Residents who are on a private water system on Trout Lake are warned not to drink the water after a tanker truck overturned in a single-vehicle crash on Highway 63 north of Silver Lady Lane.

The crash at about 8:30 a.m. caused fuel and a load of formaldehyde the truck was carrying to spill directly into the lake.

The North Bay and District Public Health Unit released a statement saying the municipal drinking water supply is not in danger.

Anyone using a private water system must find another water source until further notice. The public is advised not to swim in Trout Lake or use the water for pets or livestocks.

A chemical spill at KGH Thursday afternoon.

Hazmat crews were called to the scene shortly after 1pm after a small bottle of Phenol was spilled in a room in the ambulatory care treatment centre.

Health Service Director, Andrew Hughes says patient care continued, the waiting room remained opened and only one room was isolated.

"Part of the protocol is, when it first spilled, it wasn't know what the substance was. So, we just decided to take the necessary precautions and hence, you get the response."

The chemical is used for inner ear treatment.
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A toxic leak forced the evacuation of a factory in St. Jean sur Richelieu Tuesday night.

The workplace accident happened at the Thomas & Betts company at 100 Longtin St. around 11:30 p.m.

Alarms went off as soon as the hydrogen cyanide was released, and 100 people inside the building went outside without any injuries.

A Hazardous Materials crew was quick to ventilate the building, and make sure no pockets of the gas remained.

Hydrogen cyanide is normally a liquid, but boils at slightly above room temperature. It is commonly used in electroplating.

By 5 a.m. the hazmat team had given the all clear and people were allowed to return inside.

Hazmat crews rushed to a Toronto high school on Friday after a reported chemical leak forced the building's evacuation.

....TDSB spokesman Ryan Bird said it appears that a chemical valve broke in the school's pool area, causing the leak.

Toronto Fire officials said they received a report of a large gas leak under the school. When they arrived they found a chlorine tank had cracked loose while located near a tank of acid.

Fire officials said they found no fumes and no one was injured, but there had been concerns that the two chemicals would mix together

WorkSafeBC says wood dust from pine-beetle killed timber is being investigated as a factor in a fatal sawmill explosion in Burns Lake, but stressed it’s just one of several fuel sources being examined.

Also on the suspect list are natural gas and propane.

Roberta Ellis, a senior vice-president with WorkSafeBC, said the agency took the unusual step of providing information in the midst of their investigation because of the serious nature of two recent fatal sawmill explosions in northern B.C.

“We’ve had two catastrophic explosions approximately three months apart. There’s a high level of anxiety and fear in the industry,” Ellis told reporters on a conference call after delivering information on the investigation first to industry leaders.

The investigation into the first explosion at Babine Forest Products in Burns Lake is expected to take two to three months to complete.

That explosion on Jan. 20 killed two workers and injured 19 others.

It was followed by an explosion and fire on April 23 at Prince George’s Lakeland Mills sawmill, which killed two workers and injured 22.

Some injured workers at both sites were left with severe burns.

Ellis acknowledged sawdust from dry, beetle-killed pine had been flagged for some time as a production problem for the forest industry.

But, she said, the dust from beetle-killed trees — described as drier and finer than dust from other timber — had not been identified as a special or increased explosive threat before the Babine Forest Products explosion.

CALGARY — The city fire department was called Wednesday to clean up a toxic spill near the airport that spread into the storm sewer system.

The Hazardous Materials Response Team were dispatched about 5 p.m. to a lab at the 4400 block of 14th Street N.E.

Crews were told up to 53 litres of toluene had spilled and some of the liquid may have entered the storm sewer system.

Investigators were able to soak up much of the product with absorbent material, but they did find some in the sewer system.

The area was cordoned off due to the chemical’s flammability. A contract company was called to vacuum the liquid from the sewer.

Workplace safety experts are highlighting the dangers of poor housekeeping in sawmills in the wake of a deadly explosion at a Prince George sawmill on Monday.

The cause of the blast has not been determined but high accumulations of dust, which can be extremely combustible when a spark is present, were found inside the Lakeland Mill sawmill — something University of Toronto workplace safety expert Graeme Norval says shouldn’t occur.

“It’s poor housekeeping — you get piles of dust on the floor, or on the pipes, it’s dirty, the dust gets into the air,” said Norval, a chemical engineer who teaches courses in factory safety. “Once you get the dust in the air it’s like having a flammable gas mixture, and it just finds a source of ignition and up it goes.”

He said it’s just “common sense” that management should be inspecting vigilantly — “this is not new or novel.”

Two workers were killed and nine remain seriously injured from the blast that tore through the sawmill Monday. Two dozen workers had been in the factory’s lunchroom in a training session at the time.

A Winnipeg hazardous materials team spent much of Wednesday afternoon cleaning up a small formaldehyde spill at St. Boniface General Hospital.

Hazmat units were called to the hospital at around 2:45 p.m. CT, after staff in the shipping and receiving area noticed a three-litre container of formaldehyde was leaking, according to the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

The receiving area was evacuated and nearby air vents were blocked due to fumes from the formaldehyde leak, but patients are not at risk, the health authority said in a release.

The hospital blocked all "non-essential foot and vehicle traffic" around the receiving area so the hazmat teams could clean up the spill.

As of 7 p.m., the hazmat teams have completed their work, but hospital staff are still cleaning up the area.

Police have removed what they say is explosive material from the backyard of the former Forest Hill home of Byron Sonne, the so-called “G20 geek,” nearly two years after his arrest for allegedly possessing explosives.

Closing arguments in Sonne’s trial ended Monday and it is unclear what effect, if any, this new evidence will have in the case, or if the Crown can lay new charges.

