From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (15 articles)
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2016 04:24:25 -0500
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: 70F754AB-14FE-4BAF-8A42-030AF299FD7A**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, March 11, 2016 at 4:24:02 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=WhymqXHvpFi2SRpmwHBJus07oqNSmd74Xulm-KXeMMo&s=XZj3DmxW_2WpJNkcn1z17jS8AbWH43I8hve8CD4tCIw&e=

Table of Contents (15 articles)

3 GOVERNORS ASK EPA FOR REVIEW AFTER CHEMICAL FOUND IN WATER
Tags: us_NY, public, follow-up, environmental, plastics

HAZMAT SITUATION IN NEW LOTS; BUCKEYE PIPELINE BREAKS SPEWING FUEL
Tags: us_NY, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical

CHEMICAL BLAST LEAVES 1 GRADUATE STUDENT HURT AT TECH
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical

HAZMAT NEWS: HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO ACID SPILL IN FORT MYERS
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, acids

HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO FUEL SPILL ON ARKADELPHIA ROAD
Tags: us_AL, transportation, release, response, other_chemical

MAN SUSTAINS CHEMICAL BURNS IN LAB ACCIDENT
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, fire, injury, unknown_chemical

SCENE OF QUEENSTOWN CHLORINE GAS INCIDENT CLEARED
Tags: New_Zealand, industrial, release, injury, chlorine, cleaners

PLACENTIA GARAGE FIRE BLAMED ON MARIJUANA OIL LAB
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, fire, injury, drugs

HAZMAT CREW INVESTIGATES SPILL AT PACKARD PARK
Tags: us_OH, public, release, response, petroleum

OSHA CITES BIOFUEL COMPANY OVER HYDROGEN GAS EXPLOSION
Tags: us_LA, industrial, follow-up, injury, biodiesel, hydrogen

CENTURY-OLD FIRE AT MSU STILL A MYSTERY
Tags: us_MI, laboratory, fire, environmental, ag_chems

CHEMICAL SPILL IN LOWER 9TH WARD ALARMS ACTIVISTS
Tags: us_LA, public, release, response, unknown_chemical

RAIN CAUSES ROOF TO COLLAPSE AT MANUFACTURING LAB IN SAN JOSE
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical

HAZMAT CREW INVESTIGATES SPILL AT PACKARD PARK
Tags: us_OH, public, release, environmental, petroleum

ROAD REOPENS AFTER HAZMAT CREW CALLED TO TANKER CRASH IN WEST...
Tags: us_PA, transportation, release, response, liquid_nitrogen, nitrogen


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3 GOVERNORS ASK EPA FOR REVIEW AFTER CHEMICAL FOUND IN WATER
Tags: us_NY, public, follow-up, environmental, plastics

The governors of New Hampshire, New York and Vermont are urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to review and issue new safe drinking water guidelines regarding an emerging contaminant that's shown up in water systems and in private wells.

They wrote to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy on Thursday asking for a review of the best available science regarding PFOA. It's part of a family of chemicals used to make nonstick cookware and stain-resistant carpeting.

Last month, Honeywell International and Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics were sued in New York. Regulators identified them as potentially responsible for chemical contamination in Hoosick Falls' water.

Saint-Gobain last owned the now-closed ChemFab plant in southwestern Vermont. It's been providing bottled water to residents since PFOA was found in North Bennington. It also found PFOA in samples in Merrimack, New Hampshire.

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HAZMAT SITUATION IN NEW LOTS; BUCKEYE PIPELINE BREAKS SPEWING FUEL
Tags: us_NY, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical

There is a HazMat situation in the New Lots section of Brooklyn.

The Buckeye Pipeline suffered a break causing a massive odor of gas to permeate the air.

The break has since been isolated and the valves turned off.

The odor was smelled in the area of Linden Boulevard and Junius Street.

Newscopter 7 spotted a leak coming up through the ground.

This is a 2nd alarm HazMat response.

The fire department checked several locations along the pipeline, which carries jet fuel to JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark airports.

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CHEMICAL BLAST LEAVES 1 GRADUATE STUDENT HURT AT TECH
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, explosion, injury, unknown_chemical

One person suffered minor injuries in what Texas Tech officials are describing as a minor explosion Thursday afternoon in the Texas Tech Chemistry Building.

The incident was kept to one room that sustained no damage, and the injured graduate student underwent a hazmat shower, according to Texas Tech spokesman Chris Cook.

"It was isolated to his physical body, minor abrasions, minor scrapes," he said.

The student was carted into an ambulance and taken to a hospital.

It was not immediately clear what prompted the explosion or what chemical or chemicals were involved.

