From: Ralph Stuart <ralph**At_Symbol_Here**rstuartcih.org>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (12 articles)
Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2019 08:20:32 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: B63DFC63-D05D-4063-AAAF-7D233A1BB5E9**At_Symbol_Here**rstuartcih.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Friday, July 19, 2019 at 8:20:07 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 (12 articles)

2 FIREFIGHTERS SUFFER MINOR BURNS AFTER CHEMICAL FOUND IN PARK RIDGE FIRE
Tags: us_IL, public, fire, response, other_chemical

EXTREME WEATHER CAUSES ODOR AT PES REFINERY
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, petroleum

4K GALLONS OF GAS SPILLED WHEN TANKER ROLLS OVER ON CAPE COD
Tags: us_MA, transportation, release, response, gasoline

CITY MANAGER WORRIED ABOUT AIR QUALITY AFTER BELDING FIRE
Tags: us_MI, industrial, follow-up, environmental

DON‰??T LEAVE YOUR PLASTIC WATER BOTTLE IN HOT CAR; HERE‰??S WHY THEY‰??RE FIRE HAZARDS
Tags: us_NC, public, discovery, environmental

CHEMICAL FIRE EMPTIES VIRGINIA PLANT, CAUSES SHELTER WARNING
Tags: us_VA, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical

REACTION AT CHEMICAL PLANT PROMPTS SHELTER-IN-PLACE WARNINGS IN
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, fire, response, chlorine

REFINERY EXPLOSIONS RAISE NEW WARNINGS ABOUT DEADLY CHEMICAL
Tags: us_PA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, hydrofluoric_acid

ALLENTOWN HAZMAT CALL SENDS 17 TO HOSPITAL, PROMPTS EVACUATIONS
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, injury, dye

FIRE AT IGMC PATH LAB
Tags: India, laboratory, fire, response, fire_extinguisher

FIRE BRIGADE THINKS HUGE FIRE IN ACTON FLATS WAS CAUSED BY UNUSUAL CHEMICAL REACTION
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, fire, response, unknown_chemical

FIRE AT ACCOMAC PERDUE PLANT PROMPTS EVACUATION; NO INJURIES REPORTED
Tags: us_VA, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical


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2 FIREFIGHTERS SUFFER MINOR BURNS AFTER CHEMICAL FOUND IN PARK RIDGE FIRE
https://www.journal-topics.com/articles/2-firefighters-suffer-minor-burns-after-chemical-found-in-park-ridge-fire/
Tags: us_IL, public, fire, response, other_chemical

The hazardous material that left two firefighters with minor burns after they responded to Wednesday‰??s vacant gas station fire in Park Ridge, turned out to be calcium peroxide.

Fire Chief Jeff Sorensen called the fire itself ‰??very stubborn.‰?? Windy conditions made for a smoky scene in the area of Northwest Highway and Oakton Street after 5 p.m.

After an hour of fighting the flames, the incident at 969 N. Northwest Hwy. also turned into a hazardous materials response. Sorensen said the 90,000 lbs. of calcium peroxide had been stored in the building for remediation work on the property.

‰??The chemical itself reacts with water to some degree, and it took about an hour to extinguish the fire,‰?? the chief said in an email to the Journal.

However, Sorensen said this left crews with a hazardous materials scene plus ‰??significant runoff from the chemical combined with approximately 250,000 gallons of water.‰??

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EXTREME WEATHER CAUSES ODOR AT PES REFINERY
https://whyy.org/articles/extreme-weather-causes-fumes-to-escape-fire-stricken-pes-refinery/
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, response, petroleum

Heavy rains and high temperatures shifted the lid of a 6 million gallon tank containing gasoline components at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions oil refinery, according to a spokesperson for the company. The incident caused fumes to escape, prompting complaints from nearby South Philadelphia neighbors.

The refinery is in the process of winding down operations after a fiery explosion tore through the facility last month. The financially troubled company announced it would close the facility within days of the blaze. Crude oil refining operations are expected to halt next week, according to Reuters.

Philadelphia‰??s Office of Emergency Management sent an alert message through ReadyPhiladelphia to residents Wednesday afternoon telling them not to be alarmed by the fumes, and that odors may continue to be released as the shutdown continues.

But PES spokeswoman Cherice Corley said neighbors should not anticipate continued odors as a result of the closure.

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4K GALLONS OF GAS SPILLED WHEN TANKER ROLLS OVER ON CAPE COD
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/4K-Gallons-of-Gas-When-Tanker-Rolls-Over-512920581.html
Tags: us_MA, transportation, release, response, gasoline

A gasoline tanker rolled over Thursday morning, dumping thousands of gallons of gas into the streets of Harwich.

