From: DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines (13 articles)
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 2020 07:42:42 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Message-ID: A463C58C-8DFF-496D-9E88-6ECAF3810437**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


Chemical Safety Headlines From Google
Monday, October 12, 2020 at 7:42:30 AM

A service of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
Connecting Chemistry and Safety at http://www.dchas.org
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Table of Contents (13 articles)

FIRE CREWS CALLED TO REFINERY LEAK
Tags: australia, industrial, release, response, unknown)chemical

LAGOS GAS EXPLOSION AND MATTERS ARISING
Tags: nigeria, industrial, explosion, death, other_chemical

MARYLAND CHEMICAL LEAK FROM 1920S REFRIGERATOR CAUSES INJURIES
Tags: us_md, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

BOISE HAZMAT RESPONDS TO A MERCURY SPILL AT AN APARTMENT
Tags: us_id, release, public, response, mercury

FIRE RAVAGES SHOE FACTORY IN GAZIPUR
Tags: india, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical

HAZMAT CREW CONTAINS CHLORINE LEAK IN COTTONWOOD
Tags: us_fl, industrial, release, response, chlorine

HAZMAT INCIDENT IN SPARKS INDUSTRIAL AREA
Tags: us_nv, release, industrial, response, cleaners

SMALL EXPLOSION AT BAKERY IN LEBANESE CAPITAL KILLS 4 PEOPLE
Tags: lebanon, public, explosion, death, diesel

LANL'S WASTE STORAGE POSES DANGERS, REPORT SAYS
Tags: us_nm, industrial, discovery, environmental, wastes

SOAP FACTORY FIRE PUTS $1 MILLION OF SEAFOOD DESTINED FOR PERTH RESTAURANTS AT RISK
Tags: australia, industrial, fire, response, oils

HYDROCHLORIC ACID SPILL EVACUATES BUILDINGS IN NORTH DENVER
Tags: us_co, industrial, release, response, hydrochloric_acid

CRIMINAL CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST ARKEMA FOR CHEMICAL PLANT FIRE
Tags: us_tx, industrial, followup, enviromental

IN WAKE OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS, TEXAS CEQ SEEKS REVISIONS TO PENALTY POLICY AND COMPLIANCE HISTORY RULES
Tags: us_tx, industrial, followup, enviromental


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FIRE CREWS CALLED TO REFINERY LEAK
https://www.bay939.com.au/news/local-news/121681-fire-crews-called-to-refinery-leak
Tags: australia, industrial, release, response, unknown)chemical

Fire crews have been called to a minor leak at Viva Energy's Corio refinery during the night.

They arrived around 9pm Sunday to reports of a small chemical leak.

Fire Rescue Victoria says firefighters worked with maintenance crews on site to isolate the incident and make the scene safe.

FRV crews from Corio, Geelong City and Lara responded.

The refinery says no-one was injured.

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LAGOS GAS EXPLOSION AND MATTERS ARISING
https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2020/10/12/lagos-gas-explosion-and-matters-arising/
Tags: nigeria, industrial, explosion, death, other_chemical

Barely three weeks after a gas tanker exploded in Iju-Ishaga area of Lagos, injuring over 30 people and destroying many buildings, another explosion occurred last week in Baruwa, a densely populated suburb of Lagos. According to reports, an LPG tanker was in the process of discharging its content at a time the station‰??s generating set was running. The spark and the explosion which followed threw the discharging tanker across the road. Aside the loss of no fewer than five lives, 25 buildings, 16 shops, a private school building, a hotel and several vehicles/tricycles were razed.

While the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has harped on the need for plant operators to take necessary measures to ensure the safety of end-users of cooking gas, it doesn‰??t appear as if these plants observe any safety standards of their own. That a power generating set would be on at the time gas was being discharged is the height of negligence. This much was confirmed by the Lagos State Emergency (LASEMA) Director General, Damilola Oke-Osanyintola who said that ‰??this was an entirely avoidable incident caused by carelessness on the part of the operators.‰??

While we commiserate with the families of the deceased, what makes the Lagos tragedy disturbing is that in the past few years, gas explosions of different variants have claimed many lives across the country. Not long ago, a chlorine cylinder exploded at the Plateau State Water Board treatment plant at Lamingo, Dogon Karfe, Jos South local government, leaving eight people dead, among them a pregnant woman and children. Dozens of others sustained varying degrees of injuries.

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MARYLAND CHEMICAL LEAK FROM 1920S REFRIGERATOR CAUSES INJURIES
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/maryland/chemical-leak-from-1920s-refrigerator-causes-injuries-to-firefighters-residents-in-rockville/65-1c68b346-51d7-4c9d-868b-fd057033b97f
Tags: us_md, public, release, injury, unknown_chemical

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. ‰?? A Rockville neighborhood had a large presence of first responders and firefighters Sunday after an unknown chemical coolant from a 1920s refrigerator leaked at a home in the 1900 block of Lewis Avenue.