It was not clear if the student was supervised or not, Cook said

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HAZMAT NEWS: HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO ACID SPILL IN FORT MYERS
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, acids

An acid spill is all cleaned up in Fort Myers, after crews worked for hours getting the spill under control. Hazmat crews with the Fort Myers Fire Department responded to the area around Division Drive, which is between Tice Street and Luckett Road, just off I-75, around 1am Wednesday morning.
Hazmat crews with the Fort Myers Fire Department responded to the area around Division Drive, which is between Tice Street and Luckett Road, just off I-75, around 1am Wednesday morning.
Lee Control dispatch confirms to Fox 4 that acid had spilled and crews worked throughout the early morning to clean it up.

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HAZMAT CREWS RESPOND TO FUEL SPILL ON ARKADELPHIA ROAD
Tags: us_AL, transportation, release, response, other_chemical

Birmingham Fire and rescues decontamination unit is working to clear a fuel spill on Arkadelphia Road at 11th Court West.

Around 30 to 50 gallons of fuel spilled around 2 a.m. Wednesday after a fuel cap came off an 18-wheeler. Officials on the scene tell ABC 33/40 crews, the truck pulled up to a red light and started shaking, vibrating the fuel cap off.

The Jefferson County EMA has been notified.

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

MAN SUSTAINS CHEMICAL BURNS IN LAB ACCIDENT
Tags: us_TX, laboratory, fire, injury, unknown_chemical

A man on Texas A&M University's Riverside campus was taken to the hospital Wednesday afternoon after a small laboratory chemical fire in the food protein building.
Authorities say around 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, emergency services were called to the Food Protein Headquarters building at the FPRDC Facilities on campus. A small chemical fire had broken out in a laboratory, and one man was suffering from chemical burns.
According to Brazos County VFD Precinct 4 Chief Joe Ondrasek, who took command of the scene's first responders, the fire was very small and contained to one section of the room, with no structural damage to the building. The fire was already extinguished by those in the lab by the time firefighters arrived on scene. Health and safety personnel and maintenance employees with Texas A&M are investigating the cause of the fire.
The man who received chemical burns was taken to the hospital by Bryan EMS services. His condition is unknown.

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

SCENE OF QUEENSTOWN CHLORINE GAS INCIDENT CLEARED
Tags: New_Zealand, industrial, release, injury, chlorine, cleaners

The fire service has cleared a Queenstown industrial area after no traces of a chlorine gas were found to remain in the vicinity of a commercial laundry.

A man was taken to Lakes District Hospital with moderate injuries and two people were treated by paramedics at Southern Lakes Laundry in Glenda Dr, Frankton, after two chemicals were inadvertently mixed creating chlorine gas at about 7.30am.

Fire brigades came from as far away as Invercargill to inspect and clear the site.

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

PLACENTIA GARAGE FIRE BLAMED ON MARIJUANA OIL LAB
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, fire, injury, drugs

Firefighters extinguished a garage blaze Tuesday afternoon in Placentia where two men were burned on 80 percent to 90 percent of their bodies and a marijuana oil lab was found inside.

Two Placentia police officers suffered smoke inhalation while looking for anyone inside.

The fire was reported around 12:20 p.m. in the 100 block of West Primrose Avenue, said Capt. Larry Kurtz of the Orange County Fire Authority. The blaze was extinguished about 12:45 p.m., Kurtz said. The garage was destroyed and parts of the house were heavily damaged.

Kurtz said the two men, ages 30 and 36, were taken to UCI Medical Center"s burn center with life-threatening injuries. The two officers were treated and released from a hospital.

Around 4:20 p.m., a third man who was in the house walked into a hospital with serious burns, said Lt. Eric Point of the Placentia Police Department. .

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HAZMAT CREW INVESTIGATES SPILL AT PACKARD PARK
Tags: us_OH, public, release, response, petroleum

WARREN, Ohio (WYTV) " Crews from Trumbull County HazMat, the Warren Fire Department and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency worked to contain a spill in the Mahoning River at Packard Park on Monday evening.

The Warren Tribune Chronicle reports that a sewer drain at the north end of the park, behind the National Packard Museum, was leaking some kind of oil or petroleum. The spill covered the entire length of the river at the park " between 300 and 400 yards.

The investigation into the source of the leak is expected to continue on Tuesday.

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

OSHA CITES BIOFUEL COMPANY OVER HYDROGEN GAS EXPLOSION
Tags: us_LA, industrial, follow-up, injury, biodiesel, hydrogen

GEISMAR, La. (AP) - The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined a Geismar biodiesel plant $70,000 and has cited a biofuels company over a September hydrogen gas explosion.

The Advocate (https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__bit.ly_1StvwTz&d=BQIFaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=WhymqXHvpFi2SRpmwHBJus07oqNSmd74Xulm-KXeMMo&s=pD-ahNF9O22ZDv7ae1e6zNPvBjexIV26fl3vmtw3xhY&e= ">https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__bit.ly_1StvwTz&d=BQIFaQ&c=lb62iw4YL4RFalcE2hQUQealT9-RXrryqt9KZX2qu2s&r=meWM1Buqv4IQ27AlK1OJRjcQl09S1Zta6YXKalY_Io0&m=WhymqXHvpFi2SRpmwHBJus07oqNSmd74Xulm-KXeMMo&s=pD-ahNF9O22ZDv7ae1e6zNPvBjexIV26fl3vmtw3xhY&e= ) reports that OSHA also cited Renewable Energy Group, an Iowa-based biofuels producer, on Thursday with three willful safety violations over the company"s alleged failure to ensure that a flammable chemical was no longer in a plant pipeline that was under repair.