Toronto police, including members of the Explosive Disposal Unit, firefighters and ambulance were called early Wednesday to a Forest Hill home near Bathurst St. and Eglinton Ave., the house Sonne once shared with his now estranged wife. She still lives there, according to neighbours.

Toronto police investigator Tam Bui said investigators went to the home to follow up on evidence that came out in Sonne’s trial.

The trial heard that during an online chat May 29, 2010, Sonne talked about a “storage magazine’’ buried in the shady part of the backyard of the home, “sealed and hidden’’ and containing potassium chlorate.

Potassium chlorate can be used to make both explosives and propellants for rockets, his trial heard.

or the second time this week, Hazmat teams in Pickering have removed mercury that was discovered in areas where children play.

On Wednesday morning, a mercury “spill” – from a cracked vial – was found in a Dumpster on the property of Holy Redeemer Catholic elementary school on Liverpool Rd. in Pickering, said Sgt. Nancy van Rooy of Durham Regional Police. Mercury was also found on a utility pole on nearby Luna Crt.

The school did not have to be evacuated and no one was exposed to the mercury, van Rooy said.

On Monday, the Hazmat team was called in when a citizen reported that children had been in contact with a suspicious substance on a playground slide at Kinsmen Park, on Sandy Beach Rd., not far from Lake Ontario. The park remains closed.

A small plastic vial was found empty and the substance was tested and confirmed as mercury.

No one was injured in either incident.

Police were forced to deal with two separate truck rollovers on Greater Toronto Area highways Monday.

The first occurred when a tractor trailer overturned Monday morning on a ramp at Highway 401 and Warden Avenue in Toronto’s east end.

The truck was headed eastbound on Highway 401 when it tipped onto its side while exiting the highway around 11 a.m.The Ontario Provincial Police said that speed may have been a factor.

The driver suffered minor injuries.

CBC’s Jeff Semple reported that the truck was hauling a trailer with 20,000 litres of ferric sulfate, a highly corrosive and acidic liquid that is often used to treat wastewater.

A hazardous materials team was called in to deal with the cleanup. An unknown amount of the liquid was feared to have spilled out and leaked in the ground.

One person was hospitalized because of a chlorine leak at St. George's School in Vancouver on Monday.

According to Vancouver fire officials, the Hazmat team was called in and the school was evacuated but students were allowed to return early Monday afternoon.

Officials say the leak was related to work being done on a decomissioned pool, which resulted in a small amount of chlorine spilling.

CALGARY (MarketWatch) -- The Syncrude oil-sands project in northeastern Alberta is operating at reduced capacity after a fire at its refinery, a spokeswoman for the project's largest stakeholder said Monday.

A fire late Friday at one of three coking units at the Syncrude project will reduce Syncrude's production to two-thirds of its normal capacity of 350,000 barrels of oil a day, said Siren Fisekci, a spokeswoman for Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. .

There is no word yet on when the coker will be restarted, or what caused the damage, Fisekci said.

Patients on the fifth floor of the Victoria General Hospital were evacuated Monday evening after a strong-smelling cleaning agent wafted through the vents, alarming staff members.

More than a dozen firefighters from View Royal and Colwood fire departments were called around 7: 35 p.m. after nurses on the fifth floor reported a strong chemical smell that was causing eye irritation, said Dr. Martin Wale, executive medical director of quality and patient safety.

While it was initially suspected to be smoke from a patient smoking crack cocaine, that was ruled out. The odour was actually caused by a cleaner using a floor-stripping compound before waxing the floor of a sixth-floor room, Wale said.

Abbotsford police and firefighters were called to the Fraser Valley Inn early this morning after staff reported a strong chemical smell in parts of the building.

The problem was a leak in the heating, air conditioning and ventilation unit, said acting Sgt. Kim Jones of the Abbotsford police. Fire officials stayed onsite until a refrigeration company had the leak repaired.

There were reports that two people were taken to hospital and two drove themselves to hospital, but Jones said she was not able to confirm those details.

A chemical fire in the science wing of Hatzic Secondary has closed the Mission school until Wednesday.

The fire department responded to an alarm on Sunday at 9: 30 p.m. that indicated the water sprinklers were activated in the west zone of the school, said Mission Fire Rescue Chief Ian Fitzpatrick.

Fire Hall No. 1 responded with a full crew of 30 firefighters, who found water on the floor and light smoke in the area. No one was in the school at the time.

The accidental fire was very likely started by a chemical reaction, but fortunately the materials were in a chemical safe in a chemical storage room, said Fitzpatrick.

There was limited damage from the water and smoke, but clean-up crews were checking for any hazardous chemicals or residue before the school is re-opened, which may be Wednesday, he said.

"The sprinkler was definitely a factor in keeping the fire down. It did its job, the chemical container did its job."

Officials began dismantling a crude residential ecstasy lab in Burnaby on the weekend after neighbours’ complaints about chemical smells led to a police raid on the operation.

Three people were arrested early Saturday when the RCMP’s Burnaby Drug Section and federal officers raided a home in the 100-block of Ellesmere Avenue, in Burnaby’s Capitol Hill area.

A specialized cleanup team in haz-mat suits was dismantling the lab, a job that could take up to three days to complete, police said.

The following story is true...only some details have been left out to protect the embarrassed.
A man saw smoke coming from an ashtray early today. That's not unusual by itself but there seemed to be more smoke than usual. The man, now alarmed, looked at the warning printed on his pack of cigarettes. There in black and white under toxic ingredients it listed Hydrogen Cyanide. EMS and Fire were alerted and responded. The mere mention of Hydrogen Cyanide raised concern and a HAZMAT unit was added to the call. When the smoke cleared from the ashtray, the call was rapidly downgraded. All's well that ends well.

Oil and hazardous chemicals are spilling into the Greater Victoria environment with alarming regularity, according to a major mop-up company.

