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Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, February 20, 2017 at 7:43:29 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 (11 articles)
EAST BAY CHEMICAL COMPANY ACCUSED OF SMUGGLING HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, discovery, response, unknown_chemical, illegal
BENGALURU'S BELLANDUR LAKE CATCHES FIRE AGAIN
Tags: India, public, fire, response, unknown_chemical
EXPLOSIONS, FIRES AT GIANT TORRANCE GAS REFINERY PROMPT REGULATORS TO STEP UP AS PROTESTS MOUNT
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, petroleum
HAZMAT CREWS CLEANING UP CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_tx, transportation, release, response, hydrochloric_acid
FIRE BREAKS OUT AT TORRANCE REFINERY ON 2-YEAR MARK OF BLAST
Tags: us_ca, industrial, fire, response, petroleum
CDC TEMPORARILY HALTS WORK AT BIOSAFETY LABS BECAUSE OF AIR HOSE CONCERNS
Tags: us_GA, laboratory, discovery, response
FIREFIGHTERS TURNED OFF TWO TANKS IN DEADLY CHEMICAL LEAK AT XYTEX
Tags: us_GA, public, follow-up, death, nitrogen
ONE INJURED IN CHEMICAL FIRE AT PARR TECHNOLOGIES IN ELKHART
Tags: us_IN, industrial, fire, injury, adhesives
OSHA INVESTIGATING FIRE, EXPLOSION THAT INJURED THREE AT UPPER MACUNGIE LAB
Tags: us_PA, laboratory, explosion, injury, other_chemical
HAZMAT RESPONDS TO INGREDION PLANT AFTER ACCIDENTALLY TRIPPED ALARM
Tags: us_IA, industrial, release, response, nitrogen
NEWBURGH RESIDENTS' LEVELS OF CHEMICAL IN BLOOD HIGHER THAN NATIONAL AVERAGE
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, environmental, toxics
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EAST BAY CHEMICAL COMPANY ACCUSED OF SMUGGLING HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS
Tags: us_CA, laboratory, discovery, response, unknown_chemical, illegal
An East Bay chemical company and its owner are being indicted on charges of smuggling hazardous materials and conspiracy to defraud the U.S., federal prosecutors announced Friday.
The indictment alleges that 53-year-old Peiwen Zhou of Palo Alto, and his Union City-based company, AK Scientific, conspired to smuggle hazardous materials into the country and illegally transported chemicals them by mislabeling and improperly packaging hazardous materials.
Zhou was the founder, owner and chief executive officer of AK Scientific. The company purchased research and specialty chemicals from chemical supply companies in other countries, including South Korea, Poland, India and New Zealand. The company would then sell those chemicals to customers that include universities and research laboratories.
According to the indictment, Zhou and his company smuggled the hazardous chemicals into the country by mislabeling the contents of containers and failed to complete required import certifications.
If convicted, Zhou could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for smuggling, and up to five years and a $250,000 fine for conspiracy. AK Scientific could also face several years of probation and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, federal prosecutors said.
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BENGALURU'S BELLANDUR LAKE CATCHES FIRE AGAIN
Tags: India, public, fire, response, unknown_chemical
Once again Bengaluru's Bellandur lake is in headlines and this time also for wrong reasons. Bellandur lake which is the largest lake in the IT city of India caught fire again on Thursday (February 16).
Bellandur lake is said to be most polluted water bodies in India. This is not the first time that the lake is on fire.The lake is famous for being polluted and foam spills that reached even the roads once.
According to some survey in 2015, three lakes of the city were full of toxic substances and were churning up the foam that overflowed to the road.
The lake caught fire on Thursday because of dumping of toxic substances, hazardous chemicals in the lake. A part of the lake caught fire with smoke reaching nearby flyover and apartments that alerted the police the accident.
KU Ramesh who is currently the deputy director at Karnataka Fire Department told media that "Usually, a pile of garbage strewn around the lake is set on fire, but yesterday it caused a scare among residents and motorists as the smoke started billowing and surrounding the lake in the evening.'
