From: DCHAS Secretary <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (16 articles)
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2017 06:54:40 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: D8C7D8C0-3800-4837-94D0-6EE9092F8A35**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, March 24, 2017 at 6:54:26 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 (16 articles)

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, TEACHERS HOSPITALIZED OVER CHEMICAL ODOR
Tags: us_NJ, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical

ROADS REOPENED AFTER FIRE AT SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN DOWNTOWN BOULDER
Tags: us_CO, laboratory, fire, response, batteries, fire_extinguisher

HAZMAT CREWS CLEAR ANHYDROUS LEAK THAT CLOSED HIGHWAY
Tags: us_TN, transportation, release, response, ammonia

HAZMAT CLEANUP FINISHED ON HWY 155 AT GRANDE IN TYLER
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, response, dust

HAZMAT SCARE SENDS TWO YELLOWSTONE COUNTY DEPUTIES TO THE HOSPIT
Tags: us_MT, public, release, injury, dust

VINELAND HIGH SCHOOL SOUTH EVACUATED DUE TO STRONG ODOR
Tags: us_NJ, laboratory, release, injury, unknown_chemical

FOUR GALLONS OF SODIUM HYDROXIDE SPILLED AT MANUFACTURING COMPANY
Tags: us_FL, industrial, release, response, sodium_hydroxide

SUTHERLAND: CSB CHAIR SAYS AGENCY'S WATCHDOG ROLE IS INVALUABLE
Tags: us_TX, industrial, discovery, environmental

CHEMICAL LEAK FORCES EVACUATION IN DOWNTOWN BROWNSVILLE
Tags: us_TX, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

FIRE BURNS LONG BEACH STORAGE CONTAINER WITH CHEMICAL-SOAKED RAGS
Tags: us_CA, industrial, fire, response, waste

CAUSTIC FUMES CAUSED BY CHEMICAL MIX FORCE EVACUATION OF ULSTER HOTEL
Tags: us_NY, public, release, injury, corrosives, pool_chemicals

FIRE SAFETY ISSUES DOG BATTERY STORAGE GROWTH IN NEW YORK CITY, SLOWING DEPLOYMENT
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, environmental, batteries

ARREST MADE AFTER CREWS RESPOND TO HANOVER FOR HAZMAT SITUATION
Tags: us_MA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical, illegal

POLICE CHASE, HAZMAT SITUATION IN LINO LAKES SENDS 9 TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_MN, transportation, release, injury, propane

HAZMAT CREW INVESTIGATING WESTWOOD PARKING LOT WHERE PEOPLE FELL ILL
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO TRUCK ACCIDENT
Tags: us_NV, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical


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HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, TEACHERS HOSPITALIZED OVER CHEMICAL ODOR
Tags: us_NJ, education, release, injury, unknown_chemical

VINELAND, N.J. (CBS) ‰?? Students and teachers at a New Jersey high school have been hospitalized after a chemical odor was reported.

Vineland High School South says the building at 2880 East Chestnut Ave. was evacuated after students and staff on the second floor reported a chemical odor.

Five students and two teachers were sent to the hospital as a precaution. They are expected to be fine.

The cause of the odor is still under investigation.

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

ROADS REOPENED AFTER FIRE AT SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN DOWNTOWN BOULDER
Tags: us_CO, laboratory, fire, response, batteries, fire_extinguisher

A lithium battery caught fire at Southwest Research Institute in downtown Boulder on Thursday afternoon prompting the closure of roads around the building as fire crews responded.

Boulder Fire Rescue Battalion Chief John Nu̱ez said staff on the fifth floor of the building, located at 1050 Walnut Ave., called 911 shortly before 3 p.m. to report the fire, which staff were trying to put out with a fire extinguisher.

Nu̱ez said that firefighters responded and extinguished the battery, but it took quite a while to ventilate the building. However, there doesn't appear to be any smoke damage.

No injuries were reported. Boulder police temporarily shut down portions of 11th Street and Walnut Avenue while fire crews were on scene.

Nu̱ez said it is unknown why the battery, which was being charged, caught fire.

The Southwest Research Institute employs about 80 people and is a nonprofit applied engineering and physical science research and development organization that is headquartered out of San Antonio, according to its website.

