Chemical Accidents Page #7
This page was last updated on 05/06/2010
Chemical cloud creates a scare (a chemical leak that originated from a tanker truck at the plant gave the city quite a scare – the leak took place at about 1:45 p.m., apparently from a faulty valve on the truck – no serious injuries were reported although three plant employees were taken to the hospital and 14 others received medical treatment – the thick white smoke was determined to be the combination of water vapor and the chemical ethylenediamine – 27 employees were decontaminated at the site – the cause of the chemical leak from the 4,000-gallon tanker truck may have been from a malfunction on the tank as employees were trying to unload the contents into a storage tank)
Workers return after ammonia leak evacuation (fire fighters evacuated 160 people for about an hour following an ammonia leak in an industrial area – leak was reported from a produce processing plant – an ammonia tank apparently was overfilled at the processing plant, causing the tank’s relief valve to release ammonia into the air)
Tybee worker hospitalized after gas leak (a Water and Sewer Department employee is in serious condition after getting sprayed with chlorine gas at the city’s water and sewer plant – he was changing a chlorine tank at the plant shortly before 9:30 a.m. when some of the gas began to leak)
Ammonia leak at Round Rock company sends 2 employees to hospital (two employees of a frozen-food company were taken to a Medical Center after an ammonia leak was detected at the building – a minor leak in a product freezer in the production area – was contained at about 12:30 a.m. – the employees reported breathing difficulties and were released from the hospital)
Ammonia drum leaks at ice plant; worker hospitalized for inhalation (a worker at an ice plant had to be hospitalized when a massive drum sprung a leak and the employee inhaled poisonous ammonia fumes – a 3,000 gallon drum of the poisonous liquid sprung a leak)
Hazmat Called to Chemical Plant (someone mixed an acid and a base together, and that released nitrogen oxide into the air from a plant smokestack – there were some evacuations, primarily from businesses across the street – no one was injured)
Chemical leak evacuates plant (an ammonia leak at a poultry processing plant forced the evacuation of the facility and nearby residences and businesses – a malfunction of a valve stem on a tank located in the facility caused the leak)
South Texas plant employee dies after inhaling hydrogen fluoride (a man has died after inhaling hydrogen fluoride gas while working – he came in contact with the gas while working in the area of the plant that makes aluminum fluoride, which is used in the production of aluminum – preliminary investigation indicates that the exposure happened as he worked near a valve)
Acidic water spills at Agrium Inc. plant (enough acid-laced water to fill more than five Olympic-sized swimming pools breached a berm at a fertilizer manufacturer, inundating a nearby farmer’s field – no injuries were reported – the 3.5 million gallons of acidic water that gushed over the protective berm surrounding a 20- to 30-foot-high storage area — called a “gypsum stack” — is used to turn ore from the nearby mine into phosphoric acid – it was unclear why the berm failed)
Toxic leak: Worker fighting for life (a worker was left fighting for his life following a toxic leak at a chemical plant – the worker remains critical but stable following the leak at the plant which left a total of 37 people needing medical treatment – 20 of the casualties were treated at the scene, with 16 being taken to Hospital – of those hospitalised, 14 have been discharged – the injuries occurred when 4.5 tonnes of the toxic chemical hexamethlyenediamine (HMD) leaked – about 4.5 tonnes of HMD leaked from a tank – an investigation is under way to establish the cause)
Fumes kill 3 tilers in container (three workmates were found dead on a building site after apparently being poisoned by fumes in a shipping container – a generator found with the tilers is thought to have given off deadly carbon monoxide as they used it to heat the freezing steel unit through the night – a builder who opened up the container when he arrived for work found the bodies – it is thought the men — in their late twenties or early thirties — were trying to save money for Christmas by kipping there rather than splashing out for digs)
Eight treated after chemical exposure (Eight people were treated at local hospitals following exposure to a diluted bleach solution – employees were evacuated after a release of a diluted sodium hypochlorite 7 (15%) household bleach – the bleach solution was being off loaded from an underground pit and into a tanker to be hauled away for disposal – seven people were transported by ambulance to area hospitals – one person was transported to a hospital by personal vehicle – all were treated and released)
Ammonia Leak At Tyson Plant Prompts Evacuation (an ammonia leak caused several hundred people to evacuate a business – few details have been released – it appeared several people were transported to the hospital with unknown injuries – about 200 people were working in the building at the time of the evacuation – source of the ammonia leak is still under investigation)
Workers evacuate Howard chemical plant (employees evacuated a business after natural gas escaped during boiler maintenance – gas was released through a pressure-relief valve in the building’s natural gas feeder system – workers were performing boiler maintenance and had re-pressurized the gas line just before the telltale natural gas additive smell was noticed – workers evacuated the plant, shut off the gas service to the building and called the fire department)
Ammonia leak Causes Workers to Evacuate Plant (an ammonia tank at a dairy that has a capacity for 1,000 gallons leaked – it is unknown how much ammonia leaked from the tank or why)
Three workers at Tesoro refinery treated for chemical exposure (three contract workers at the oil refinery were taken to a hospital to be treated for exposure after a chemical leaked out of a processing unit – the leak occurred about 8:15 p.m. during routine maintenance – a small amount of naptha, which is a component of gasoline, leaked but was quickly contained, and the unit was safely shut down – the three workers exposed to the chemical were taken to a hospital to be examined for exposure)
Office workers flee chlorine leak (three workers were hospitalized and two buildings on the campus were closed following a chlorine leak at the water-treatment plant that serves the hospital – firefighters responded, but the small leak already had been contained and fixed by hospital maintenance workers)