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EXPLOSIONS, FIRES AT GIANT TORRANCE GAS REFINERY PROMPT REGULATORS TO STEP UP AS PROTESTS MOUNT
Tags: us_CA, industrial, follow-up, environmental, petroleum
Smog regulators said Sunday they are 'very disappointed' with repeated explosions and fires at the Torrance Refining Company, and announced plans for a hearing to investigate smog coming from a series of explosions at the gasoline refinery.
South Coast Air Quality Management District officials announced the action one day after a fire broke out in the massive refinery, at 3700 W. 190th St. Firefighters were called to the plant just before 6 a.m. Saturday, and plant employees and firefighters had the fire out in about 30 minutes, according to Torrance firefighters.
The AQMD' chairman, William A. Burke, said Sunday that the frequent explosions have caused smoke, as gas and petrochemical residue is 'flared' ' disposed of by burning in violation of AQMD smog permits.
'Residents have suffered too long from excess air pollution due to preventable flaring, not to mention fear if the next potential accident at the refinery,' Burke said in an unusual weekend statement.
Following Saturday's fire, demonstrators turned out at the plant to protest against the plant's environmental safety record.
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HAZMAT CREWS CLEANING UP CHEMICAL SPILL
Tags: us_tx, transportation, release, response, hydrochloric_acid
Houston Fire Department is cleaning up a hydrocloric acid that leaked from a tanker truck in South Houston.
No damages or injuries have been reported in the spill in the 2000 block of Texas 3, which was reported around 6:40 p.m., authorities said.
Two hazmat teams and other HFD units are doing the cleanup, officials said. The chemical is corrosive and can cause burns on contact.
---------------------------------------------
FIRE BREAKS OUT AT TORRANCE REFINERY ON 2-YEAR MARK OF BLAST
Tags: us_ca, industrial, fire, response, petroleum
TORRANCE (CBSLA.com/AP) ' An explosion and fire erupted Saturday at a Torrance oil refinery, exactly two years after a blast that crippled the plant and led to higher gasoline prices, authorities said.
No injuries were reported from the Torrance Refining Com at 3700 W. 190th St. and there were no evacuations or damage to any buildings outside the refinery, Assistant Fire Chief Steve Treskes said.
Three dozen firefighters using heavy streams of water battled flames that rose 40 feet in the air, and the fire was knocked down in about 30 minutes, Treskes said.
'All safety systems at the refinery operated properly and all personnel are safe and accounted for,' Betsy Brien, a spokeswoman for the refinery owner, New Jersey-based PBF Energy Inc., said in a statement.
There was no immediate word on damage or the cause of the blast. However, most of the refinery continued to operate, Brien said.
The blast came on the anniversary of a Feb. 18, 2015, explosion that slightly injured four contractors, destroyed a large part of the refinery, rocked the neighboring community 20 miles southwest of Los Angeles and sent a fine white ash raining down on nearby homes and cars.
In fact, activists had planned a protest at the plant on Saturday to mark the incident and demand a ban on the use of a highly toxic and volatile chemical, modified hydrofluoric acid.
---------------------------------------------
CDC TEMPORARILY HALTS WORK AT BIOSAFETY LABS BECAUSE OF AIR HOSE CONCERNS
Tags: us_GA, laboratory, discovery, response
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has temporarily suspended work at its most secure biosafety lab that handles dangerous pathogens because air hoses that are part of the required full-body protective suits worn by lab workers were not certified for breathable air, officials said Friday.
About 100 employees have worked in the labs, at CDC's Atlanta headquarters, since the air hoses were introduced in 2008. There is no evidence that any of the employees were exposed to infectious agents or to hazardous material from breathing air through the hoses, said Stephan Monroe, CDC's associate director for laboratory science and safety.
'There have been no reports of acute health effects during the entire time' the hoses have been in use in the labs, Monroe said.
The problem was discovered during a routine inventory check Monday, and work at the labs was immediately suspended out of an abundance of caution, he said. The three affected labs are part of CDC's highest-security biosafety lab complex, known as BSL-4, where researchers work on some of the world's most dangerous pathogens, including Ebola and Marburg viruses.