According to Pete Piringer of Montgomery County Fire and EMS, two firefighters and three residents of the home that the fridge was located in, were injured but will be OK. The two firefighters were taken to a hospital in the area just out of precaution.

The family that lives at the Rockville home was moving an old refrigerator inside the when it began to leak chemicals. The residents began coughing and wheezing and called the fire department. A couple of the first firefighters into the home were also exposed to the chemical and also began coughing and wheezing.

The Red Cross has been called to help the family, and it is still not known what the chemical that leaked is or what caused it to leak.

No further information has been released by Montgomery County officials.

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BOISE HAZMAT RESPONDS TO A MERCURY SPILL AT AN APARTMENT
https://idahonews.com/news/local/boise-hazmat-responds-to-a-mercury-spill-at-an-apartment
Tags: us_id, release, public, response, mercury

BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) ‰?? Ada County dispatch says Boise firefighters are on scene of a mercury spill at an apartment.

It's happening in the 900 block of East Logan St.

The road is currently blocked off while hazmat crews decontaminate the apartment.

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FIRE RAVAGES SHOE FACTORY IN GAZIPUR
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/2020/10/10/fire-ravages-shoe-factory-in-gazipur
Tags: india, industrial, fire, response, unknown_chemical

The fire broke out in the factory of FB Footwear Limited, located at Ulusura area in Kaliakair, around 4pm


A fire broke out at a shoe factory in Kaliakair upazila of Gazipur on Saturday afternoon.

Five units from different local fire stations have brought the fire under control within two and a half hours.

The fire broke out in the factory of FB Footwear Limited, located at Ulusura area in Kaliakair, around 4pm.

Confirming the matter, Abdul Alim, deputy assistant director of Kaliakair Fire Service and Civil Defence, said chemical was stored in a corner of the single-floored factory.

Fire service officials are guessing that the fire has started from the chemicals.

Workers escaped the facility when the fire broke out. The damage sustained is yet to be calculated.

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HAZMAT CREW CONTAINS CHLORINE LEAK IN COTTONWOOD
https://dothaneagle.com/news/local/hazmat-crew-contains-chlorine-leak-in-cottonwood/article_e73dd998-0a71-11eb-8c02-cb4931b4c297.html
Tags: us_fl, industrial, release, response, chlorine

Asmall chlorine gas leak detected from a water well on Cottonwood Road and Grove Street early Friday morning took the better part of the day to contain by Dothan Fire Department‰??s Hazmat Team.

‰??The leak was contained and the source of the leak was located,‰?? Dothan-Houston County Emergency Management Director Chris Judah said. ‰??It was all under control and no evacuations were needed‰?|‰??

Cottonwood‰??s police and fire departments responded to the scene first and blocked off part of the road for a short period of time, according to Judah.

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HAZMAT INCIDENT IN SPARKS INDUSTRIAL AREA
https://www.kolotv.com/2020/10/10/hazmat-incident-in-sparks-industrial-area/
Tags: us_nv, release, industrial, response, cleaners

SPARKS, Nev. (KOLO) -A leaking container in the 700 block of East Glendale Avenue Friday turned into a regional hazardous materials call.

The Sparks Fire Department would only say that the leaking material was an industrial cleaning solution.

They were called about 5 p.m. after a 270-gallon container was ruptured and began leaking into a parking lot.

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SMALL EXPLOSION AT BAKERY IN LEBANESE CAPITAL KILLS 4 PEOPLE
https://www.startribune.com/small-explosion-at-bakery-in-lebanese-capital-kills-4-people/572692202/
Tags: lebanon, public, explosion, death, diesel

BEIRUT ‰?? A diesel tank exploded inside a Beirut building on Friday night, killing four people and injuring several others, the Lebanese Red Cross said.

It was not immediately clear what triggered the blast in the western neighborhood of Tariq Jadidah. The state-run National News Agency said the blaze erupted inside a bakery in the basement of the building.

Firefighters quickly put out the blaze and later helped building residents stuck in their apartments by the fire to climb down ladders. Lebanese troops also deployed to the area and pushed back onlookers.

The explosion came two months after a massive blast at Beirut's port killed nearly 200 people, injured about 6,500 and caused damage worth billions of dollars. Nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive chemical used in fertilizers, exploded at Beirut's port on Aug. 4. The material had been stored at the facility for six years.

It is still not known what ignited the nitrate but more than two dozen people, many of them port and customs officials have been detained since.

In other parts of Lebanon, wildfires erupted in forests amid a heatwave hitting the Mediterranean country. Some of the fires broke out in villages along the border with Israel. The state-run news agency said a mine exploded in the Wazzani area because of the fire. There were no casualties.

In neighboring Syria, wildfires have killed two people and caused breathing problems for about 20 others in the coastal province of Latakia, the health ministry said.

