosphere for more than three months.
Now scientists, engineers, and policy-makers are assessing the disaster"s ramifications, with one research team publishing a report that concludes the methane release was the largest in U.S. history (Science 2016, DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf2348).
The team, which was led by University of California, Davis, scientist Stephen Conley and UC Irvine chemistry professor Donald Blake, monitored methane emissions from the facility, both on ground and with aircraft.
Conley, also the team"s pilot, made 13 flights above the site from November to February, sampling methane levels and quantifying the size of the plume with measurements of wind speed and direction at different altitudes.
According to the measurements, the facility leaked a total of 97,100 metric tons of methane into the atmosphere. In 2004, a larger amount of natural gas was released from an underground well in Moss Bluff, Texas. But less of that methane reached the atmosphere because the gas exploded, converting methane to the much less potent greenhouse gas CO2.

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JFRD HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDING TO FLAG STREET
Tags: us_FL, transportation, explosion, response, bomb

Several agencies are investigating after a semi-trailer exploded at AAA Cooper Transportation at 1700 Flag Street in College Gardens on Thursday night.

The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department first got the call at 9:09 p.m. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said the trailer was brought to the business around 4:35 p.m. JSO Public Information Officer Melissa Bujeda said no foul play is suspected in the explosion. Bujeda said some sort of metals were inside the trailer, combusted inside and caused the explosion.

The trailer was parked at the loading dock and caused significant damage to the building, Bujeda said. The JSO Bomb Squad did an evaluation and there are no environmental concerns after the explosion.

JFRD said it acted like an acid bomb, blowing the doors off the back trailer part of the truck. The explosion could be heard at Fire Station 7, about a mile away. Another trailer that had similar contents was identified and located, Bujeda said.

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DECATUR CREWS RESPOND TO GAS LEAK AT DAIKIN PLANT, CHEMICAL SPILL AT HEXCEL
Tags: us_AL, industrial, release, response, hydrofluoric_acid, nitric_acid

Decatur emergency responders had their hands full Thursday morning with a gas leak at the Daikin America plant and a chemical spill at Hexcel Corporation.

Work at the Daikin plant in Decatur was back to normal about an hour after an early morning gas leak had Morgan County Emergency Management Agency officials on the scene. AL.com news partner WHNT News 19 reports that crews responded to the plant on State Docks Road shortly after 4 a.m. for a hydrogen fluoride leak.

The leak was contained and the plant was cleared by officials after about 40 minutes.

In the Hexcel incident, Decatur Fire & Rescue crews were called out shortly after 8 a.m. for a small nitric acid spill. Officials said firefighters were neutralizing and containing the spill.

No injuries were reported. Hexcel is located on Mallard Fox Drive NW.

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PHOTOS: 17TH ANNIVERSARY OF FATAL JAHN FOUNDRY BLAST IN SPRINGFIELD
Tags: us_MA, industrial, follow-up, death, dust, resin

SPRINGFIELD -- Thursday marks the 17th anniversary of an explosion at the Jahn Foundry plant in Springfield.

On Thursday, Feb. 25, 1999 at around 3 p.m., a small explosion occurred in the Jahn Foundry shell molding department. The explosion sparked a fire and caused resin powder to fill the department. A second explosion then occurred, one investigator said in court had the power of "three severe hurricanes."

The second explosion blew out concrete walls, including an exterior one to the plant, and threw cement blocks 300 feet.

Nine workers were severely burned in the blast and three died due to injuries.

Over $35 million was paid out to victims in years following the explosion as lawyers for the corporation and a chemical supply fought over whose insurance company would pay the higher amount.

Borden Chemical Inc. was the manufacturer of a resin powder used in the plant, a company lawyers for Jahn Foundry argued did not detail explosive the powder could be.

Unable to recover from the blast, parent company Atchison Casting Corp. of Topeka, Kansas, filed for bankruptcy in 2003.

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EPA EFFORTS TO IMPROVE CHEMICAL SAFETY WOULDN'T INCLUDE A PLANT LIKE WEST
Tags: us_TX, industrial, follow-up, environmental, ammonium_nitrate

Three years after an explosion ripped through the small town of West, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing changes to its chemical safety rules.

But the new standards, announced Thursday in a 250-page report, won't affect facilities like the one that exploded in West, only those that are required by the EPA to file risk management plans.

The West Fertilizer Company wasn't required to file a plan, and if it was still standing, it still wouldn't under these changes.

The updated rules also won't adjust how the EPA evaluates chemicals, so ammonium nitrate, the source of the explosion in West, is still not considered hazardous.

The EPA's Risk Management Plan will now require companies to conduct annual safety drills, be subject to third-party audits and improve emergency response to accidents. Some companies will be asked to consider safer technologies or chemicals.

The changes are part of President Obama's executive order from 2013, issued in the wake of the West explosion, which charged federal agencies with preventing chemical disasters and improving emergency response when they happen.

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FEMALE HARDHAT IN CRITICAL CONDITION FROM CHEMICAL FUMES
Tags: us_NY, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical

Three female construction workers were injured " one critically " at a Midtown building Wednesday when they were overcome by chemical fumes, fire officials said.

The women were working at a job site at of 741 Eighth Ave., near West 47th Street, when they fell ill around 1:45 p.m. the FDNY said.

One woman was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition. The other two were listed in stable condition, according to an official at the scene.

The FDNY"s Haz-Mat team showed up to the construction site to try and identify the source and type of the chemical that sickened them, a spokesman said.

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'MAKE IN INDIA' FIRE: BMC BLAMES ORGANISERS OF 'GROSS NEGLIGENCE'
Tags: India, public, fire, response, butane, propane

Mumbai: The Mumbai Fire Brigade on Wednesday submitted an investigation report on a fire which occurred during the `Make in India` programme last week to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in which it has accused the organizers of the event of `gross negligence`.

The report states that short-circuit was the root cause of the fire. The presence of inflammable adhesives and an LPG cylinder near the stage helped the fire to assume mammoth proportions.

The fire department has slammed the organizers for keeping inflammable substances near the stage.Pratap Rahangdale, Chief Fire Officer of Mumbai Fire Brigade, said that report was prepared by analyzing accounts of several witnesses and circumstantial evidence.

"We have opened the report for the public. We studied circumstantial evidence and witness accounts. I was also one of the witnesses, as I was the first one to use extinguisher there. By studying all that we arrived at the chain of events leading to fire and prepared a final report," he told ANI.

In its 185-page report uploaded on the website of the BMC, the Fire Brigade, has also said that repeated instructions on fire safety were ignored in the run-up to the event.

Fire department has also sent some samples from the site for testing in the Central Forensic Science Laboratory.

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CREWS HOSING DOWN RUBBER PLANT AFTER CONTAINING CHEMICAL LEAK
Tags: us_KY, industrial, release, response, solvent

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - Emergency crews are on the scene of a chemical leak in Louisville.

It was reported just after 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, at American Synthetic Rubber, 4500 Camp Ground Rd, next to The Dow Chemical Company.

Officials are not sure how much solvent leaked, but confirm it is under control at this time.

They have not released the name of the chemical.

Crews evacuated the building closest to the leak. They remain on scene, and can be seen spraying water on a concentrated area from Air 3.

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