From: DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (6 articles)
Date: Mon, 4 Mar 2019 07:43:59 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: F2CFEE75-F1EB-4DC1-8F92-2B99E4EA5130**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, March 4, 2019 at 7:43:48 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 (6 articles)

RELOCATION OF CHEMICAL WAREHOUSES A TOUGH TASK INDEED
Tags: Bangladesh, industrial, follow-up, response, other_chemical

FIRE AT OLD DHAKA AGAIN, THREE BURNED
Tags: Bangladesh, industrial, explosion, injury, metals, waste

SOUTH KOREA'S PLASTIC PROBLEM IS A LITERAL TRASH FIRE
Tags: Republic_of_Korea, industrial, fire, response, other_chemical

SCIENCE LEARNING LAB DAMAGED IN FIRE
Tags: us_WA, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical

CHEMICAL SPILL IN SOUTHEAST COMO
Tags: us_MN, industrial, release, response, nitric_acid

OSHA INVESTIGATING CONTRACTOR B.L. HARBERT OVER BIRMINGHAM WATER WORKS CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_AL, industrial, follow-up, injury, bleach


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

RELOCATION OF CHEMICAL WAREHOUSES A TOUGH TASK INDEED
http://m.thedailynewnation.com/news/208123/relocation-of-chemical-warehouses--a-tough-task-indeed
Tags: Bangladesh, industrial, follow-up, response, other_chemical

A taskforce comprising officials of 14 government agencies was forced to suspend their operation in the face of angry protests from local traders in Bakshibazar, on the second day of the month-long crackdown. The drive resumed after around two hours following direct intervention of Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sayeed Khokon. Another taskforce, however, carried out its work in Shaheednagar area without hindrance. The scenario was all the same yesterday.
On Monday, the Mayor announced that a month-long crackdown would be launched against warehouses of "dangerous chemicals", and utility lines of 21 such establishments in Shaheednagar and Islambagh were snapped on Thursday. Some 30 to 40 traders along with their staff started chanting slogans against the drive and alleged that they did not get enough time to shift their warehouses and factories. A director of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry who led the protest said the taskforce was taking action against the factories and warehouses which do not store 29 "dangerous chemicals" listed by the authorities.
After the chemical-fed fire in Nimtoli claimed 124 lives in 2010, the government took up four projects to relocate four types of industries -- chemical, plastic, printing and light electronics -- from this part of the capital. Around nine years down the line, the implementation of those projects still remains at the preliminary stage mainly due to problems associated with land acquisition and bureaucratic tangles.
Ì? Against this backdrop, the Industries Ministry selected two temporary sites in the capital and Tongi to relocate chemical warehouses and factories from Old Dhaka. Industries Secretary has said they would start relocation within the next 15 days. There are some 4,000 chemical warehouses and factories in the Old Town, posing serious fire risk to people of the heavily congested area.
It remains to be seen whether the government can force almost 4000 warehouses and factories to move within the next 15 days. Logistically it seems an insurmountable task. Also the major problem remains whether the government can convince all of them to move within a suitable timeframe. If it doesn't we are back to the same situation where the citizens of densely populated Old Dhaka are at risk.

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

FIRE AT OLD DHAKA AGAIN, THREE BURNED
http://www.newagebd.net/article/66318/fire-at-old-dhaka-again-three-burned
Tags: Bangladesh, industrial, explosion, injury, metals, waste

Three men were burned in a fire that broke out at a scrap-metal store in Kamalbagh area of Old Dhaka on Saturday afternoon.
The injured were store owner‰??s son Sumon Khan, 30, and employees Sumon, 35 and Nur Alam, 32.
All of them were admitted to the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said in-charge of the hospital police outpost Inspector Bacchu Miah.
One of the victims said that the fire had originated from a blast that took place while they were flattening expired and scrapped bottles of body-spray inside the store.
Soon after the fire started, local people rushed in and doused the flame with their own efforts and rescued them, he said.
The fire broke out just 10 days after the fatal fire that started at a chemical warehouse at Churihatta in Chawk Bazar on Febarury 20, leaving 71 people

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

SOUTH KOREA'S PLASTIC PROBLEM IS A LITERAL TRASH FIRE
https://www.wtva.com/content/national/506611182.html?ref=182
Tags: Republic_of_Korea, industrial, fire, response, other_chemical

A South Korean garbage dump has grown out of control, posing a health and safety hazard to those living and working nearby. CNN's Paula Hancocks reports.