"I would much rather not do emergency response. I would much rather teach people how not to spill," said David Rogers, founder of B.C. Hazmat Management, one of the privatesector spill responders in Greater Victoria.

"This last year we have had one major spill a month and five years ago we had one or two a year," Rogers said.

Some of the increase is probably due to increasing awareness, he said.

"Ten years ago, an oil spill was something that you just washed away, and now the public is becoming more and more environmentally aware," he said.

That means many companies are taking spill-prevention education seriously, and municipalities such as Saanich are giving specialized staff training.

POLICE and fire crews have reopened West Vancouver’s Marine Drive following the clean up of a chemical spill that closed parts of the thoroughfare for several hours Thursday.

The mishap took place shortly after 9 a.m. when a 45-gallon drum filled with a component of insulating foam tipped over inside a cube van as the vehicle headed up 31st Street.

Police cordoned off the area, and a special hazmat team from the City of North Vancouver fire department was called in to help with the clean up. The chemical was soaked up with sand, which was then removed with a municipal street sweeper, said West Vancouver assistant Fire Chief Martin Ernst.

hese sorts of explosions have been recorded since 1785, so we now know quite a bit about the combustible properties of dust. But dust, according to the US National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), is defined as a finely divided solid with a diameter of less than 420 μm -- those are micrometres. With the rise of nanomaterials, there's a new type of dust on the scene -- and it's measured in the nanometre range.

Researchers from Dalhousie University in Halifax, in an study for the American Chemical Society's journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, probed these smaller "nontraditional" dusts to see how they compare to old fashioned wheat and sugar.

They found that the energy needed to ignite nanomaterials made of metals, such as aluminium, is less than 1 mJ -- that's less than 1/30th the amount of energy you'd need to make sugar dust explode, or less than 1/60th of the energy required to set wheat dust aflame.

"These low ignition energies may therefore allow nanomaterials to ignite due to electrostatic sparks, collision, or mechanical friction," the researchers write.

TORONTO - Canada has joined Colombia as a leading exporter of synthetic or designer drugs, flooding the global market on an almost unprecedented scale, police say.

The RCMP have seized tonnes of illicit synthetic drugs that include Ecstasy and methamphetamine being shipped abroad after being “cooked” in make-shift labs in apartments, homes and businesses in the GTA.

Police are now seizing more chemicals and synthetic drugs, which they say is favoured by young people, at Canadian border checks rather than the traditional cocaine, heroin or hashish that officers call drugs of “a last generation.”

Most of the Ecstasy (methylenedioxymethamphetamine), meth or ketamine, a hallucinogenic used in “drug cocktails,” are smuggled from Canada by trucks, air cargo, human couriers or courier services to a network of traffickers.

The father of a student who died following an explosion in shop class says he is relieved charges have been laid against the Ottawa Catholic school board.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour has laid three charges against the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic District School Board under the Occupational Health and Safety Act in relation to the May 26, 2011incident

Eric Leighton, 18, was attempting to cut open an old oil drum at Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School when it exploded. He died of his injuries and four others who were in the classroom were injured.

Hazmat teams have been called to an insulation van fire near Yonge Street and York Mills Avenue after the truck exploded and was engulfed in flames shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday morning.

The cube van contained spray-foam insulation, which contains the toxic chemical isocyanate, resulting in sewers being blocked off in the surrounding area. The fire quickly engulfed the truck, parked at 44 Mason Boulevard, after the explosion and reached up to forty feet high, according to Captain David Eckerman, a Toronto Fire Services (TFS) communications officer.

The fire spread to overhead power lines, and severed several of them, resulting in downed live wires, according to Capt. Eckerman. As a result, there are some homes in the neighbourhood without power.

The Ministry of Environment has been notified of the incident, and fire crews on the scene are taking precautions with the toxic cargo. The cause of the fire is currently unknown and no injuries have been reported.

Hazardous material first located at a Churchill Drive business in south-end Barrie on Wednesday night did not pose a public health risk, city officials said Friday afternoon.

The material, known as picric acid, commonly found in laboratories and in dyeing manufacturing, was located Wednesday night and reported to officials by workers cleaning a former waste management plant, 2R Services, which has had its problems in the past.

An explosion there in 2002 resulted in four people being treated at the scene for minor injuries and 10 taken to Royal Victoria Hospital for evaluation.

Picric acid, a pinkish-coloured liquid, was found in four five-gallon drums, but was stable, according to Barrie Fire Chief John Lynn.

"There was no threat to public safety," Lynn said, during a news conference on Friday.

The containers were being X-rayed on Friday to determine how much of the liquid is in each container.

Fire crews were called to the Foothills Hospital on Wednesday morning to deal with a hazardous material spill.

A courier was picking up bio-waste from the hospital when some of it spilled on him at around 9:00 a.m.

The worker was concerned about the possibility that the waste contained radioactive material so he sounded the alarm.

The Calgary Fire Department Hazardous Materials Response Team rushed to the hospital and decontaminated the man and one other person in the ambulance bay.

It was later learned, that the material in question was human waste.

"We had several hazardous materials individuals respond from our office, Haztech and Hazmat, and with the monitors they did identify the subsequent information that we were not exposed to radiation nor was anyone on the site," said CFD North Chief, Bill Peters

REGINA - Nine workers were sent to hospital Tuesday morning after a chemical spill created a vaporous cloud at the SeedMaster plant near White City, Sask.

White City Fire Chief Darrell Liebrecht said the workers were sent to the hospital for precautionary reasons and were not believed to be seriously injured.

Eight members of the fire department responded to the scene shortly after 9 a.m. The plant doors were opened, and once the cloud evaporated, the fire department cleaned about four litres of the chemical - used for cleaning stainless steel - off the plant's floor. The cloud was produced when the chemical mixed with water, he said.