The tanker rolled over outside of Shaw's Supermarket on Sisson Road just before 4 a.m. Thursday, closing Sisson Road from Route 28 to Gilbert Lane until 8 p.m.

When officials arrived at the scene early Thursday, they called for additional resources, including a Hazmat Team. More than 90 responders from over 20 different local, county, state and federal agencies arrived to help.

The truck was carrying about 11,500 gallons of gasoline. Officials estimate they cleaned up 8,000 gallons of gas from the truck and another 2,000 from catch basins and the tidal marsh the storm drains in the streets emptied into.

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CITY MANAGER WORRIED ABOUT AIR QUALITY AFTER BELDING FIRE
https://fox17online.com/2019/07/18/city-manager-worried-about-air-quality-after-belding-fire/
Tags: us_MI, industrial, follow-up, environmental

BELDING, Mich.‰?? Belding's city manager is worried that hundreds of lives could be at risk due to toxic gas being released from a nearby manufacturing facility.

When a fire broke out at Kassouni Manufacturing Inc. (KMI) on June 22, City Manager John Niemala met with Belding's fire chief to review the aftermath. They found that conditions were much worse than they previously thought, including the discovery of a hole in the roof that proceeded the fire.

‰??We made the decision that we had to go beyond our, us to deal with what was going on there," Niemala said.

Niemala sought assistance from Ionia County Emergency Management, which brought in state and federal resources from Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Officials from these agencies inspected KMI on Friday. Soon after, the Ionia County Health Department issued an imminent danger order. The order addresses the toxic gas that can come from fires at KMI.

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DON‰??T LEAVE YOUR PLASTIC WATER BOTTLE IN HOT CAR; HERE‰??S WHY THEY‰??RE FIRE HAZARDS
https://www.wsoctv.com/news/trending-now/dont-leave-your-plastic-water-bottle-in-hot-car-heres-why-theyre-fire-hazards/968277684
Tags: us_NC, public, discovery, environmental

As the mercury shoots up into triple-digit temperatures in parts of the United States this week, first responders are warning people about leaving plastic water bottles in their cars.

The water bottles pose a fire hazard when left in direct sunlight in a vehicle, Manlius, New York, firefighter Jay Symonds told WSTM-TV.

‰??It would need to be a full water bottle that is filled to the top of the water,‰?? Symonds said.
‰??The water and the plastic create a magnifying effect and could essentially set upholstery on fire or a piece of plastic on fire,‰?? he said.

Symonds said the danger of fire with plastic and upholstery is more pronounced in certain conditions.

‰??The ignition temperatures of those items are about 400 degrees, so it would take some time to achieve that, and you need low humidity, dry heat, but it is possible that it would start a fire,‰?? Symonds said.

Experts say it‰??s better to keep bottled water in a car inside a cooler or the trunk.

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CHEMICAL FIRE EMPTIES VIRGINIA PLANT, CAUSES SHELTER WARNING
https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Chemical-fire-empties-Virginia-plant-causes-14107495.php
Tags: us_VA, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical

ACCOMAC, Va. (AP) ‰?? A chemical fire at a poultry plant in Virginia led the plant to be evacuated and locals warned to stay indoors.

News outlets report two tanks holding paracetic acid and sodium chloride caught fire Wednesday afternoon at Perdue Farms in Accomac. The tanks were near a fuel tank, which caused additional worries.

Accomack County Board of Supervisors Chairman Donald L. Hart Jr. says fighting the fire with water could have caused an explosion, so authorities allowed it to burn out.

The facility was completely closed and evacuated. Residents within north and northeast of the facility were warned to stay indoors to avoid current air conditions

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REACTION AT CHEMICAL PLANT PROMPTS SHELTER-IN-PLACE WARNINGS IN
http://newjersey.news12.com/story/40808646/reaction-at-chemical-plant-prompts-shelterinplace-warnings-in-several-towns
Tags: us_NJ, industrial, fire, response, chlorine

EAST RUTHERFORD -
A chemical reaction at a plant in Bergen County prompted at least two towns to issue shelter-in-place warnings.

East Rutherford police say they received a call just before 2 p.m. Thursday at the Diamond Chemicals plant on East Union Avenue near Dubois Street for reports of a chemical reaction that was causing concern. Chlorine inside the plant apparently mixed with another chemical, producing potentially dangerous fumes.

Officials say that the plant was evacuated as a precaution. They also say that an unattended machine inside the plant caught fire, which was put out by the fire department.