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

HAZMAT CREWS CLEAR ANHYDROUS LEAK THAT CLOSED HIGHWAY
Tags: us_TN, transportation, release, response, ammonia

A Marion County highway was briefly closed while Hazmat crews worked to clear an anhydrous ammonia leak Thursday night.

According to a Facebook post by the Marion County Emergency Management Agency Thursday night, an accident at the intersection of Highway 92 and Highway T17 caused the leak.

A tank that was being towed by a pickup truck came loose, and ended up in a highway ditch. The tank, carrying anhydrous ammonia, began to leak.

Responders were called to the area after 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. They worked to clear the leak and the tank from the ditch by 10 p.m.

Clay Township Fire Department along with the Marion County Hazardous Materials team and Marion County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene.

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

HAZMAT CLEANUP FINISHED ON HWY 155 AT GRANDE IN TYLER
Tags: us_TX, transportation, release, response, dust

MITH COUNTY, TX (KLTV) -
A hazardous spill situation occurred just south of Tyler on Thursday afternoon.

Tyler Police PIO Don Martin confirmed there is a spill on Hwy 155 at Grande in Tyler. Tyler police responded to the scene to help direct traffic.

Smith County Fire Marshal Connie Wasson said that it appeared that a large plastic tub containing possibly up to 275 pounds of ammonia sulfate fell off of a truck. Wasson said that she is unsure at this point whether the entire tub emptied or if only some of the chemical spilled out. She said that what spilled was mostly in the grass alongside the roadway.

As of 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, the cleanup crews were gone and traffic was flowing normally, according to DPS.

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

HAZMAT SCARE SENDS TWO YELLOWSTONE COUNTY DEPUTIES TO THE HOSPIT
Tags: us_MT, public, release, injury, dust

BILLINGS -
A potential home break in turned into a call out for the Billings police bomb squad and Billings Fire hazmat teams, after it sent two Yellowstone County Deputies to the Hospital Thursday night.

Just before 10 p.m. deputies responded to a trailer home at 4224 Ellington Avenue, just south of Billings.

Captain Bill Michaelis said the woman who called 9-1-1 was inside, but did not come to the door, so deputies entered through a window.

"Once they got inside there was some kind of chemical release or something that happened inside, they had difficulty breathing," Michaelis said,

"They could feel it right away when they got inside, that the air wasn't correct," he said.

Both deputies were decontaminated on scene and sent to Billings Clinic for further evaluation.

Billings Police then sent in a bomb robot to determine if anyone else was inside the home.

Once cleared, hazmat crews entered the trailer and found a whitish-brownish powdery substance.

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

VINELAND HIGH SCHOOL SOUTH EVACUATED DUE TO STRONG ODOR
Tags: us_NJ, laboratory, release, injury, unknown_chemical

VINELAND, N.J. (WPVI) -- Hundreds of students were evacuated from Vineland High School South on Wednesday because of a strong odor coming from a science lab.

The students were sent outside around 11:30 a.m.

Officials have since determined the smell was coming from an electric potpourri machine.

Five students and two teachers were taken to the hospital for observation.

Everyone else was allowed back into school this afternoon.

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

FOUR GALLONS OF SODIUM HYDROXIDE SPILLED AT MANUFACTURING COMPANY
Tags: us_FL, industrial, release, response, sodium_hydroxide

MANATEE
For five hours on Wednesday, Southern Manatee Fire & Rescue investigated a call of a ‰??slight haze and a chemical smell‰?? inside a manufacturer that ended up being a sodium hydroxide spill.

The 911 call came at 7:40 a.m. from Cortec Corporation, located at 2420 Trailmate Drive. SMFR, which is directly across the street from the company, responded with 18 personnel and had three Manatee County EMS employees assisting, according to battalion chief Herb Smith.

Cortec Corporation, a Minnesota-based chemical manufacturing company, makes environmentally friendly corrosion inhibitors to prevent rust.

According to Bradenton Herald archives, the Manatee County campus has an office, manufacturing facility, a warehouse and two laboratories for research into biotechnology and marine corrosion.

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

SUTHERLAND: CSB CHAIR SAYS AGENCY'S WATCHDOG ROLE IS INVALUABLE
Tags: us_TX, industrial, discovery, environmental

The notion that safety is always good for the bottom line is not new - but it is most assuredly a principle that should be taken more seriously. Twelve years after the BP Texas City disaster - one of the deadliest industrial accidents in the history of the United States - there still is much to learn.

