2010 Chemical Accidents
thru 1/31/10
AMMONIA LEAK @ FOOD PLANT Gas leak in Ratchaburi factory (ammonia gas leaking from a fruit processing factory caused panic among nearby residents and sent two girls to hospital with breathing problems – the two seven-year-olds were rushed to a Hospital after the accident occurred at the foods plant at 3.45am. – nearby residents fled their homes after smelling the ammonia – fire engines were deployed to spray water in a bid to disperse the leaked gas more quickly, and the situation was under control hours later – the two girls were sent home later in the day – the accident could have been prompted by the factory’s machinery being overused following an increase in customer orders due to the New Year festival)
UPDATE on FATAL AMMONIA LEAK that killed a civilian driving by the plant SC finds serious violations in ammonia leak (a chemical company committed seven serious violations and was fined more than $23,000 after a ruptured hose caused an ammonia leak that killed a passing motorist in July – the plant didn’t have proper safety valves in place that could have lessened the severity of the leak, didn’t have an alarm system to warn others of the leak and used an improper hose to transfer the liquid anhydrous ammonia from a truck to a storage tank – about 1,800 gallons of the hazardous chemical typically used in cleaning products spewed from a fist-sized hole in the hose on July 15 i t was about a quarter of the 7,500 gallons being transferred – NTSB said it continues to investigate the incident to determine why the hose burst – the liquid quickly evaporated into a dangerous cloud, which drifted away from the plant – the cloud turned bushes and grass black before floating over U.S. 321, killing 38-year-old civilian as she drove to work – more than a dozen people were injured, including two plant workers, who OSHA said didn’t have proper safety training and should have been wearing special breathing apparatus when they responded to the accident)
Ammonia Leak in Mo. Hurts 8 (one person was hospitalized and seven other were overcome by fumes from an ammonia leak at a processing plant at about 2:30 p.m. – an ammonia pipe in the engineering room of the plant started leaking – the fumes in the building were strong enough that workers had trouble breathing even after they had been evacuated – one worker who tried shutting down the pipe valves was taken to a hospital with burns around his hands, face and eyes – seven others were treated at the scene – the evacuation was orderly, but long – authorities temporarily shut down a section of Highway 150 between as a precaution)
UPDATE on FATAL AMMONIA LEAK involving IMPROPER LOTO Poison Leak Plugged with OSHA Fine in Iowa (company has settled with the Labor Service for $648,000 after safety violations in August 2007 caused an ammonia leak that killed one worker and left another severely injured – a worker died after her escape route took her directly past the hazardous leak, while another employee fled a different path, but still suffered inhalation injuries and post-traumatic stress – the accident occurred when a company contracted by the plant was working on the liquid ammonia refrigerant piping system and plant maintenance workers tried to move ammonia through the line – part of the line had been removed which allowed the ammonia to flow into the work area – inspectors said that the line should have been locked out during the work and that they also found other safety violations – contractor was also fined and reached a settlement in civil court)
21 dead in China gas leak, execs admit cover-up: state media (the death toll from a gas leak at a steel plant has risen to 21, after executives admitted they had covered up the true scale of the accident – when the gas leak occurred, officials initially said that only seven workers were killed – but company executives confessed that they had covered up the death toll during questioning by a joint investigative group made up of police and work safety officials – the deputy manager of the plant was subsequently arrested and two other factory officials placed under house arrest for the alleged cover-up – the gas leak occurred as workers were assembling a furnace)
MINING & SULFURIC ACID Globe Miner Falls into Sulfuric Acid (a mining accident nearly took the life of a worker – he fell into some sulfuric acid while working – he was hit in the chest by a 500-pound pipe, and fell backwards into a tank of sulfuric acid used to clean metals – he was airlifted to a Medical Center, and while being transported, the flight crew complained of burns to their hands – about 20 firefighters set up a hazardous materials unit at the hospital when the medical helicopter landed – the victim remains in critical condition)
BOILER & CO Boiler malfunction caused workers to fall ill at Kentwood plant, fire chief says (eight people fell ill in a span of seven hours when a boiler malfunction emitted high levels of carbon monoxide at an industrial plant – workers in the mechanical room reported headaches, nausea, and breathing problems and at least six were briefly hospitalized for evaluation – the plant was not evacuated and there was no public safety risk – plant maintenance workers vented the mechanical room and were calling technicians to determine the boiler failure)
