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From: DCHAS Secretary <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (17 articles)
Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2017 08:02:49 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: 6FB76A4A-854A-43AD-8673-02B0793192A5**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, April 14, 2017 at 8:02:37 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 (17 articles)
NEIGHBORS RETURN HOME AFTER JACAM PLANT FIRE IN RICE COUNTY
Tags: us_KS, industrial, explosion, response, ethanol
EXPLOSION, FIRE IN CHEMICAL VAULT AT JOHNSON TRUCK BODIES
Tags: us_WI, transportation, explosion, response, acetone, resin
BUSINESSMAN CHARGED WITH STORING CHEMICALS WITHOUT PERMIT
Tags: us_PA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, illegal, solvent, wastes
FERTILIZER TRUCK ABLAZE IN ORTEGA; HAZMAT TEAM BROUGHT IN FOR CLEAN UP
Tags: us_FL, transportation, fire, response, ag_chems
TOXICOLOGY REPORTS CONFIRM CHILDREN IN HAZMAT INCIDENT DIED FROM PHOSPHINE GAS EXPOSURE
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, death, phosphine
SHOOTING IN SOUTHWEST FRESNO TURNED INTO POSSIBLE HAZMAT SITUATION AFTER GAS METER STRUCK
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, natural_gas
CHICAGO AGENCY FINDS HIGH LEVEL OF SPILLED CHEMICAL IN LAKE
Tags: us_IN, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
PROTECTING SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY REQUIRES EFFORT BY THE ENTIRE RESEARCH SYSTEM, REPORT SAYS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
CHINA STEPS UP POLLUTION FIGHT
Tags: China, public, discovery, response, illegal
COSTS FOR METH LAB FIRE APPROACHES $100,000
Tags: us_WI, public, follow-up, environmental, illegal, clandestine_lab
ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMINAL CHARGES PURSUED IN 2014 INDUSTRIAL FIRE -
Tags: us_NY, industrial, follow-up, environmental, illegal, solvent, waste
EPA: US STEEL LEAKS CHEMICAL INTO LAKE MICHIGAN TRIBUTARY
Tags: us_IN, public, release, environmental, other_chemical
EXPLOSION AT NEWARK CHEMICAL COMPANY CAUSES FIRE: OFFICIALS
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, explosion, response, other_chemical, hydrogen
NORFOLK SOUTHERN ANNOUNCES HAZMAT SAFETY AWARDS. FOR RAILROAD CAREER PROFESSIONALS
Tags: transportation, discovery, environmental
HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO CARBONVILLE SPILL ‰?? SUN ADVOCATE
Tags: us_ID, public, release, injury, tear_gas
SHERIFF: EXPLOSION IN LOUISIANA FOREST LEADS TO EVACUATION
Tags: us_LA, public, explosion, response, chlorine
TASK FORCE DRUG BUST LEADS TO HAZMAT CALL
Tags: us_MA, public, discovery, injury, clandestine_lab
---------------------------------------------
NEIGHBORS RETURN HOME AFTER JACAM PLANT FIRE IN RICE COUNTY
Tags: us_KS, industrial, explosion, response, ethanol
The fire at the JACAM Chemicals plant between Sterling and Lyons in Rice County has significantly died down compared to earlier Thursday. There is just a little smoke showing Thursday afternoon, compared to when firefighters first arrived on scene and flames covered so much of the building, they were not able to get inside.
For a couple hours Thursday morning, witnesses say they could hear the occasional popping of exploding barrels of chemicals, followed by flames shooting into the air.
Firefighters say they concentrated on making sure the fire did not spread to any of the 17 other buildings at the plant. While they say the chemicals burning are not toxic, they wren't taking any chances, shutting down roads in the area and asking people in the pate of the smoke to evacuate. This included most of the workers at the ethanol plant near JACAM.
Rice County Emergency Management Director Greg Klein says officials will continue to monitor air quality from the plant to the city of Lyons. He says the fire is not affecting air quality within Lyons or areas north of the plant.
