From: DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (11 articles)
Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2018 06:08:25 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: 1FBEE6FF-7A61-4C08-ABC4-08C95DAD4F37**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Wednesday, June 13, 2018 at 6:08:01 AM

A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
Connecting Chemistry and Safety at http://www.dchas.org
All article summaries and tags are archived at http://pinboard.in/u:dchas

Table of Contents (11 articles)

WHEATLAND RESIDENTS CONCERNED DRINKING WATER COULD BE CONTAMINATED AFTER GASOLINE SPILL
Tags: us_NY, transportation, release, injury, gasoline

WICHITA, KANSAS NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS
Tags: us_KS, industrial, fire, response, biodiesel, ethanol

CHEMICAL LEAK FROM OVERTURNED SEMI CLOSES I-70 EAST IN WEST COLUMBUS FOR HOURS
Tags: us_OH, transportation, release, response, other_chemical

GLOUCESTER EXPLOSION: WAS AN AEROSOL TO BLAME FOR BLAST THAT LEFT MAN WITH BURNS TO FACE AND CHEST?
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, explosion, injury, waste

LEVITTOWN-AREA EMERGENCY CREWS RESPOND TO BENSALEM GAS STATION EXPLOSION
Tags: us_PA, public, explosion, injury, gasoline

IDENTIFYING THE SCOPE OF SAFETY ISSUES AND CHALLENGES TO SAFETY MANAGEMENT IN SWEDISH MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY EDUCATION
Tags: Sweden, laboratory, discovery, environmental, acids

: CHLORINE LEAK PROMPTS HAZMAT RESPONSE IN JUPITER
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, chlorine

ST. LOUIS WAITRESS FIRED AFTER RACIST VIDEO GOES VIRAL, AIR FORCE INVESTIGATING
Tags: us_CO, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical

AN AMMONIA LEAK AT A LEXINGTON BUSINESS WAS FIRST DETECTED BY EMPLOYEES
Tags: us_KY, industrial, release, response, ammonia

THORTON MAN LOSES ENTIRE BUSINESS IN VAN FIRE
Tags: us_CO, public, fire, injury, unknown_chemical

DIFFERING LEVELS OF WORKER EXPERIENCE AND HANDLING HIGHLY CONTAMINATED MATERIALS
Tags: us_WA, industrial, discovery, environmental


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

WHEATLAND RESIDENTS CONCERNED DRINKING WATER COULD BE CONTAMINATED AFTER GASOLINE SPILL
http://13wham.com/news/local/wheatland-residents-concerned-drinking-water-could-be-contaminated-after-gasoline-spill
Tags: us_NY, transportation, release, injury, gasoline

Wheatland, N.Y. (WHAM) - Some residents in Wheatland are concerned their drinking water might be contaminated after a van crashed with a tanker truck Monday, spilling more than 500 gallons of gasoline onto the ground.
Karen McKay, who lives across the street, isn‰??t taking any chances. She refuses to drink her well water.
"We're concerned, and my neighbors are concerned about the gasoline and the fuel that spilled into the ground only a couple hundred feet from our well, our water supply," McKay said.
She's worried her drinking water could be contaminated after the collision between a medical van and a NOCO fuel tanker at the intersection of Scottsville-Mumford and Wheatland Center Roads.
She‰??s not alone. Her neighbor, Laurie Massaro, is also concerned.

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

WICHITA, KANSAS NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS
http://www.kake.com/story/38406913/fire-forces-evacuation-of-kansas-biofuel-plant-surrounding-area
Tags: us_KS, industrial, fire, response, biodiesel, ethanol

MINNEOLA, Kan. (KAKE) -
Fire officials have asked residents near a biofuels plant in southwest Kansas to evacuate their homes as they fight a fire at the plant.

The fire was reported at around 11:30 a.m. at EGE Products near Minneola. Crews from Ford and Clark counties responded to the fire.

Ford County Fire Lt. James Warnke said the fire at the plant, which primarily makes ethanol, was contained after about four hours. He said crews were waiting for the blaze to burn out at the plant.

No injuries were reported.

The Clark County Sheriff's Office said on Facebook that residents up to 4 miles north and 4 miles west of the plant were asked to evacuate because of concerns about the smoke and possible chemicals in the smoke.