The owner of Omniglass vowed Monday to reopen the production plant as soon as possible after a chemical-fuelled fire destroyed parts of the building, putting the future of 65 employees at risk.
...
Damage is estimated at $15 million, Davies said. The cause remains under investigation.
Eight firefighters were forced to flee when a huge blast rocked the facility, which is near the Richardson International Airport, just after midnight Monday.
"They were very close to being killed," said Bill Clark, Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service assistant chief of operations. "That rattled everyone on the scene."
Clark described the explosion as a "huge concussion" that tore off parts of the roof and split the walls of the 60,000-square-foot plant.
"It blew the front off the building. It blew the overhead doors out where (firefighters) were standing, blew them out of the building, and they got banged up a bit," he said.
One firefighter had to be taken to hospital. He was released later Monday.

A major headache on the Yellowhead caused a major backlog Thursday afternoon.

A HAZMAT team had to be called out to the scene westbound on Highway 16 at Range Road 222, after an oil tanker rolled and spilled its load.

RCMP Cst. Wally Henry says if you're headed into town, you will be delayed.

"Alberta environment and clean up crews were called to the scene, and we're advising people to avoid the area if they can and if they do have to drive through, they'll encounter some delays."

There was a potentially dangerous fire at a chemical unit on 4600 Byrne Road in Burnaby Sunday afternoon.

Though several explosions were reported, it appeared that the Burnaby Fire Department was able to bring the conflagration into control fairly quickly.

No flames were visible at the site by around 5 p.m., but pending fire crew clearance the area remained closed to the public. Details about the nature and cause of the fire are still awaited.

A burst pipe in a laboratory at 900 Princess St. caused a chemical spill late Sunday morning.

Kingston Fire and Rescue reported that water from the pipe flooded tanks filled with potentially hazardous acids. The area was evacuated and specialists were summoned.

Crews from Utilities Kingston were called to inspect the sewers and it was determined that the large volume of water diluted the chemicals to the point where they were environmentally benign.

— The Whig-Standard

An ammonia leak consumed emergency crews on Wednesday morning.

The leak occurred in the newly opened Westhills Arena at City Centre Park. It was discovered around 8 a.m.

Witnesses saw a large visible cloud of ammonia hovering over City Centre Park shortly after the leak was detected.

“We are asking that people stay away from the area,” said West Shore RCMP Cpl. Kathy Rochlitz while manning a road block on Langford Parkway.

All roads and pathways leading to City Centre Park were blocked off until shortly before 11:30 a.m.

Businesses in the area were evacuated.

The all-clear has been given after a chemical spill saw patients rushed out of affected rooms at St. Catharines General Hospital on the weekend.

A Code Brown alert — for a chemical spill — was issued at the hospital around 9 p.m. Saturday after a radiator was dislodged from a wall, leaking a material called Corroshield, which is used to decrease blockage in radiators. Its fumes can irritate the respiratory tract and cause eye irritation, headache, dizziness and nausea.

The incident affected the second through fifth floors, said Niagara Health System vice-president of patient services Anne Atkinson.

It's still not known why a family suddenly became sick while in their home.

Just before 5 p.m. Wednesday, a mother and her young child noticed a strange odour and then began coughing and had trouble breathing.

911 was called and Kelowna's Hazmat Team was put into action. Police, ambulance, and fire departments from Kelowna and Ellison blocked the streets in the small neighbourhood and told people to stay indoors.

"Something like that we take very seriously, especially when it can't be explained," says Assistant Fire Chief Jason Brolund.

"The Hazmat teams suited up in their 'Level A' suits, which is the highest level of protection we would use."

SURREY - A Surrey man was arrested after running away from what police believe was a crystal meth lab that caught fire inside a house in the 14700-block of 79 Avenue on Friday afternoon.

Surrey RCMP Cpl. Drew Grainger said a hazardous materials (Hazmat) team found chemicals typically associated with clandestine drug labs and that they are being analyzed in a lab.

"It certainly did have the earmarks of a crystal methamphetamine operation," he said.

Ottawa Fire Services and hazmat crews responded to a chemical reaction in a garbage truck on Beechwood Avenue near Marquette Avenue in Ottawa’s east end.

Spokesperson Marc Messier said the truck pulled up in front of the fire hall and had some smoke coming out of the back.

Messier said that muriatic acid in the back of the truck had reacted with another substance, but it’s unknown what the other substance was.

He said the type of acid is known for its use in pools and scoring concrete.

Sooke firefighters donned hazmat suits to investigate a minor chemical spill in a van last Wednesday night on Sooke Road.

The stretch of Highway 14 was closed between Charters and Drennan for a couple of hours while the Sooke fire department worked with RCMP to clean up some usually harmless cleaning agents that accidentally combined together creating debilitating fumes, said Fire Chief Steve Sorensen.

“We sent our guys in encapsulating suits and set up a decontamination area in case they spill anything on them,” said Sorensen.

Not much sleep for some HAZMAT crews Saturday morning.

Around 1:30am, Fire Rescue was called to Grimshaw Trucking at 115 Avenue and 151 Street when 1,100 litres of isopropylene alcohol began leaking from a container in the back of a trailer.

Fortunately, not all of the flammable liquid escaped the container, and crews were able to transfer it to another one.

No injuries and because the compound is in an industrial area, the leak did not threaten any residential areas.

The owner of a chemical manufacturing and paper recycling plant said a fire overnight in Point Douglas may have wiped out his entire business.
"There's hundreds and hundreds of thousands worth of equipment in there, hundreds and hundreds of thousands," said Sheldon Blank, owner of Gateway Industries Ltd., adding all the equipment is uninsured, as is the rest of his business. "It's a total loss."
The massive fire broke out in an unused paper mill about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night, sending thick black smoke across northeast Winnipeg. As of 2 p.m. Thursday the fire was still smoldering, sending small amounts of acrid smoke throughout Point Douglas.
Gateway employee Gary Barthelette lives right behind the plant and said he opened his back door to see flames shooting out of the roof.