---------------------------------------------
EXPLOSION, FIRE IN CHEMICAL VAULT AT JOHNSON TRUCK BODIES
Tags: us_WI, transportation, explosion, response, acetone, resin
Firefighters and emergency personnel responded to Johnson Truck Bodies, in Rice Lake, shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, after a reported explosion and resin and acetone tanks were found on fire.
An alarm company first notified the Rice Lake Fire Department around 2:58 p.m., with the first units on scene by 3:02 p.m. Plant personnel said an explosion and fire occurred in a chemical vault and all personnel were accounted for.
At about 3:15 p.m., Rice Lake police shut down Main Street in the vicinity of the fire and downwind from the smoke.
Firefighters used Class B firefighting foam and the sprinkler system to extinguish the fire, which was put out by 3:21 p.m.
No employees or firefighters were injured. The streets were reopened by 4 p.m.
The chemical fire involved both resin and acetone, used at the plant. The explosion occurred in the plant‰??s chemical vault, which sustained heavy structural damage.
---------------------------------------------
BUSINESSMAN CHARGED WITH STORING CHEMICALS WITHOUT PERMIT
Tags: us_PA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, illegal, solvent, wastes
ARCHBALD ‰?? Jessup businessman Eric Spatt stood silently while his attorneys made small talk with the state prosecutors.
He had been there before.
Judge Laura M. Turlip, sounding stern but compassionate, told him: ‰??I hope this is the last time we have to be here.‰??
Nearly three years after Spatt‰??s business, the former Scranton Cooperage in Jessup, went up in a column of smoke and flames, the state attorney general‰??s office Thursday filed another round of criminal charges against him.
Spatt‰??s attorney, William Peters, declined to comment because he said he only saw the charges Wednesday night and needed more time to study them.
The accusations stem from an investigation after a 2014 fire at Scranton Cooperage.
In 2016, the attorney general‰??s office charged Spatt with improperly storing sodium chlorite, a volatile chemical blamed for starting the fire after an employee punctured a drum of it with a forklift.
During the investigation, agents found Spatt used solvents, which he was permitted to have on site to clean industrial drums and other containers, but did not have an adequate plan or state permits to store and dispose of the hazardous wastes created during their use.
At Scranton Cooperage, 1264 Mid Valley Drive, Spatt stored hazardous waste ‰?? material called ‰??gack‰?? ‰?? Special Agent Donald A. Hentz Jr. wrote in an affidavit of probable cause, explaining the charges.
---------------------------------------------
FERTILIZER TRUCK ABLAZE IN ORTEGA; HAZMAT TEAM BROUGHT IN FOR CLEAN UP
Tags: us_FL, transportation, fire, response, ag_chems
A lawn care truck carrying fertilizer caught fire in the Ortega area Thursday afternoon and required a HazMat team response to clean up.
The truck was on San Juan Avenue near Herschel Street and caught fire around 2:17 p.m. San Juan was shut down while a HazMat team made its way to the scene, says the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. At the time of this writing, the road is still shutdown.
The situation is still reportedly active.
No one was injured in the fire, authorities say.
---------------------------------------------
TOXICOLOGY REPORTS CONFIRM CHILDREN IN HAZMAT INCIDENT DIED FROM PHOSPHINE GAS EXPOSURE
Tags: us_TX, public, follow-up, death, phosphine
AMARILLO, Texas (KVII) ‰?? The toxicology results for the four children that died in a HAZMAT incident at a North Amarillo home in January confirm the children all died from Aluminum Phosphide poisoning.
On January 2, 9-year-old Johnnie Balderas, 7-year-old Filipe Balderas, 11-year-old Josue Balderas and 17-year-old Yasmeen Balderas were all found dead due to the deadly phosphine gas. Six other members of the family were hospitalized due to the deadly gas.
The toxicology results for all four children show the cause of death being ruled as "complications of acute aluminum phosphide (phosphine gas) exposure."
A statement on one of the toxicology results reads:
the residence had a large quantity of aluminum phosphide pellets placed beneath it. The ambient humidity released enough phosphine gas to make family members feel ill. Later, when an attempt was made to wash away the pellets, a large amount of phosphine gas was released."