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

CHEMICAL LEAK FROM OVERTURNED SEMI CLOSES I-70 EAST IN WEST COLUMBUS FOR HOURS
http://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/chemical-leak-from-overturned-semi-closes-i-70-east-in-west-columbus-for-hours
Tags: us_OH, transportation, release, response, other_chemical

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX/WTTE) -- Cleanup for an overturned semi on a west Columbus highway is expected to keep part of I-70 east closed into the late evening.
According to the Columbus Division of Fire, a semi rolled over onto the driver side to the outside of the cloverleaf connecting I-70 east and I-270 north around 3:00 p.m.
The semi was carrying a tank with 4,200 gallons of the chemical Vinylpyridine, which is used in the production of tires. Officials said there's no recognizable damage to the tank, but Hazmat crews determined there's a small leak at the top of the tank. Investigators say the leak itself is small problem, but could be made that much worse if they removed the hatch to see if it could be sealed.

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

GLOUCESTER EXPLOSION: WAS AN AEROSOL TO BLAME FOR BLAST THAT LEFT MAN WITH BURNS TO FACE AND CHEST?
https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/gloucester-explosion-aerosol-blame-blast-1667265
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, explosion, injury, waste

An aerosol is believed to have caused the explosion at the Amey Depot in Gloucester as a full investigation in launched.

The explosion, which happened at around 2pm on Monday, left a man with suspected gas or chemical burns to his face and chest.

Amey have launched a full investigation into the incident but initially it is believed that an aerosol ‰??discharged while being processed‰??.

A spokesman for Amey said: ‰??A minor incident occurred at our recycling site at Eastern Avenue yesterday where we believe an aerosol discharged while being processed.

‰??One employee was initially attended on site by First Aiders and later by the Ambulance Service.

‰??While there was no incident of fire, the Fire Service were called as a precaution.‰??

Amey, who provide environmental and waste to Gloucester City Council, have asked the public to ensure aerosols are completely empty before being recycled.

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

LEVITTOWN-AREA EMERGENCY CREWS RESPOND TO BENSALEM GAS STATION EXPLOSION
http://levittownnow.com/2018/06/12/levittown-area-emergency-crews-respond-to-bensalem-gas-station-explosion/
Tags: us_PA, public, explosion, injury, gasoline

The explosion of an underground tank at a gas station in Bensalem drew an emergency response from Bucks County and Philadelphia.

Officials at the scene said an underground tank at the Liberty Gas-Vigilante Service Center in the 1200 block of Bristol Pike exploded around 4:50 p.m.

One person suffered serious burns and was rushed from the scene by medics.

A second person reportedly remained trapped in the underground tank as of 7 p.m. Their condition was not released to the media.

The gas tank blast appeared to have buckled the concrete and pavement at the gas station.

Around 6:45 p.m., a Bensalem police cruiser was escorting a large crane to the scene.

‰??I was cutting the grass and heard it, the explosion,‰?? a man riding his bicycle said. ‰??I figured something big must have happened.‰??

Several businesses and homes around the gas station were cleared by emergency crews following the explosion.

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

IDENTIFYING THE SCOPE OF SAFETY ISSUES AND CHALLENGES TO SAFETY MANAGEMENT IN SWEDISH MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY EDUCATION
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.8b00054
Tags: Sweden, laboratory, discovery, environmental, acids

Chemical safety management is an iterative process where reviews of safety deficiencies (e.g., inspection notes) and failures (e.g., injuries) guide improvement efforts. The present work investigates safety in the school chemistry laboratory through two substudies. First, we interviewed 10 Swedish middle and high school chemistry teachers about how they work with safety and accident prevention in the chemistry laboratory. Second, we analyzed the call records of the Swedish Poisons Information Centre (PIC) concerning 10‰??19 olds and reports regarding severe injuries and accidents submitted to the Swedish Work Environment Authority (SWEA). The interviewed teachers encounter problems with chemical safety related to deficiencies in organizational support, such as lack of time and resources for preventive risk management and assignment to groups that are too large. The major safety challenge was reported to lie in students‰?? safety behavior. Although facilities were generally w!
ell-equipped we noted outdated safety data sheets and missing written risk assessments. For 2010‰??2014, the PIC records identified 637 cases of chemical exposures at schools; of these, 243 (38%) concerned laboratory chemicals at school. The PIC experts on call judged 70% of the cases involving laboratory chemicals to pose a risk to the exposed students, mainly due to acids and alkali. Inhalation was the most frequent exposure route, although skin and eyes were almost equally frequent. Strikingly, PIC data identified 10 times as many cases as the SWEA injury/incident data. Hence, PIC data can provide knowledge about chemical safety incidents at schools not otherwise available.

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

: CHLORINE LEAK PROMPTS HAZMAT RESPONSE IN JUPITER
https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/local/chlorine-leak-prompts-hazmat-response-washington-street/JkdmfP414A5bFy2XtZt5LK/
Tags: us_FL, public, release, response, chlorine

JUPITER ‰??
Jupiter police and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue responded to a hazardous materials situation Monday afternoon after a bottle of chlorine ruptured while being transported on a vehicle.