Four people were sent to hospital with breathing problems after a possible chlorine leak at a south side swimming pool Monday evening.

At around 6:30 p.m. fire crews were dispatched to a small privately owned swimming pool at 4652 Macleod Trail S.E., the Calgary fire department said in a news release.

When they arrived, they found a number of people with difficulty breathing and a strong smell of chlorine in the air.

Four people were sent to Rockyview Hospital while the building and neighbouring stores were evacuated and surrounding roads shut down, the department said.

Four people taken to emergency following a haz-mat incident in Abbotsford were not seriously injured.

It happened shortly after ten this morning at a recycling plant on Peardonville Road.

Deputy Fire Chief Mike Helmer says the cause is believed to be exposure to some form of acetone.

Those taken to hospital had symptoms including burning throats and dizziness.

Helmer says twelve more people --who came into contact with the others-- have also been taken to the Abbotsford Hospital for observation.

Vats of waste from a methamphetamine lab were found near a vacant lot in Willoughby last Friday by the Langley RCMP.

Police officers patrolling the 7800 block of 208th Street noted a new car parked in the middle of an abandoned acreage, said Cpl. Holly Marks of the Langley RCMP.

The car sped off and officers weren’t able to follow it, but they did find five 45-gallon drums full of unknown liquids. Another 40 20-litre pails with more liquid were also left behind.

Officers from the Clandestine Lab Response Team were called in and found that the goo was the leftover waste from a meth lab.

The Township fire department stood by, and staff at nearby Willoughby Elementary were also warned, while officers kept a perimeter around the scene to keep students clear.

Hazco, a waste disposal company, cleaned up the materials.

The streets were blocked with emergency vehicles as the HAZMAT team rolled to an address on Cupar Rd. Wednesday afternoon (Septemper 21).

An ambulance was parked down the street as the team in gas masks and sealed suits entered the property.

The HAZMAT unit was called out after reports of a suspicious smell.

A table was set up to test results of any chemicals found on the property. It was soon discovered the odour came from a skunk.

The teams packed up shortly afterwards and left the smell behind.

The Edmonton Public School Board is prompting custodians to examine their boiler room procedures after a poisonous carbon monoxide scare led to the evacuation of more than 1,800 students Monday.

 

School staff evacuated Ross Sheppard High School located at 13546 111 Ave., around 8 am Monday. Fire Department Hazmat crews responding to what they initially thought was a gas leak discovered high levels of carbon monoxide and immediately began fumigating the school of the deadly gas.

“We checked the building for carbon monoxide levels and found levels up to 1,000 parts per million which is quite hazardous to human life,” said Hazmat Captain Eric Takacs.

Together with Atco Gas and Ross Sheppard High School Maintenance, fire officials were able to determine the leak was the result of an open vent in the north wing boiler room, creating negative pressure in the ventilation system. The negative pressure pulled carbon monoxide fumes into school halls instead of venting them outside.

Two people were taken to hospital Thursday after they were exposed to ammonia at Scotiabank Place.

The building was evacuated after the chemical leak in the building's refrigeration room. The pipes were immediately shut off and Ottawa Fire Service's hazardous materials unit was called to the scene.

Paramedics said one man became trapped in an elevator near the leak after the fire alarm was pulled and as a result suffered a serious ammonia inhalation injury.

Another worker near the loading docks also had an asthma attack after exposure. Both were taken to hospital and were listed in stable condition.

Fire officials said the building had been completely checked and ventilated and allowed workers back into the building after about three hours. Some 500 people had been forced to leave the building.

Confusion and panic greeted McMaster University students on campus for welcome week Tuesday, after an alarm sounded over a suspected gas leak.

The alarm triggered in the tandem accelerator lab on the west side of campus around 1:20 p.m.

But later tests showed no leak.

“A researcher was in the lab doing work on a tank ... purging the tank with a nitrogen gas, which is an inert gas, (when) a gas alarm went off,” said Hamilton fire spokesperson John Verbeek.

The employee left the building and called 911.

It’s unclear why the alarm went off, as the purging is common practice. There are a couple of different gases used in that chamber, but none was being used Tuesday, Verbeek said.

Emergency officials evacuated that building and the adjoining general sciences building and set up a perimeter with yellow caution tape.

The HAZMAT team responded and around 3:45 p.m. cleared the scene, Verbeek said.

Two people were injured after a chemical spill, leaving crews worried that a potentially explosive compound had formed at a high school, fire department officials said.

The two people suffered eye irritation after bottles holding chemicals were broken by movers at The Academy, a YMCA-run school on Charles St. E., near Yonge St.

Captain Adrian Ratushniak said a Canada Post building was evacuated shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday after a report that a chemical had splashed in one person’s eyes at the school.

Toronto Fire located a spill on the fifth floor of the school building, Ratushniak said. There were concerns the mix of chemicals could form nitrogen triiodide, a volatile explosive compound.

A crew is now cleaning up the spill.

The spill warranted a haz-mat level three designation, the highest tier of response. In these situations, investigators need to wear special suits and must be decontaminated before leaving the site, Ratushniak said.

Police said it appears someone dropped the chemicals in a hallway while moving some items from one room to another, releasing vapours into the air.

A police team that specializes in handling hazardous materials and the Canadian Transport Emergency Centre also responded to the incident, Ratushniak said.

A chemical spill in downtown Toronto closed a section of one of the city's busiest areas for several hours on Wednesday evening.

Fire and emergency crews were called to 42 Charles St. E., near the intersection of Yonge and Bloor streets, to deal with the spill of some chemicals at a local YMCA.