AMMONIA Anhydrous tank repaired (report of a gas leak near the elevator led to a tank repair – a woman had become nauseous while driving through what she thought was a white cloud, and contacted authorities – it was later found that an anhydrous hose had ruptured, causing anhydrous ammonia to expel – the valve was quickly closed, resolving the problem – victim did not require medical attention)
AMMONIA Hazmat Team Contains Ammonia Leak At Deli Meat Plant (firefighters responded to an ammonia leak at the top of a plant and employees from the plant and the nearby facility were evacuated as a precaution – team sealed the leak by 6:08 p.m. – no one was hurt – plant is a deli meat supplier)
HYDROGEN SULFIDE FATALITY One Dead, Another Injured After Chemical Leak at NE Texas Gas Plant (one person has been killed and three others have been taken to the hospital after an accident at an oil field job site just after 9:00 a.m. – workers were cleaning a tank when they opened a vent causing them to be exposed to Hydrogen Sulfide – one person, 65, was killed by the fumes – another worker was unconscious when he was taken, but is now listed in stable condition – two others were taken to the hospital – both of them are in stable condition)
AMMONIA LEAK Ammonia leak at Waikato Fonterra plant (emergency services have contained an ammonia leak at a plant – the leak occurred after 10,000 litres of caustic soda mixed with 1400 litres of ammonia at the plant while a chemical supplier was unloading chemicals at the plant – a chemical gas cloud was lingering over the plant, but dissipated thanks to a southerly breeze – around 25 people had to be evacuated – one firefighter was in hospital following the incident, but has now been discharged)
AMMONIA LEAK Ammonia leak contained in Walterboro (a small ammonia leak was reported around 12:20 p.m. – hazmat crews have been able to contain the leak to a small area within the parking lot of the business – the leak began when employees were doing maintenance on a tank which contained anhydrous ammonia – no one was injured and there was no evacuation or road closing to nearby residents or motorists)
UPDATE on FATALITY DUE TO MISLABELED ONE TON CYLINDER Company pleads guilty in Baton Rouge worker death (a company has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to charges that a mislabeled a container led to the death of a man at a Plant – company was accused of labeling a one-ton cylinder as containing a relatively benign refrigerant – when the cylinder was opened by a worker at the plant, approximately 1800 pounds of spent antimony pentachloride, which is a highly toxic and corrosive hazardous material, was violently released from the cylinder – worker was hit by the material and died the next day – company faces probation of up to five years and a fine either $500,000, twice the gross gain from the offense or twice the gross loss, whichever is greater – in addition, the company may be ordered to pay restitution to the victim – the company where the accident occured pled guilty in 2008 for its role in the incident and fined $8 million, ordered to pay restitution of $2 million to the worker’s three children, community restitution of $750,000 to the Department of Environmental Quality, $750,000 to the State Police Hazardous Materials Unit and $500,000 to the Emergency Operations Center)
AMMONIA LEAK 200 workers flee Sara Lee bakery gas leak (two people were taken to hospital after a gas leak at the bakery – at 11.30pm about 200 staff were evacuated from the building after the leak was detected coming from a flange on an ammonia gas system – they also evacuated everyone who was within 200 metres of the area because ammonia is flammable)
LINE/PROCESS BREAK Refinery worker scalded by hot water from drum (a refinery worker, 41, was burned over much of his body when hot water gushed out of a coke drum – he suffered burns over about 70 percent of his body – the refinery’s fire brigade responded to the 7:40 a.m. accident, and an ambulance took the worker in serious condition to a Medical Center’s burn unit – his condition was later upgraded to good – he is a coker operator who had worked at the refinery for about two years – a preliminary investigation indicates that he was “deheading” the bottom of a coke drum, in which residual fuel is “cracked” or further refined into other petroleum products – he reportedly was wearing the required safety equipment while trying to finish draining any remaining condensates in the drum – they noticed that it stopped flowing, so they felt it was all drained out – as workers unbolted and broke the seal on the bottom head, “a large gush of hot water came out and struck him”)