---------------------------------------------
SHOOTING IN SOUTHWEST FRESNO TURNED INTO POSSIBLE HAZMAT SITUATION AFTER GAS METER STRUCK
Tags: us_CA, public, release, response, natural_gas
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A shooting turned into a possible hazmat situation in Southwest Fresno. It happened near Tulare and Collins.
Fresno Police said one person was standing in front of an apartment complex when they were hit by gunfire-- a bullet also struck a gas meter nearby.
As a precaution the Fresno Fire Department turned off the gas in the area.
That gunshot victim is expected to survive.
---------------------------------------------
CHICAGO AGENCY FINDS HIGH LEVEL OF SPILLED CHEMICAL IN LAKE
Tags: us_IN, public, follow-up, environmental, other_chemical
PORTAGE, Ind. (AP) ‰?? A water sample from Lake Michigan near a wastewater spill at a U.S. Steel plant in Indiana contained an elevated level of a potentially carcinogenic chemical but well below federal safety standards, the Chicago Department of Water Management said Thursday.
A sample containing 2 parts per billion of hexavalent chromium was taken in the lake about a mile north of the spill in Portage, Indiana, about 30 miles east of Chicago, the agency said.
That's "a level higher than would be expected to be found in raw lake water," the department said in a news release, but it's just a fraction of the Environmental Protection Agency's drinking water standard of 100 parts per billion for all forms of chromium.
A second sample taken nearby contained 1.6 parts per billion of hexavalent chromium, but 10 other samples taken in the same general area contained levels no higher than 0.21 parts per billion, agency data showed.
The EPA expects to start receiving results Friday from about 200 water samples it has collected following the Tuesday spill, spokeswoman Rachel Bassler said.
---------------------------------------------
PROTECTING SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY REQUIRES EFFORT BY THE ENTIRE RESEARCH SYSTEM, REPORT SAYS
Tags: public, discovery, environmental
The whole research community needs to improve and update the practices and policies it uses to protect the integrity of scientific inquiry, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine.
The report was five years in the making. At first, the committee intended to update a previous report, published in 1992, but the research environment had changed so much that the committee needed to start fresh, according to Robert M. Nerem, chair of the panel and professor emeritus at Georgia Tech. The biggest change from the last report, he says, was a shift in focus from individual researchers and institutions to the research community as a complex system that also includes funders, publishers, and scientific societies.
The new report calls on the broader research community to adopt policies that bolster the scientific research environment. In addition to misconduct‰??defined as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism‰??the report focuses on other detrimental research practices such as inappropriate use of statistics or irresponsible publication practices by journals.
Many of the report‰??s 11 recommendations are responses to the challenges of reproducibility. Publishers are encouraged to ensure the availability of sufficient information about methods and analysis to allow reproduction of reported results. In addition, researchers should describe all statistical tests used to analyze data and include negative findings. The report also advocates allocating funds for long-term archiving of datasets and computer code.
The report calls for scientific societies and journals to develop discipline-based standards for authorship, if they don‰??t already have them. Such standards should lay out the criteria for designating authors and disclosing their contributions and should ban such practices as honorary and ghost authorship. The American Chemical Society, which publishes C&EN, was one of the sponsors of the report.
---------------------------------------------
CHINA STEPS UP POLLUTION FIGHT
Tags: China, public, discovery, response, illegal
China‰??s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) is sending 5,600 inspectors throughout the north of China as part of a one-year crackdown on the air pollution that afflicted Beijing, Tianjin, and other major Chinese cities for most of the winter. The national government‰??s move suggests that it doubts the ability or willingness of provincial and municipal administrations to confront polluters.
In a notice posted on its website, MEP said that, so far, its inspectors have discovered that the city of Handan in Hebei province was allowing the illegal operation of coal-fired boilers that had previously been ordered to close. A police investigation is ongoing, the ministry said.
National officials have also found close to 100 violations after inspecting nearly 200 sites, MEP said. The national inspectors‰?? methods include surprise visits to industrial sites and undercover work.
The north of China struggled with extremely high levels of air pollution throughout the winter. In early January, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, which measures outdoor air quality, reported that its Air Quality Index had repeatedly breached 400, a level that it considers hazardous.