The potential for dangerous fumes caused officials in Rutherford and Lyndhurst to warn residents living near the plant to stay indoors, close their windows and turn off their air conditioning units.

Hazmat crews tested the air and determined that it was safe just before 5 p.m.

Officials say that there were some minor injuries reported, but did not elaborate.

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

REFINERY EXPLOSIONS RAISE NEW WARNINGS ABOUT DEADLY CHEMICAL
https://www.npr.org/2019/07/19/742367382/refinery-explosions-raise-new-warnings-about-deadly-chemical
Tags: us_PA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, hydrofluoric_acid

In the pre-dawn hours of June 21, explosions at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in South Philadelphia shook houses, sent fireballs into the air and woke up nearby residents.

"Three loud explosions, one after the other, boom, boom boom!" says David Masur, who lives about two miles from the plant and has two young kids. "It's a little nerve-wracking."

Masur watched as the refinery spewed black smoke above the city, easily visible from his home. But what he didn't know at the time was just how close he and his family came to getting exposed to hydrogen fluoride, one of the deadliest chemicals used by refiners and other industrial manufacturers.

Philadelphia Energy Solutions knows that's a possibility. Its worst case disaster scenario includes 143,262 pounds of hydrogen fluoride released over 10 minutes, which could travel as a toxic cloud for more than 7 miles and impact more than a million people, including in schools, homes, hospitals, prisons, playgrounds, parks and a wildlife sanctuary.

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ALLENTOWN HAZMAT CALL SENDS 17 TO HOSPITAL, PROMPTS EVACUATIONS
https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/allentown/2019/07/allentown-hazmat-call-sends-17-to-hospital-prompts-evacuations.html
Tags: us_PA, industrial, release, injury, dye

A hazardous materials incident Wednesday afternoon at an Allentown business resulted in 12 employees being decontaminated at the scene and taken to the hospital, with another five who went to the hospital on their own, according to the city fire department.

"Typically we don't like when people do that," said fire Capt. John Christopher, the department's spokesman. "We'd rather decontaminate you before you walk into the emergency room."

None of the employees were showing symptoms of illness but were taken or transported themselves to Lehigh Valley Hospital, Salisbury Township, for further evaluation, Christopher said.

The call came in about 1:30 p.m. for a chemical release at Spartan Brands, 1210 Sesqui Street off South 12th Street in Allentown.

Employees had noticed gases coming from a 5-gallon container of a dry powder used as a dye, Christopher said. The powder is known to react with water, and authorities believe humidity in the air may have gotten into the container.

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

FIRE AT IGMC PATH LAB
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/fire-at-igmc-path-lab/803770.html
Tags: India, laboratory, fire, response, fire_extinguisher

A fire broke out in room number 406 (Histo pathology laboratory) of Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital (IGMC) here this afternoon. Four fire tenders, two from The Mall and one each from Chhota Shimla and Boileauganj, and a quick response team were rushed to the spot. It took firefighters less than an hour to douse the flames.

About eight to 10 persons were present in the lab, but no casualty was reported.

One of the students used the fire extinguisher which stopped the fire from flaring up and spreading to other areas. The fire broke out due to the mixing of chemicals. The loss to property is yet to be ascertained.
However, some equipment, test reports and samples that had come for testing were destroyed. ‰?? TNS

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FIRE BRIGADE THINKS HUGE FIRE IN ACTON FLATS WAS CAUSED BY UNUSUAL CHEMICAL REACTION
https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/fire-brigade-thinks-huge-fire-16602348
Tags: United_Kingdom, public, fire, response, unknown_chemical

Firefighters have revealed they believe the terrifying fire that ripped through a flat in Acton on Tuesday, July 16 was caused by a "chemical reaction in a container of roof sealant, which ignited and spread".

The fire brigade was called on Tuesday (July 16) at 11.48am to reports of a fire on Bromyard Avenue, Acton .

The intense fire caused a gigantic plume of smoke that filled the air and could be seen for miles.

The brigade received 28 999 calls to its control centre and responded to the incident with around 40 firefighters.

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FIRE AT ACCOMAC PERDUE PLANT PROMPTS EVACUATION; NO INJURIES REPORTED
https://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/perdue-plant-in-accomac-catches-fire/
Tags: us_VA, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical

ACCOMAC, Va. (WAVY) ‰?? Hazmat teams have been deployed after a chemical fire Wednesday afternoon that led to the evacuation of the Perdue plant on Lankford Highway.

It broke out around 2:30 p.m. at a container outside of the plant, and sent large clouds of black smoke into the air. Nearby residents were asked to stay indoors due to the conditions.

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