CHEMICAL EXPOSURE FATALITY Investigation Underway of Company Chemical Involved in Worker’s Death (a man died after he was said to be exposed to a chemical from his workplace, a company that manufactures and markets phytonutrients, herbal extracts and other chemicals for nutritional, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries – a form of selenium is suspected in the victim’s death – his complete autopsy, blood and toxicology results will likely take five to six weeks)
AMMONIA Ammonia leak contained in north Fort Worth (an ammonia leak at a cold-storage company has been contained – no one was hurt, but workers were evacuated from the cold plant – officials had earlier asked people who live north of that area to “shelter in place” – escaped ammonia had built up inside the building, and officials were concerned that some of it might get in the atmosphere as the HAZMAT crews entered the building – no word on cause or what leaked)
CHEMICAL REACTION Explosion in high school chemistry class injures teacher, 7 students (seven students and their teacher were injured in a High School chemistry class by an explosion that was strong enough to damage windows – the eight people were treated and released – the teacher and two of the students were treated for lacerations, apparently caused by flying pieces of broken glass, and the other students were checked for minor injuries – some people in the classroom also suffered temporary hearing loss – the explosion occurred while the teacher was demonstrating the properties of the chemical potassium chlorate – the teacher used fewer than 3 grams of the substance and that the blast, caused by an unexpected chemical reaction, happened during a demonstration of potassium chlorate’s reaction to food products)
URANIUM HEXAFLUORIDE exposure @ ENRICHMENT PLANT Worker exposed to radioactive substance at German nuclear plant (a worker has been accidentally exposed to a radioactive substance, uranium hexafluoride, at a uranium enrichment plant – hospital doctors said there was no immediate evidence his health had been damaged – the man, 45, felt well – an air-filtration machine cleaned the contaminated air and none of it reached the outside world – Uranium hexafluoride forms a corrosive acid when it comes in contact with moisture in air and can be lethal from contact alone – company gave no details on how the substance escaped in the container preparation unit at the enrichment plant)
UPDATE on L-selenomethionine EXPOSURE FATALITY Worker not killed by substances at Payson plant, company says (a day after one of its workers died after exposure to a chemical at its plant, the company contends the substances the employee worked with were “all nutritional ingredients; none of which are toxic or dangerous” – state safety officials say they are investigating to determine whether the compound the worker, 30, said he was handling prior to falling ill is hazardous – he became sick on the job Tuesday morning with profuse vomiting, complaining of dizziness and a headache, he told medical personnel at a health clinic he had worked with “L-selenomethionine,” which is used as a source of the trace element selenium that is found in most multivitamins – he had been with the company for two years and worked in the plant’s Quality Assurance Department – he didn’t improve at the clinic and died en route to a Hospital that same afternoon – he had been working with the substance, also known as “LSM,” at the request of a company supervisor, who asked him to measure out a 10.5 gram sample – his job involved sampling and testing a variety of ingredients from suppliers, but he did not handle LSM on a daily basis)
1,900 POUND RELEASE of METHYL CHLORIDE, PHOSGENE EXPOSURE, and SULFURIC ACID SPILL – ALL reorted within 2 days DuPont to close plant for safety checks (plant plans to temporarily shut down most manufacturing processes at its chemical plant for a safety check following a series of leaks, including one that went undetected by plant officials for nearly a week – officials disclosed that a leak of an estimated 1,900 pounds of the toxic and extremely flammable chemical methyl chloride had gone undetected for up to five days – then on Saturday morning, the company reported a leak of less than 20 pounds of sulfuric acid – and later Saturday, a plant worker was taken to an area hospital after being sprayed by phosgene – JUST IN As ‘safety check’ begins, DuPont reports 4th incident (small electrical fire on a pump tank” containing oleum) And we thought our weekend was crazy!!!!!
AMMONIA LEAK Portland Residents Being Evacuated After Ammonia Leak (fire officials are evacuating some residents at this hour after an explosion and ammonia leak at a local storage company – a small explosion was followed by a leak of ammonia gas – no injuries have been reported, but fire officials say residents living near the company are being evacuated as a safety precaution until the leak can be contained and the building properly ventilated)
AMMONIA LEAK Chemical leak at Mars (emergency services were at the plant for more than three hours after a chemical leak – two firefighters in gas tight suits switched of a valve group and shortly concluded it was a leak of ammonia – the factory was evacuated and workers were able to return to the premises around 1.30pm.)