---------------------------------------------
FIREFIGHTERS TURNED OFF TWO TANKS IN DEADLY CHEMICAL LEAK AT XYTEX
Tags: us_GA, public, follow-up, death, nitrogen
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - New insight about the investigation into the nitrogen leak at sperm bank. The leak killed a Richmond County deputy and a Xytex employee is still fighting for her life.
A report we got from the fire department shows firefighters turned off not just one valve to the tank but a second valve as well. The second valve was connected to the older tank which Xytex had told the fire marshal was not in operation. Remember the fire marshal cited Xytex and the nitrogen supplier Airgas for not having permits and inspection on either tank.
The report also states firefighters first went in and found Sgt. Greg Meagher. They removed him and then went back in to find Anita Wylds. Wylds is the Xytex employee who ran inside the building to turn off the nitrogen. Sgt. Meagher lost his life trying to rescue her.
Airgas is the company which installed the tank. It also services and refills it. The fire marshal told us the tank did not have a leak but his department is still investigating Airgas.
---------------------------------------------
ONE INJURED IN CHEMICAL FIRE AT PARR TECHNOLOGIES IN ELKHART
Tags: us_IN, industrial, fire, injury, adhesives
ELKHART ' A 600 gallon tank of mineral spirits caught fire Friday morning at Parr Technologies in Elkhart.
One employee was transported to a hospital from the scene with minor burns. A first responder said the employee had been splashed by a chemical.
The company's website says it makes taps, adhesives, sealants, and water-based coatings.
---------------------------------------------
OSHA INVESTIGATING FIRE, EXPLOSION THAT INJURED THREE AT UPPER MACUNGIE LAB
Tags: us_PA, laboratory, explosion, injury, other_chemical
The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating what police called a minor chemical explosion Thursday that injured three workers in a semiconductor lab at the Tek Park campus in Upper Macungie Township.
The employees of CyOptics Inc. were changing out canisters containing what is believed to be the chemical trimethylindium when the explosion took place, according to OSHA spokeswoman Joanna Hawkins.
Emergency crews were dispatched just after 10 a.m. to the lab at the office and technology campus at 9999 Hamilton Blvd., on a report of a small chemical explosion and fire.
Grant Grim, the township's emergency management coordinator, said one employee suffered a laceration and two others were hurt in the blast after the chemical they were using ignited on contact with air. They and others working in the lab were decontaminated.
Trimethylindium is described as an organometallic compound used in the manufacture of semiconductors, but it can be dangerous or explosive when mixed with other compounds and can spontaneously ignite when it makes contact with air.
---------------------------------------------
HAZMAT RESPONDS TO INGREDION PLANT AFTER ACCIDENTALLY TRIPPED ALARM
Tags: us_IA, industrial, release, response, nitrogen
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG-TV9) -- An accidentally tripped alarm caused a scene at Ingredion in Cedar Rapids. The Cedar Rapids Fire Department responded to the plant on 1st St. SW around 5:00 p.m. on Friday evening.
Investigators evacuated a portion of the plant and a nearby skate park as a precuation. After entering the building, firefighters discovered no signs of a nitrogen leak. They later determined it was an accidental alarm.
The alarm did cause the automated sprinkler system to go off inside the plant. No one was hurt.
---------------------------------------------
NEWBURGH RESIDENTS' LEVELS OF CHEMICAL IN BLOOD HIGHER THAN NATIONAL AVERAGE
Tags: us_NY, public, discovery, environmental, toxics
CITY OF NEWBURGH ' Current and former Newburgh residents tested for the toxic chemical behind the closure of the city's primary water supply last May have levels above the national average, according to documents being mailed along with individual results.
Results for the first 370 people tested in response to the discovery of high levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS, in Newburgh's Washington Lake show a middle level of 16 parts per billion, three times higher than the national figure of 5.2.
Half of those tested had results about the middle level and half below.
City of Newburgh resident Cynthia Mack received her results Friday. She tested at 21.7 parts per billion for PFOS, which is part of a family of chemicals linked to kidney and testicular cancers, low infant birth weight and other health problems.
"I have all kinds of emotions right now," said Mack, whose son and daughter also had levels above the national figure. "I want to know exactly what the numbers mean to me."
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