According to fire officials, the chemicals — part of a science class — were being transferred from one room to another when they were spilled.

As a precaution, firefighters in full haz-mat suits were called to clean up the spill.

The Toronto Fire Department treated the situation as a 'haz-mat level three,' which requires the use of special clothing as well as the evacuation of buildings adjacent to the incident.

CAMBRIDGE — A small explosion at a Cambridge chemical plant sent one person to hospital this morning.

At approximately 9:15 a.m., emergency services responded to a report of a chemical explosion at Thesis Chemistry Inc., located at 1200 Franklin Blvd. Employees were evacuated and a worker was treated for minor injuries resulting from a reaction between small amounts of dichloromethane and ethyl acetate.

“The reaction caused a container to shatter, and a chemist had glass embedded in his face, neck and chest, but none of the chemical got onto him” said Cambridge fire platoon chief Brad Grimwood.

Grimwood says that the worker was taken to Cambridge Memorial Hospital. The fire department then contacted CANUTEC, a branch of Transport Canada that oversees dangerous goods, before sending in the hazardous materials team.

The situation was deemed to be safe after the firefighters went through the building equipped with devices to test the air quality, and employees were able to return to work.

An explosion in a Surrey basement suite Monday led police to discover a suspected drug lab.

Emergency crews were called to a home in the 7200-block of 140-A Street around 8:30 p.m. after neighbours reported a loud bang followed by smoke and noxious odours, a spokesman for Surrey RCMP confirmed.

He said neighbours saw a Caucasian man of about 35 years of age leaving the house on a bicycle shortly after the explosion erupted from the basement.

Two tenants who live upstairs in the house told investigators the downstairs tenant may have been operating a do-it-yourself drug lab.

With the help of Surrey Fire Service, police determined that the basement suite contained what appeared to be a methamphetamine lab

The first happened a little after noon when a reported dust explosion injured a 46-year-old man.

Ottawa fire officials reported a fire in a factory warehouse at 5663 Doncaster Rd. and said it was evacuated after a possible explosion.

About 25 firefighters extinguished the blaze and about a dozen emergency workers with the Hazmat team were called in as a precaution.

The man was treated by paramedics for second-degree burns to his torso and third-degree burns to back and legs. He was then transported to hospital in critical condition and has since been upgraded to serious condition.

The factory is run by Masterloy Products Company, which makes iron alloys.

Windsor firefighters spent six hours at the Chrysler plant early Wednesday, flushing out the source of a strong odour of gas come from the sewers.

Fire prevention officer John Lee says the problem was traced to the paint plant, where runoff waste became clogged in the sewers.

A hazardous materials crew flushed more than 470,000 litres of water down the sewers to reduce the gas levels, Lee said.

He said recent heavy rainfall forced the gasoline odours to rise. A vacuum truck was to be brought in to clean up the runoff. Minivan production wasn't interrupted and the gas did not pose a threat to safety, Lee said.

Investigators are still searching for a cause after a massive chemical fire at Naeja Pharmaceuticals in southeast Edmonton Tuesday. The blaze caused $7 million in damage.

Naeja Pharmaceuticals President and CEO Chris Micetich told CTV News a fire broke out over the lunch hour Tuesday in a refrigerator used to store chemicals. He says staff heard what sounded like a champagne bottle popping in the fridge.

"They opened up the fridge and they noticed there was a solvent that had spilled a little bit and while they were trying to determine what happened there was a spark and a flame broke out within the refrigerator."

Edmonton Fire Rescue received a 911 call after staff failed to contain the chemical. Sixty-five staff members working at the lab escaped safely.

An air quality advisory in southeast Edmonton was ordered following the explosion and blaze, with officials asking nearby residents to stay indoors -- keeping their furnaces and air conditioners off due to potentially toxic smoke. 

SURREY - A chemical lab was discovered in the 15000 block of 101A Avenue in Surrey last Saturday night, and officials spent some time dismantling the lab on Tuesday night.

The clandestine lab was discovered when a 30-year-old man was found unconscious in the home on July 23. He was transported to hospital where he still remains for treatment, and although Mounties have not said what he is suffering from, the lab was found in the garage attached to the home.

Members of the RCMP Federal Drug Enforcement Clandestine Lab Team, the Surrey RCMP, the Surrey fire department, the BC Ambulance Service and chemists from Health Canada worked to dismantle the lab.

A fire that started in a freezer destroyed a building housing a pharmaceutical research company in southeast Edmonton on Tuesday.

Clouds of smoke billowed, drifting across the south side of the city as flames shot through the roof at 4290 91A St. The building housed a chemical research company, NAEJA Pharmaceutical Inc.

No one was hurt. The fire was brought under control by 9 p.m. Tuesday night and an air quality advisory for residents was lifted.

The first call from the alarm company came in at 1:30 p.m.

“They reported alarms ringing and a fire that had resulted from some sort of bang or explosion,” said Edmonton fire spokesman Tim Wilson.

“They reported a small explosion and a small fire. The fire crews arrived, they could smell something, they brought in Hazmat ... and shortly after 2 p.m., there were some more bangs or explosions,” Wilson said.

Three people were taken to hospital Friday as a precaution after an incident involving an industrial spray being used at a Defence Research and Development Canada building on Carling Avenue.

The incident happened at 3701 Carling Ave., around noon on Friday, said DRDC spokeswoman Marie-Helene Brisson.

“They were spraying materials as part of a construction project and five people were affected by the spraying of the material,” she said. “The materials used were industrial compounds for cleaning and sealing.”

Five construction workers and security guards were affected, with three of those being taken to hospital to be checked out, she said. As of press time one was still at hospital.

The small office building in Shirleys Bay was evacuated during the lunch hour.