---------------------------------------------
COSTS FOR METH LAB FIRE APPROACHES $100,000
Tags: us_WI, public, follow-up, environmental, illegal, clandestine_lab
LAKE GENEVA ‰?? One flash fire is costing The Cove of Lake Geneva, 111 Center St., almost $100,000.
The cause? A one-pot meth clandestine lab gone wrong.
And the city of Lake Geneva Public/Private Partnership hosted a methamphetamine awareness training day on April 11 to combat stories like The Cove‰??s.
Patrick McBean, 50, Lake Geneva, was charged with manufacturing meth inside a hotel room at The Cove.
On Jan. 9, officials were called to The Cove for what was initially reported as smoke from someone smoking, according to the criminal complaint.
It was later discovered there was a flash fire, mostly contained to the bathroom.
---------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMINAL CHARGES PURSUED IN 2014 INDUSTRIAL FIRE -
Tags: us_NY, industrial, follow-up, environmental, illegal, solvent, waste
JESSUP, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) -- A Lackawanna County man faces new charges in connection with major industrial fire nearly three years ago. The State Attorney General held a news conference Wednesday afternoon to explain the latest alleged crimes.
Just last year, the former owner of the Mid Valley business Scranton Cooperage was charged by state environmental regulators with mishandling chemicals But the Attorney General's office took a fresh look at the 2014 case and determined that what was gong on there was actually criminal.
"The regulators didn't know, DEP didn't know and that's the way Spatt wanted it to be." State Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Wednesday that 53-year-old Eric Spatt, the former owner of Scranton Cooperage, now faces several new charges for allegedly improperly storing hazardous waste. "In reality, he became a storage site for dangerous chemicals that could ignite and repeatedly did."
The business that reconditioned industrial storage containers became a raging inferno along Mid Valley Road in June 2014. The fire forced hundreds from their nearby homes and businesses. Investigators later determined Mr. Spatt stored the volatile chemical sodium chlorite on site even though he did not have a DEP permit.
The Attorney General's Environmental Crimes Unit recently took another look at the case and discovered Mr. Spatt bought nearly 30,000 gallons of two different chemicals, which were legal, but not in the way he was using them. "When they were used as solvents they produce a hazardous waste which must be managed properly to protect the public and to protect our environment... except Spatt didn't do this," said Mr. Shapiro.
---------------------------------------------
EPA: US STEEL LEAKS CHEMICAL INTO LAKE MICHIGAN TRIBUTARY
Tags: us_IN, public, release, environmental, other_chemical
ORTAGE, Ind. (AP) ‰?? A spill at a U.S. Steel plant in northern Indiana that sent wastewater containing a potentially carcinogenic chemical into a Lake Michigan tributary was apparently caused by a pipe failure but testing has found none of that toxic substance in the lake, the company and federal officials said Wednesday.
Tuesday's spill of an unknown amount of wastewater led to the closure of three beach areas at the scenic Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and prompted a local water utility to stop drawing water from the lake out of "an abundance of caution," the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said.
U.S. Steel said a preliminary investigation shows an expansion joint failed Tuesday in a pipe at its Portage, Indiana, facility, allowing wastewater from an electroplating treatment process that contains hexavalent chromium to flow into the wrong wastewater treatment plant at the complex.
That wastewater eventually flowed into the Burns Waterway, a lake tributary, at a point about 100 yards from Lake Michigan, said the EPA, which is overseeing the response to the spill.
Indiana American Water, which operates a water treatment plant at nearby Ogden Dunes that draws water from the lake about two miles from Burns Waterway, temporarily shuttered that plant following the spill, and is instead tapping water reserves.
---------------------------------------------
EXPLOSION AT NEWARK CHEMICAL COMPANY CAUSES FIRE: OFFICIALS
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, explosion, response, other_chemical, hydrogen
NEWARK, NJ ‰?? An explosion at an Essex County chemical flavoring business on Monday night set off a fire and damaged the company‰??s building and its equipment, but didn‰??t injure any workers or emergency responders, authorities say.
The ‰??small chemical explosion‰?? took place at Elan Foods Extracts and Ingredients, a company located at 268 Doremus Avenue, according to the Newark Department of Public Safety.