The incident happened at about 12:50 p.m. in the 3000 block of Washington Street, east of Interstate 95 and north of West Indiantown Road.

At 1:30 p.m., a hazardous material team had cleaned up the spill and were preparing to clear the scene, a spokesman for Fire Rescue said.

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

ST. LOUIS WAITRESS FIRED AFTER RACIST VIDEO GOES VIRAL, AIR FORCE INVESTIGATING
https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/1-person-taken-to-hospital-due-to-hazmat-situation-at-ups-facility-in-commerce-city/73-563311644
Tags: us_CO, industrial, release, injury, unknown_chemical

KUSA ‰?? One person was taken to the hospital Monday afternoon due to what the South Adams County Fire Department described as a ‰??hazardous materials‰?? situation at a UPS facility in Commerce City.

The South Adams County Fire Department said a UPS worker who was working with a chemical spilled some into her eyes. She was treated at the scene, and taken to the hospital as a precaution.

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

AN AMMONIA LEAK AT A LEXINGTON BUSINESS WAS FIRST DETECTED BY EMPLOYEES
http://www.kentucky.com/news/local/counties/fayette-county/article212937074.html
Tags: us_KY, industrial, release, response, ammonia

Employees smelled an ammonia leak Monday at a Lexington business off Old Frankfort Pike and called firefighters for help, police said.

3M Ceradyne on Laco Drive also has alarms that go off when chemicals are detected, and the alarms worked properly, said plant manager Rob Hoffman and Maj. Rob Larkin, Lexington police special operations commander. Employees evacuated the affected building.

Several fire department units, including hazardous materials specialists, responded.

The leak was found and shut off and the building was ventilated, Larkin said.

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

THORTON MAN LOSES ENTIRE BUSINESS IN VAN FIRE
http://kdvr.com/2018/06/11/thorton-man-losses-entire-business-in-van-fire/
Tags: us_CO, public, fire, injury, unknown_chemical

THORTON, Colo. -- A man is devastated after he lost his entire flooring business when his work van caught fire Saturday morning, torching all his tools and supplies inside.

Mark James Villafuerte owns Home Sweet Hardwood, a small flooring business he started 14 years ago.

"Just trying to build something I could leave for my family, finally getting my business to the level it needs to be," said Villafuerte.

On Saturday morning, he went outside to head to work. He noticed smoke inside his van and as soon as he opened the back door, he was greeted by a "fire ball." Villafuerte raced trying to pull out tools and supplies and move the van away from other cars, but it was too late. He was hospitalized for severe burns on his right hand and left leg.

"Just woke up to the unimaginable. I am at a loss for words now," said Villafuerte.

He estimates he had $40,000 to $50,000 of tools and supplies stacked inside the van. While his tools are insured, he said the process replace everything is already proving to be difficult.

"You know how it is with insurance companies. You pay them all year long and then trying to get money back from them is like squeezing blood from a rock," said Villafuerta.

Thorton Police said Saturday they believed chemical-soaked rags ignited in the van, but Villafuerta said that's not true. He said his team takes meticulous steps to clean rags after projects and believes instead, the heat inside the van peaked under the blazing sun.

"I have been in this industry for 14 years. Learning how to take care of rags and combustibles is day one stuff you learn. I am totally knowledge in all that area. The only thing I can think of is the heat, how hot that was in there," said Villafuerte.

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

DIFFERING LEVELS OF WORKER EXPERIENCE AND HANDLING HIGHLY CONTAMINATED MATERIALS
https://opexshare.doe.gov/lesson.cfm/2018/6/5/21391/Differing-Levels-of-Worker-Experience-and-Handling-Highly-Contaminated-Materials
Tags: us_WA, industrial, discovery, environmental

Mixing worker experience levels for work activities provides valuable continuous training opportunities, however additional guidance and oversight during higher risk jobs is key for ensuring the less experienced worker's comprehension of what work is authorized and whose role it is to perform. An inexperienced Health Physics Technician, though fully trained and qualified, became radiologically contaminated while supporting housekeeping activities involving highly contaminated materials. The HPT indicated they understood contamination control from their training and qualifications (barrier use, body position), and would remember and apply this event in future work evolutions.

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

---
For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional membership chair at membership**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas

Previous post   |  Top of Page   |   Next post



The content of this page reflects the personal opinion(s) of the author(s) only, not the American Chemical Society, ILPI, Safety Emporium, or any other party. Use of any information on this page is at the reader's own risk. Unauthorized reproduction of these materials is prohibited. Send questions/comments about the archive to secretary@dchas.org.
The maintenance and hosting of the DCHAS-L archive is provided through the generous support of Safety Emporium.