A man suffered minor injuries Thursday evening after an ammonia leak scare at an old Saskatoon dairy plant in the Caswell Hill neighbourhood.

Hazmat teams were called to the scene at the corner of 23rd Street West and Avenue F North around 8:50 p.m. to investigate a report of an ammonia leak.

Workers there were dismantling old storage tanks for removal when one worker cut a steel line that once supplied ammonia to a tank.

He was taken to hospital by a co-worker suffering from minor inhalation and eye irritation from ammonia residue.

Four people have been transported to hospital after inhaling carbon monoxide in an industrial building in East Vancouver near Commercial Drive and Pandora Street.
 
Their condition is not believed to be serious but fire officials are having trouble pinning down the source.
 
WorkSafeBC has been called in to investigate further.
 
The call originally came in around 2pm Saturday as a potential freon gas leak.
 
Once on scene HAZMAT crews didn't find any freon, but did detect high levels of carbon monoxide.

A car battery which was accidentally left on a charger overnight brought members of the Port aux Basques Volunteer Fire Department’s hazmat unit to the Canadian Tire store last Wednesday.
 
Fire Chief Jerry Musseau said when staff at the store arrived that morning, there was a smoky haze and a strong smell from the battery throughout the store. Although there was no fire, the battery had overheated through the night and let off fumes.
Staff stayed long enough to open doors and windows but nobody lingered in the building, according to Chief Musseau. All employees who were inside the store were sent to hospital for precautionary checkups. Everyone was fine, according to the fire chief.
Members from the fire department arrived on scene and blocked off the parking lot. The hazmat team then suited up and went into the store to check the air quality.
“We went in with some gas detection equipment to make sure there was nothing in the air and there wasn’t, other than a very strong rotten smell in the store,” said Chief Musseau.
He said the smell was from the sulfur in the battery, but it wasn’t harmful.
The department used a large fan to vent the entire building for an hour and a half.

    Traffic is moving, but clean up of a hazardous materials spill on highway 5 north of Clearwater is still underway.  Just before noon Sunday a semi flipped after colliding with a minivan.  The rig was carrying hydrochloric and phosphoric acid which spilled across the roadway.
     Clearwater Mayor John Harwood says provincial emergency program crews have determined all of the hazardous chemicals remain in the ground and none of the acid reached nearby Raft River. But Environment officials say clearing away the contaminated earth will be a painstaking process that will take days. The earth must be scraped away and the ground below tested until there is no more sign of the chemicals.
    RCMP say the crash occurred as the semi-trailer was passing a minivan.  The driver of the smaller vehicle suffered serious injuries and two passengers in the van were slightly injured.  The semi driver was not hurt.

CLEARWATER (NEWS1130) - The Provincial Emergency Program (PEP) and Ministry of Environment are on scene of hazardous chemical spill on Highway 5 near Clearwater.

A tanker carrying the dangerous substance and a mini van with a tractor unit collided this morning, causing the tractor and trailer to overturn and rupture the tanker unit.

It's unclear what substance the tanker is leaking. Mounties have only said that it's corrosive and hazardous.

Chemical Leak at University of Waterloo

(Waterloo, ON –  Waterloo Fire Rescue responded to a chemical leak at the University of Waterloo Engineering building located at 200 University Ave. West yesterday evening.  

Upon arrival firefighters determined there was a nitrogen leak in an engineering lab room and shut off the leak. The cause was determined to be a faulty clamp on a nitrogen cylinder hose.

No injuries were reported. University of Waterloo police and a member of the university’s Spills Team also responded to the scene.

A Boys and Girls Club in Ottawa's west end has reopened after a pool maintenance worker was sent to hospital after exposure to chlorine gas Tuesday morning.

The worker mistakenly mixed hydrochloric acid — used as a cleaner — with another chemical, creating chlorine gas, according to Marc Messier, a spokesman with Ottawa Fire Services.

A hazardous materials team was sent to the club at 2825 DuMaurier Ave. around 6:15 and ventilated the building.

The worker was overcome by the fumes and treated on the scene by paramedics who said he had a serious inhalation injury. The 57-year-old man was taken to hospital but is expected to recover.

OTTAWA – Over half of nearly 20,000 hazmat related transport accidents in Canada are a result of "human" error, according to Dangerous Goods Accident Information System obtained by Canadian Press.

That's reportedly three times more than "equipment," the runner-up factor, CP reports after obtaining the database under the Access to Information Act.

The leading causes of accidents, which include other transport mode other than highway vehicles were: Improperly loading, unloading and handling dangerous cargo, drivers losing control of their vehicles, and carelessness and negligence.

CALGARY - Roughly 250 employees were removed from a downtown highrise Tuesday evening after 500 litres of diesel fuel was spilled on the building’s rooftop.

The spill happened just before 7 p.m. on top of the Esso commercial building in the 400 block of 2nd Street S.W., the Calgary fire department said.

Workers had replaced an old fuel tank with a new one for an emergency generator. As they were transferring the diesel from one to another, it spilled, said battalion chief Larry Fisher.

Shortly after crews arrived to investigate, fire officials called in the hazardous materials unit and ordered the building evacuated.

“It’s a combustible product and that was the safest and quickest thing to do,” said Fisher.

Hazmat crews removed roughly half of the diesel by pumping it into pails and transferring it into drums to keep it from leaking into the building or the sewer system.

At 8:36 am, on Thursday June 16th, a call was received by the 911 operator advising of a chlorine smell at the toll booth on Brookdale.
The Fire Services Department responded with four vehicles from both stations, including the HazMat vehicle.   A total of 11 fire personnel were at the scene.
A spill of 50 gallons of Ammonium Hydroxide happened on Brentags site.  All traffic across Brookdale (Second to Ninth) and the bridge was stopped, and the pay toll and the customs office were evacuated as a precaution. Air monitoring was put in place with minimal readings.  The spill was contained to the site itself.  The incident was concluded at 10:15 am.