Investigating such accidents is the responsibility of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) - the independent, nonregulatory federal agency that I head. I am devastated to know that President Trump's 2018 budget proposal seeks to eliminate the CSB. We have a truly unique mission as we are the only agency that acts as a watchdog for both industry and government agencies. Without the CSB, lessons will not be learned from future high-consequence fires and explosions.

Every refinery and chemical plant should be aware of the CSB's work and support its continued existence. The CSB's learnings from high quality accident investigations will not only keep communities and workers safe but also improve companies' bottom lines. In Texas, 24 chemical accidents have been investigated by the board. As the state with the highest number of CSB investigations, we hope that leaders in government across Texas will support the agency's ongoing work. Simply put, prevention is good business.

Industrial accidents do not occur in a vacuum; they reverberate throughout industry and affect ordinary Americans. The costs are enormous, from injuries and fatalities to long-term economic consequences.

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

CHEMICAL LEAK FORCES EVACUATION IN DOWNTOWN BROWNSVILLE
Tags: us_TX, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

Twenty-two people were evacuated Tuesday afternoon from the Quick Transit Corp building on East Frontage Street after a chemical leak was reported to the Brownsville Fire Department.
A man was admitted to the hospital after unsuccessfully attempting to plug the leak himself and getting chemicals on his face and hands, said Fire Chief Carlos Elizondo.
‰??The gentleman was decontaminated on scene. He was taken to Valley Baptist Medical Center (in Brownsville) for treatment,‰?? Elizondo said. ‰??He didn‰??t show anything other than redness, but our concern is mainly inhalation and the eyes, which he did complain about.‰??

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

FIRE BURNS LONG BEACH STORAGE CONTAINER WITH CHEMICAL-SOAKED RAGS
Tags: us_CA, industrial, fire, response, waste

LONG BEACH, CA -- A small fire in Long Beach burned a storage container in which chemical-soaked rags had been placed but no one was hurt, authorities said Tuesday.

The fire was reported at 11:35 p.m. and knocked down within 15 minutes in the 4000 block of East Conant Street, outside a commercial building, said Jake Heflin of the Long Beach Fire Department.

The rags in the container were stored there for disposal, Heflin said, but he did not know what kind of chemicals were involved.

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

CAUSTIC FUMES CAUSED BY CHEMICAL MIX FORCE EVACUATION OF ULSTER HOTEL
Tags: us_NY, public, release, injury, corrosives, pool_chemicals

TOWN OF ULSTER >> The Hampton Inn hotel on Ulster Avenue was evacuated, 12 workers were exposed to caustic fumes and a contractor who inhaled them was hospitalized Tuesday afternoon after accidently mixing a cleaning chemical with pool water containing chlorine, the local fire chief said.

Ulster Hose Chief Shawn Heppner said firefighters were called to the hotel at 1307 Ulster Ave. at 1:23 p.m. for an automatic fire alarm activation after a contractor working near the hotel‰??s pool accidently mixed a ‰??corrosive cleaner‰?? with pool water. The contractor initially thought the resulting fumes were caused by a fire, Heppner said.

Twelve contractors, including the one that was hospitalized, were evaluated by Mobile Life Support Services. Eleven of the workers refused treatment, Heppner said.

The contractor, who was not identified, suffered injuries that were not life-threatening injuries, the chief said.

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

FIRE SAFETY ISSUES DOG BATTERY STORAGE GROWTH IN NEW YORK CITY, SLOWING DEPLOYMENT
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, environmental, batteries

Last fall, New York City became one of the few cities in America to implement an energy storage mandate when Mayor Bill Di Blasio announced a 100 MWh by 2020 solar-plus-storage target, but progress has been slow. By the end of 2016, the city had only installed 4.8 MWh of storage.

A new report by the City University of New York, the National Renewable Energy Laboratories and Meister Consultants examines the barriers to deploying solar-plus-storage installations in New York City. The report cites the high cost of battery storage and the lack of city and state incentives for storage. The report also identifies the city‰??s arduous permitting process as one of the barriers developers face.

But the report does not put a lot of focus on what may be one of the biggest barriers to expanding energy storage in New York: the lack of consensus on fire safety standards for battery storage devices, especially lithium-ion batteries.

Fire safety concerns have not been a limiting factor in other jurisdictions, said Christopher Robinson, who heads energy storage research at Lux Research. But New York City‰??s population density makes it more of a concern there.