Uiseong, a picturesque South Korean farming county, was a backwater until homegrown heroes the Garlic Girls became breakout stars and curling silver medalists at last year's Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

In recent months the spotlight has again fallen on Uiseong for a far less glorious reason: a smoldering mountain of garbage which highlights the trash crisis in the densely populated nation.

Among the rice paddies and beside the Nakdong River in the country's east, a horseshoe-shaped, 170,000-ton heap of trash is spontaneously combusting, spewing out plumes of smoke and the nose-scorching, chemical stench of burning plastic.

On a cold February morning, six workers wearing grimy overalls and gas masks clamber over the 50 feet-tall (15 meters) man-made hill, dousing the smoke with fire hoses. But as soon as one smoldering spot is extinguished, another flares up.

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

SCIENCE LEARNING LAB DAMAGED IN FIRE
https://www.southwhidbeyrecord.com/news/decades-of-educational-material-go-up-in-smoke/
Tags: us_WA, laboratory, fire, response, unknown_chemical

Science educational materials used by generations of students were destroyed Wednesday when the Langley classroom laboratory of Leonard Good partially burned in a fire.

Facing challenging conditions, firefighters from South Whidbey and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island spent several hours suppressing the fire that broke out in a small workshop located behind Good‰??s residence on Nancye Lane.

No injuries were reported.

‰??Crews did a great job containing and putting out the fire,‰?? said South Whidbey Fire/EMS Deputy Chief Wendy Moffatt. ‰??We were able to save part of the structure.‰??

Good, 80, is a longtime science educator known for his innovative classes and summer rocket-building mini-camps that he launched some four decades ago.

He still leads a science program at South Whidbey Schools through grant funding. Years ago, he also turned his home workshop/laboratory into a classroom to teach young kids about the wonders of physics, chemistry and astronomy.

‰??At about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday morning, I saw smoke coming from where Leonard had just taught a student from 10 to 11 a.m.,‰?? said Leonard‰??s wife, Linda Good. ‰??They had both just left.‰??

When Leonard returned from errands, his far-flung property teemed with fire engines, a tanker truck and other rescue vehicles. The residence is located one-half mile up a hill at the end of Nancye Lane that borders the Holmes Harbor Rod & Gun Club.

‰??Flames were coming out of the roof,‰?? Leonard Good said. ‰??That was very unnerving.‰??

Firefighters were hampered by inaccessibility and lack of water. They set up a portable pool and filled it with water from the tanker.

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

CHEMICAL SPILL IN SOUTHEAST COMO
https://www.mndaily.com/article/2019/03/brchemicalspill
Tags: us_MN, industrial, release, response, nitric_acid

Minneapolis fire crews are still cleaning up more than 5,700 gallons of nitric acid that spilled from a Como neighborhood chemical plant Friday morning.

The fire department contained the spill, said Bryan Tyner, assistant chief of the Minneapolis Fire Department. Though the environmental implications and cause of the spill have yet to be determined by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Tyner said that ‰??there is no life safety concern at this time.‰??

The Minneapolis Fire Department responded around 8:15 a.m. to the spill on the 3100 block of E. Hennepin Avenue.

An estimated 600 to 700 gallons of nitric acid have entered the neighborhood‰??s storm drain system. The fire department said the acid "has been neutralized with soda ash and will be flushed out of the system to mitigate any environmental concerns."

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

OSHA INVESTIGATING CONTRACTOR B.L. HARBERT OVER BIRMINGHAM WATER WORKS CHEMICAL SPILL
https://www.al.com/news/2019/03/osha-investigating-contractor-bl-harbert-over-birmingham-water-works-chemical-spill.html
Tags: us_AL, industrial, follow-up, injury, bleach

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating general contractor B.L. Harbert after a chemical spill at the Birmingham Water Works Shades Mountain Filter Plant sent 55 people to the hospital Wednesday morning, OSHA officials said.

B.L. Harber is the general contractor for an update project at the plant. The update will increase the water storage capacity of the plant by 600 percent, upgrade the plant‰??s electrical systems and consolidate pumping operations, according to the company site.

Somehow, two chemicals commonly used to treat water, sodium hypochlorite and ferric sulfate, were accidentally mixed, creating a toxic gas, said Birmingham Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Sebastian Carrillo.

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

---
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.