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LANL'S WASTE STORAGE POSES DANGERS, REPORT SAYS
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/lanls-waste-storage-poses-dangers-report-says/article_93432694-0a40-11eb-be27-339ea458e6a3.html
Tags: us_nm, industrial, discovery, environmental, wastes

Los Alamos National Laboratory is storing hundreds, maybe thousands, of barrels of radioactive waste mixed with incompatible chemicals that have the potential to cause an explosion , putting workers and the public at risk, a government watchdog said in a report.

LANL personnel have failed to analyze chemicals present in hundreds of containers of transuranic nuclear waste, making it possible for an incompatible chemical to be mixed in and cause a container to burst, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said in a September report.

Such an explosion would release radiation in doses lethal to workers and hazardous to the public, the safety board said. And yet the radiation levels that would be released have not been sufficiently estimated, it said.

Some of LANL‰??s facilities store radioactive waste without any engineered controls or safeguards beyond the containers, the board wrote in a cover letter addressed to the U.S. Department of Energy.

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SOAP FACTORY FIRE PUTS $1 MILLION OF SEAFOOD DESTINED FOR PERTH RESTAURANTS AT RISK
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/western-australia/soap-factory-fire-puts-1-million-of-seafood-destined-for-perth-restaurants-at-risk-20201009-p563o3.html?ref=rss
Tags: australia, industrial, fire, response, oils

A soap factory fire has prompted a hazmat warning for Perth‰??s southern suburbs and placed nearly $1 million of seafood at a major restaurant supplier at risk.

Firefighters were called to the Aussie Soap Supplied factory unit on Bowen Street in Kardinya before 5am this morning, arriving to find a small factory unit ablaze, producing thick smoke fuelled by essential oils used in the soaps.

The fire sent dense smoke billowing into neighbouring units.
The fire sent dense smoke billowing into neighbouring units.CREDIT:JAKE BATTRICK/6PR

The fire threatened neighbouring units and sent smoke billowing into seafood wholesaler Da Silva Fishing.

Owner Gary Zhang feared the fire and smoke damage could have destroyed up to $1 million worth of seafood that was destined for Perth restaurants.

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HYDROCHLORIC ACID SPILL EVACUATES BUILDINGS IN NORTH DENVER
https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/10/08/hazmat-spill-denver-fire-hydrochloric-acid/
Tags: us_co, industrial, release, response, hydrochloric_acid

DENVER (CBS4)‰?? Firefighters in Denver rushed to a chemical spill on Thursday night. Approximately 250 gallons of hydrochloric acid spilled at 4940 Jackson St.

The 250 gallon vat of acid was punctured by a forklift which led to the spill. There were 20 people working at the site at the time of the spill.

Neighboring buildings in a 2-block area were evacuated. The spill happened in a primarily commercial area. The hazmat team with the Denver Fire Department is investigating the spill. Crews said they are confident the spill has been contained and the vapors reduced, in part because of the cooler weather.

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CRIMINAL CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST ARKEMA FOR CHEMICAL PLANT FIRE
https://www.thechemicalengineer.com/news/criminal-charges-dropped-against-arkema-for-chemical-plant-fire/
Tags: us_tx, industrial, followup, enviromental

A US court has dismissed charges against Arkema relating to the peroxide fire and harmful emissions that occurred when Hurricane Harvey hit its Texas site in 2017.

The facility in Crosby, Texas, was flooded during the hurricane which caused a power cut and led to the ignition of organic peroxides, which need to be refrigerated. This led to the evacuation of around 200 people and 21 first responders were admitted to hospital after inhaling the fumes.

The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) published its final report on the Arkema incident in 2018, noting that the risk of severe flooding was not documented by Arkema during its hazard analysis despite the site being located on a flood plain.

Criminal charges of reckless emission of air pollutants were brought against Arkema, the CEO of Arkema North America Rich Rowe, and former plant manager Leslie Comardelle by Harris Country District Attorney Kim Ogg in 2018. Arkema was facing a US$1m fine and Rowe and Comardelle were facing up to five years in prison if convicted. The prosecution argued that Arkema failed to prepare the plant for the hurricane by not moving the organic peroxides before the storm arrived.

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IN WAKE OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS, TEXAS CEQ SEEKS REVISIONS TO PENALTY POLICY AND COMPLIANCE HISTORY RULES
https://www.natlawreview.com/article/wake-industrial-accidents-tceq-seeks-revisions-to-penalty-policy-and-compliance
Tags: us_tx, industrial, followup, enviromental

TCEQ has proposed changes to its Penalty Policy for the first time in six years and will soon propose changes to its compliance history rules. The proposed Penalty Policy changes are open for public comment until October 30, 2020. TCEQ expects to propose compliance history rule revisions in December and publish adopted changes by June of next year.

The key driver for making Penalty Policy changes now is to enhance TCEQ‰??s authority to assess penalties for catastrophic events (e.g., the March 2019 Intercontinental Terminals Company chemical storage tanks fire in La Porte), but the proposal includes more comprehensive changes to update to the policy to include statutory changes and enhance the agency‰??s penalty discretion overall. If adopted as proposed, regulated industry will see key changes to penalty calculations

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