Uncertainty around fire safety issues is putting a damper on the New York storage market, said Davion Hill, energy storage leader, Americas, for DNV GL. ‰??Developers are afraid of the soft costs associated with excessive water and ventilation requirements,‰?? he said.

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

ARREST MADE AFTER CREWS RESPOND TO HANOVER FOR HAZMAT SITUATION
Tags: us_MA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical, illegal

HANOVER, Mass. ‰??
An arrest has been made after a hazmat situation in Hanover.

Hanover police and firefighters responded to Bates Way Tuesday afternoon for an initial report of a level one hazmat response, which means an assessment of a suspicious substance.

Authorities said a man broke into a home on Bates Way and brought in a bucket with some kind of substance. The liquid was found around the home and when the homeowner arrived and realized what was going, they called the police.

"They went into the home and confirmed that there was some form of vapor emitting from bucket inside the kitchen area of the home," Hanover Fire chief Jeffrey Blanchard said.

The response was raised to a level two, meaning a short term operation is underway. Firefighters at the scene said a couple of homes were evacuated.

The suspect was found on the first floor of the home and was arrested. Officials said he apparently had doused himself with the substance and had to be washed down.

"He did need to be assisted outside and was transported to local hospital for evaluation," Hanover Police chief Walter Sweeney said.

The man is expected to be charged with breaking and entering into a home to commit a felony. Authorities said the suspect and the homeowner knew each other.

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

POLICE CHASE, HAZMAT SITUATION IN LINO LAKES SENDS 9 TO HOSPITAL
Tags: us_MN, transportation, release, injury, propane

LINO LAKES, Minn. (KMSP) - A police chase from Blaine, Minnesota to Lino Lakes, Minnesota ended with a strange twist Tuesday morning, with nine people taken to the hospital for exposure to noxious fumes.

According to the Blaine Police Department, officers attempted to pull a van over for suspicious activity near the Walmart on Ball Road in Blaine and were led on a chase, ending with a PIT maneuver near the corner of County Road 23 and Town Center Parkway in Lino Lakes.

Nine people, including four police officers, three EMS members and the driver of the vehicle were taken to a nearby hospital following the incident after being overcome by fumes in the area. All nine people complained of scratchy throats and were underwent chemical decontamination at a nearby hospital.

The North Metro Chemical Assessment Team determined the source of the fumes was a leaking propane tank and a variety of used spray paint cans in the back of the van. The officers and the van's driver were treated for symptoms of aerosol inhalation and released from the hospital Tuesday afternoon, officials said.

Both suspects were questioned by police after they found a loaded firearm in the vehicle. The passenger was eventually released, though officials say the investigation is currently ongoing.

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

HAZMAT CREW INVESTIGATING WESTWOOD PARKING LOT WHERE PEOPLE FELL ILL
Tags: us_CA, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

On March 10, 10 people complained of being sickened in an underground parking structure in Westwood, but none of them required hospitalization.

The incident was reported at 7:11 p.m. in the 1000 block of Glendon Avenue, just south of the UCLA campus, according to Sean Saunders of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The patients complained of a burning sensation, a metallic taste in their throats and feeling sickened, Saunders said.

No one was taken to a hospital, but a hazardous materials crew was dispatched to take samples and try to determine what substance was involved.

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

HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO TRUCK ACCIDENT
Tags: us_NV, transportation, release, response, unknown_chemical

LAS VEGAS (KXNT) ‰?? At first, authorities believed a crash to be just a routine accident jamming up the intersection of West Cheyenne Avenue and North Grand Canyon Drive Tuesday morning. Then, local firefighters learned there were chemicals on the truck involved in the crash.

Las Vegas Fire and Rescue responded to a car crash around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. When firefighters arrived, they found a small truck on its side in the intersection.

Two vehicles were involved in the crash of a truck that hit a car with a woman inside. Both drivers were checked by paramedics on scene and released. The driver of the truck told firefighters at the scene there were some chemicals in the rear of the truck. After firefighters checked the air inside the truck with electronic air monitoring equipment, it indicated that there might be a possible leak. Before the truck could be righted, the chemicals had to be secured.

The LVFR Hazardous Materials Response team responded as well as a number of other support cars and personnel. A total of 35 personnel with 15 vehicles responded.

All roads leading to the intersection were closed and a few nearby residents and a school were told to stay put and not come out for awhile.

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