AMMONIA LEAK Chemical leak being investigated at Woodingdean hospital (fire crews are dealing with a possible chemical leak at at hospital and are investigating a smell of ammonia – there was an ammonia leak from the refrigeration unit of one of the fridges in a clinical room – the room was isolated and other adjoining areas locked down, and the emergency services were called)
UPDATE on PHOSGENE ACCIDENT now a FATALITY W.Va. DuPont Worker Dies After Phosgene Exposure (a 32-year employee, 58, who worked as an operator at the plant, died late Sunday night after being exposed to phosgene at the plant on Saturday – he was an integral part of the Belle plant’s Site Emergency Response team for much of his career – ambulance had transported him to a Medical Center’s after he was exposed to phosgene from a leaking transfer hose – a knowledgeable source said that his first exams “came back perfectly clean” and doctors were thinking about dismissing him – no one knew the extent of his exposure and it was decided that he should remain under observation – some hours later, they started to see some symptoms – he had been transported to the hospital in early afternoon on Saturday and died late Sunday)
CHEMICAL INJURY Chemical Injures Oscar Mayer Worker (a worker was taken to the hospital after a chemical splashed in his face at about 7 a.m. – the man’s injuries weren’t life-threatening – employees were evacuated from the area of the chemical spill – less than 5 gallons of an alkaline material called Quadexx 100 were spilled into a containment tank designed to catch chemical leaks or spills)
HAZWASTE EXPOSURE 2 workers exposed to chemicals at Raytheon plant (two workers at the Missile Systems plant have been treated and released from a hospital after an incident involving hazardous chemicals – a worker was handling chemical waste material just before noon when he saw smoke – company’s fire department and hazardous material team and the city Fire Department responded to the incident – two workers had “some level of exposure” and paramedics took them to a hospital for observation – the two workers are expected to return to work the next morning)
HCL SPILL Mass. chemical spill sends 15 to hospital (a chemical spill inside an office building sent 15 people to the hospital, including one employee who suffered respiratory burns to his eyes and throat – firefighters responding found that a male employee in the building had been exposed to about a one-gallon spill of a cleaning solution containing 5 percent hydrochloric acid – fourteen others were also taken to a Hospital as a precaution to monitor any possible effects from breathing air containing the acid – the cause of the spill is being investigated by the company and the Fire Department – preliminary evidence seemed to indicate an accidental spill – the acid is contained in large vats, storage units that are used in the course of normal processing – a minor coupling or connective device apparently either failed or ruptured, allowing the contents to spray about the area)
UPDATE on PHOSGENE FATALITY Investigators target maintenance at plant: Probe now centers on hose that … (a team of federal investigators is focusing on the maintenance procedures at a plant, the site of three recent chemical leaks, including a fatal incident – the agency’s probe into the incident that resulted in the death of a worker centers on a frayed, flexible, 18-inch-long, quarter-inch diameter hose made of stainless steel and Teflon that had been connected to a one-ton tank of phosgene – the investigative team has not yet determined the exact circumstances surrounding the worker’s exposure to phosgene – “We’ll look at the company’s maintenance program and DuPont’s flexible hose program, including its inspection and replacement process” – “There will be verification that the correct hose was in use. We’ll examine the hose to see if there were any defects and try to determine why it failed. We will develop a test protocol that OSHA, EPA and others will agree on – investigators haven’t yet determined if the worker was exposed to liquid phosgene or phosgene vapor and haven’t identified any eyewitnesses – “At the time of the incident we know an operator was in the area, conducting normal rounds” – investigators do know how much phosgene was in the one-ton tank at the time of the accident)
PHOSPHOROUS PENTOXIDE dug up Two Poisoned by Toxic Substance at Hubei Construction Site (two workers were poisoned after thirty-three bottles of toxic substances were excavated from a commercial housing construction site – according to one construction worker who witnessed the accident, several of his colleagues discovered the poison in a wooden box as they were digging foundations for the new building – inside the box, which was buried more than a meter underground, were several glass bottles containing white powder – after a couple of the containers were accidentally broken, the white powders started to burn and emit a white smoke – two of the workers immediately started to feel dizzy and vomit – firefighters and environmental protection experts rushed to the scene with special equipment to detect the gas, which was identified as phosphorus pentoxide – the substance generates a poisonous gas when it is exposed to air and water – the two poisoned workers are in a stable condition after receiving treatment in hospital)