An OSHA field operations manual states that a willful violation means a company demonstrated disregard or indifference to employee safety.

REG spokesman Anthony Hulen says the company disagrees with OSHA"s findings and the classification of the citation. Hulen says the company will contest the citation. OSHA officials were not available for comment.

The Sept. 3 explosion injured four workers.

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

CENTURY-OLD FIRE AT MSU STILL A MYSTERY
Tags: us_MI, laboratory, fire, environmental, ag_chems

EAST LANSING - Students awoke March 5, 1916 to the sight of flames roaring from the windows and roof of the Michigan Agricultural College"s Engineering Building.

The four-story building, dedicated just eight years earlier, was a total loss, along with the nearby mechanical laboratories.

A century later, the exact cause of the fire remains a mystery, said Mac Davis, a retired civil and environmental engineering professor.

The fire began in a cement laboratory in the southeast corner of the building"s basement, Davis said. The building"s all-wood interior and the inability for firefighters to respond quickly meant that by the time it was spotted around 5 a.m., "it was pretty well underway," he said.

No one was in the building at the time, Davis said, although students were evacuated from the nearby Wells Hall, which briefly caught fire.

"There were no fire alarms, no safety measures inside and they probably had to get water out of the Red Cedar River," Davis said.

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

CHEMICAL SPILL IN LOWER 9TH WARD ALARMS ACTIVISTS
Tags: us_LA, public, release, response, unknown_chemical

NEW ORLEANS -- A bright orange chemical leaks from nine barrels on a debris-filled empty Lizardi Street lot. Some of it ran into the street, towards a nearby drain.

"This is insane," said Common Ground Relief Executive Director Thom Pepper. "When we saw this, we just couldn't believe it."

"It's terrifying," said Lower Nine.org Executive Director Laura Paul. "I shudder to think what that is doing to the storm drain to the lake."

The labels say the drums are filled with 500 gallons of a spray foam insulation, but the holes at the ends of the barrels indicate someone may have used them for target practice, causing the chemical leak.

"I'm outraged, I mean I'm concerned, and I'm outraged," said City Councilman James Gray.

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

RAIN CAUSES ROOF TO COLLAPSE AT MANUFACTURING LAB IN SAN JOSE
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, release, response, unknown_chemical

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- The on-going downpours across the Bay Area have created numerous problems in the South Bay.

The hazmat team is investigating a roof collapse at a manufacturing lab off of Ringwood Avenue in San Jose.

Firefighters believe the weight of the rain caused the roof to cave in as employees were working. Everyone was able to get out safely, but they won't be able to go back today.

After the hazmat team concludes their work, a construction crew will go in to asses the damage and to determine what type of work will be need to repair the damage.

"There are some chemicals on scene we want to evaluate before we clear the building," said Battalion Chief Angela Jacobson with the San Jose Fire Department.

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

HAZMAT CREW INVESTIGATES SPILL AT PACKARD PARK
Tags: us_OH, public, release, environmental, petroleum

WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) " The oily fluid leak in the Mahoning River was contained Monday night. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is expected to come back to investigate the site of the leak Tuesday morning.

According to a Warren Fire Department report, Trumbull County HazMat, Warren Fire Department, and the Ohio EPA worked to contain a spill in the Mahoning River at Packard Park, Monday at 6:26 p.m.. OEPA Environmental Response and Revitalization, Kurt Kollar, called Firefighters who helped find an oily sheen in the water by the walking bridge minutes later. Crews used booms to contain the spill.

Crews traced the source of the leak back to a sewer drain near Griswold St. after a few hours of searching.

The Warren Tribune Chronicle reports the spill covered the entire length of the river at the park " between 300 and 400 yards.

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ROAD REOPENS AFTER HAZMAT CREW CALLED TO TANKER CRASH IN WEST...
Tags: us_PA, transportation, release, response, liquid_nitrogen, nitrogen

WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. " A tanker truck overturned Monday in West Mifflin, prompting the closure of busy Lebanon Church Road.
Hazardous materials cleanup crews were called to the scene in the 2200 block of the road because liquid nitrogen was leaking from the truck. Liquid nitrogen can cause frostbite if it makes contact with skin.
There were no reports of injuries.
Nearby businesses, including Denny's and McDonald's, were evacuated while the cleanup took place.
Channel 11"s Cara Sapida reported that the cleanup was completed just before 3 p.m. and Lebanon Church Road was reopened.

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