Newark firefighters spotted flames coming from a 900-gallon tank outside the business around 10:17 p.m. According to authorities, the tank contained Methyl Anthranilate, a combustible chemical which likely exploded when it was mixed with hydrogen.
Officials said that none of the four employees at the scene or emergency responders suffered injury during the incident.
---------------------------------------------
NORFOLK SOUTHERN ANNOUNCES HAZMAT SAFETY AWARDS. FOR RAILROAD CAREER PROFESSIONALS
Tags: transportation, discovery, environmental
Norfolk Southern Railway has presented its 2016 Thoroughbred Chemical Safety Award to 55 of its customers for their safe handling of rail-shipped hazardous materials, the Class I announced yesterday.
The honorees safely shipped 208,503 carloads of chemical products over the railroad‰??s network last year.
NS created the award in 1996 to recognize chemical manufacturers and plants that ship at least 1,000 carloads of hazardous products over the railroad without a single incident during the year. Fifty-two corporations and three plants achieved the standard for 2016, NS officials said in a press release.
"These valued customers understand that safe delivery of their product is essential to our nation's commerce and to the well-being of our rail and chemical industry employees, the communities we serve, and the environment," said Alan Shaw, executive vice president and chief marketing officer.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO CARBONVILLE SPILL ‰?? SUN ADVOCATE
Tags: us_ID, public, release, injury, tear_gas
The Carbon County Hazmat Team responded to an incident Sunday morning when some road debris was determined to contain a residual amount of the main component of tear gas.
According to a news release from the Carbon County Sheriff‰??s Office, Deputy Mike Hreinson suffered respiratory distress and a burning sensation after stopping near the Spring Glen turn off from Highway 6 to remove some debris in the road. He required medical attention.
After an initial assessment, Carbon County Emergency Manager Justin Needles called the Utah 85th Civil Support Team. That team was deployed out of state so the Idaho CST was called, and worked in conjunction with the Carbon County Hazmat Team and the Utah Fire Marshal‰??s Office.
The contaminated object has been identified to be a core casing containing residual Cholobenzalmalononitrile or CS Gas, the main component in tear gas. The news release said the casing likely fell off a vehicle, but the carrier has not been determined.
---------------------------------------------
SHERIFF: EXPLOSION IN LOUISIANA FOREST LEADS TO EVACUATION
Tags: us_LA, public, explosion, response, chlorine
NEW LLANO, La. ‰?? Officials say a small explosion and fire in a forest near a Louisiana Army post led to the evacuation of an apartment complex while they searched the suspect‰??s home for possible dangerous material.
Vernon Parish Sheriff Sam Craft told reporters Wednesday night that Fort Polk officials had contacted his and other law enforcement agencies after a person combined chemicals to create the explosion in the Kisatchie National Forest in central Louisiana.
Craft says officials have determined chlorine was involved but he did not have details.
He says the suspect, an active duty soldier stationed at Fort Polk, was in custody there.
Craft says a Louisiana State Patrol HAZMAT team searched the suspect‰??s apartment in New Llano, about 8 miles from the base, but found no chemical components.
---------------------------------------------
TASK FORCE DRUG BUST LEADS TO HAZMAT CALL
Tags: us_MA, public, discovery, injury, clandestine_lab
A major drug bust in Pembroke Tuesday, April 11 led to the HAZMAT team being called to the Pembroke Police Station on Center Street.
Detectives from the Pembroke, Marshfield, Middleboro and Scituate police departments, making up the Old Colony Police Anti-Crime Task Force, made a series of undercover purchases of fentanyl from Evan Figueiredo and Jhojanceer Ramirez in North Pembroke over the past two weeks.
According to Pembroke Fire Chief Michael Hill, a person inside the police department touched the substance and became ill and was transported to the hospital as a precaution.
‰??There was an incident earlier today where it‰??s believed that what is in the napkin might be the same substance from a couple of months ago,‰?? said Hill. ‰??They were going to send it up to the drug lab since it was such a small amount, but the drug lab won‰??t take it from them until it gets cleared from radiological.‰??
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