OK Foods Evacuated After Ammonia Leak (plant was evacuated and shut down and workers were treated for injuries after a line ruptured in the plant, releasing ammonia – a line had ruptured and was releasing anhydrous ammonia – the plant was immediately evacuated)
Chemical spill reported at Specialty Minerals (due to an equipment malfunction the plant released around 65 gallons of a 20 percent hydrochloric acid solution – the company is still investigating how the leak occurred)
Cyanide Leak Poisons Fish in Czech River (a cyanide leak in the central Czech Republic has killed several tonnes of fish in the river Labe (Elbe) flowing to Germany – the poisonous cyanide, thought to have leaked from a chemicals factory, could not be dissolved in water but was being gradually eliminated through contact with oxygen)
UPDATE Miner to face court over burnt worker (company will face legal action over a worker being seriously burnt at its alumina refinery – worker, 34, was badly burned when sprayed with caustic slurry in the refinery’s mill slurry heating area in January last year)
Ammonia spill forces evacuation (security officers evacuated about 300 students from their rooms after ammonia fumes from the nearby ice skating rink filtered into five campus dormitories – firefighters found that the pump used to circulate the ammonia through the cooling system had shut down on its own – exact cause of the release still is under investigation)
UPDATE 15 found responsible for toxic slick in river (fifteen people have been found responsible for the toxic cadmium slick in Beijiang River in South China’s Guangdong Province on December 15)
Dozens flee leak of toxic ammonia (dozens of residents were evacuated for about six hours, and seven people needed medical treatment after toxic anhydrous ammonia leaked from a damaged tank at a steel fabricating plant – two sheriff’s deputies were injured and taken to hospitals – three members of the Fire Department were exposed to fumes and five area residents required medical treatment – highway M-40 was closed for more than seven hours – authorities said the tank was damaged during an attempt to steal some of the toxic chemical)
Fumes overcome worker (an employee was taken to the Hospital after being overcome by fumes in a house where a hazardous chemical problem was reported – fumes were apparently caused by a cleaning product in a container which was close to a furnace)
CFD firefighters help slow anhydrous ammonia leak (firefighters helped slow the leak of anhydrous ammonia while teams of employees closed the operation and evacuated the plant – employees smelled ammonia in an area of new construction – a cracked valve was located but the flow of the dangerous chemical could not be stopped – usng self-contained breathing systems, firefighters were able to slow the leak while employees off-loaded the storage tank into a truck)
15 fall unconscious after ammonia leak (about a dozen women employees of an export garment unit fell unconscious after inhaling leaking ammonia from a nearby cold storage unit – an ammonia compressor in the storage unit burst leading to the leakage of the chemical)
Four injured in plant chemical leak (two people are critically hurt after they were exposed to a chemical – were hurt when an unidentified gas was released as they were taking apart some machinery – two others sustained minor injuries and also have been taken to the hospital)
Propane incident disrupts Rutland (a propane gas leak at a plant sent more than 125 workers home early, shut down two major city streets and stopped rail traffic for 45 minutes – a propane vendor reported a valve problem with a tank on the site)
Ammonia Leak Forces Evacuation (more than 200 people total were evacuated when the heavy cloud settled in, of those, more than 90 employees at the plant were evacuated – pop off valve activated)
Ammonia leak at Dallas Fair Park (the leak was determined to be coming from a recently-installed refrigeration unit for an ice skating rink – investigators determined that the leaking ammonia was bleeding itself off and was being dissipated by winds up to 14 mph)
UPDATE One worker improving from plant fumes (one of two workers still hospitalized after exposure to fumes at the chemical plant improved while the other remained in a coma – both men are being treated as if they were exposed to hydrogen sulfide, although its origin is unknown – they don’t have it on site, and they don’t make it – fire officials thought hydrogen sulfide was the gas that was released, but that had not been positively determined – both men also underwent red blood cell and plasma exchanges in an effort to remove poisons from their blood and were treated in a hyperbaric chamber, which uses a combination of pressure and pure oxygen to help the body heal)
Compressed Gas Blast Kills Worker at Seal Beach Navy Base (a canister of compressed nitrogen exploded killing a worker – the worker was using a hose to transfer compressed nitrogen gas between two canisters, one of them about 5 feet high, when one vessel ruptured)
Ammonia leakage in ice-factory (ammonia leakage was reported at an ice-factory – no word on cause)
UPDATE Worker Injured In Chemical Leak Dies At University Hospital (a man who was injured in a chemical plant accident died over the weekend – had been an employee at the plant for nearly 30 years – was hurt when fumes believed to be hydrogen sulfide leaked out of a piece of machinery)
Chemical spill at Esso refinery (one building was evacuated and two workers were sent to hospital after a chemical was spilled in a laboratory at the refinery – two litres of the chemical was spilled when it was being delivered to the lab – company didn’t release the name of the chemical but said it was used in the lab for testing various products)
UPDATE Deadly gas was from clogged vent (a clogged sewer vent at a chemical plant is being blamed in the death of a maintenance worker last week, according to the plant’s preliminary investigation of the tragedy – investigators believe hydrogen sulfide vapors from a process in another building backed up through the sewer system into the area where he was working because of a plugged vent where small amounts of the gas would normally escape)
UPDATE Solutia burn victims remain unchanged (the four were performing routine maintenance on a pump when it sprayed them with a chemical produced by the company for making nylon fibers and plastic – the conditions of three workers hospitalized for chemical burns remained unchanged)