The University Of Alberta dentistry-pharmacy building had to be evacuated Tuesday afternoon after a potentially dangerous chemical was located on campus.

A spokesperson with Edmonton Fire Rescue Services says fire crews assisted in the transport of the chemical, ammonia silver nitrate. Officials say the building was evacuated after the chemical was discovered by a renovator clearing out a classroom.

Officials say if the chemical is not being stored properly, it could explode. As a precaution, the Hazmat team and police were called into remove the chemical.

"They will be disposing the material that they find. Edmonton Police Service will take it away and dispose of it in a correct manner," said Insp. Al Belanger with University of Alberta security.

The city's unofficial motto "all hell for a basement" took on new meaning after a woman barely escaped a home that burst into flames and manhole covers were blown into the air Thursday night.
"There was a giant bang and the ground shook for a couple of minutes," said Fred Dee who was working at the All-Nighter Shell Station when the manhole cover in front of the business was blasted off its mounting.
He said the cover just missed a car that was passing over it when it was blown into the air around 10:40 p.m. Thursday.
The blast was strong enough to set off several security alarms along or near South Railway Street.
Across the city near the intersection of 12th Street SW and Sixth Avenue, a house burst into flames at the same time.
Neighbours say the woman at the home reported hearing rumbling sounds coming from the basement prior to home bursting into multicolored flames.
She escaped with her two dogs unharmed but shaken up, according to neighbours.
Several people along the street say there has been chemical and gas smells prominent in the area for several months prior to Thursday's house fire.
Many on the street say they have been experiencing health-related problems such as headaches and nausea for several weeks and have reported the incidents to city officials.

Chatham-Kent police, fire and the Ministry of Environment were called Saturday evening shortly after 8 p.m. after an anhydrous ammonia leak at a farm on Brush Line near Mull Road.

Insp. George Flikweert, of the Chatham-Kent Police Service, said a farmer was applying the chemical to a field on a sloped ridge. He said the uneven ground caused a stabilizer bar securing the pressurized ammonia tank to break, shifting the tank and causing the supply line to rupture.

Approximately one metric tonne of the chemical was spewed into the atmosphere, he said.

"It's a chemical used in the crop fertilization process," Flikweert said.

He said while the ammonia dissipates rapidly, it's extremely dangerous.

Thunder Creek Pork Plant was evacuated on Thursday due to an ammonia leak at the factory.
    Moose Jaw Fire Department was called to Lillooet Street West at 12:23 p.m.
    After readings were taken at the site, deputy chief Rod Montgomery said a decision to evacuate the plant was taken at 1:48 p.m.
    Staff were allowed back into the building at 2:30 p.m.
    “We took some readings and realized we had an anhydrous ammonia leak.
    “The leak itself had stopped but there was still product in the lines.
    “Our concern was for the safety of the people on the floor and that nobody was in a situation where they were in a hazerdous environment,” he said.

3 Royal Canadian Mint workers reported OK after breathing chemical fumes
(The Canadian Press) – 22 hours ago
OTTAWA — The Royal Canadian Mint in Ottawa says three workers are OK after inhaling some chemical fumes at the facility this morning.
The mint says it appears chemical vapours were released from the waste water treatment system at the refinery.
Spokesman Alex Reeves says the three workers who were exposed to the fumes were taken to hospital to be checked out.
He says all three men have since been released and the cause of the incident is under investigation.
Meanwhile, normal production is continuing at the mint in all non-affected areas, including public tours.
The workers — aged 51, 58 and 35 — were not identified.
But Reeves confirmed reports that two of the men rescued their co-worker by pulling him away from the fumes.
Along with producing Canada's coins, the mint also produces and markets bullion and related refinery products.
Marc Messier of the Ottawa fire department said earlier there was no danger to the public because the fumes were contained.
A hazardous materials team determined there was no need to evacuate the building, and the area where the fumes were released was isolated and ventilated.

A male student has been resuscitated after first being reported dead in a shop class explosion at Mother Teresa Catholic High School in Barrhaven this morning, said Ottawa paramedics.

Grade 12 student Eric Leighton, the 18-year-old believed to have died, was resuscitated, but paramedics are reporting he suffered serious head injuries.

A second male student is in critical condition in hospital with serious internal injuries, said Darryl Wilton, a paramedic on scene. The 17-year-old male is reported to be Grade 11 student Adam Soliman, said student Adam Sauvé.
At least three other students have been taken to hospital with trauma-related injuries.

The explosion took place in the school’s automotive shop class, where there could have been as many as 15 students in the class, said Stephanie Jean-Louis, a Grade 12 student at Mother Teresa who wasn’t present during the explosion.

A 45-gallon peppermint oil drum is what is believed to have caused the explosion, said Marc Messier, spokesperson for the fire services. It is believed the drum was to be used to build a barbeque.

The blast occurred just before 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 26, and the entire school was evacuated as a precaution, said Messier

Emergency crews were on scene Tuesday after a carbon monoxide leak reportedly triggered the evacuation of a building in North Vancouver.

Workers were forced out of 121 East 18th St. at about 10:30 a.m. when what was described as a “significant quantity” of the gas escaped into the confined space.

Police, firefighters, paramedics and a HAZMAT team responded to the call.

Two Fortis BC employees were reportedly treated for inhalation.

Saskatoon Fire and Protective Services anticipates no lingering problems after an anhydrous ammonia spill Thursday south of Saskatoon.

The fire department's dangerous goods team was called to a spill, where a supplier was transferring ammonia into a farmer's tank. The fire department says the supplier's tank developed a leak. About 1,000 kilograms of chemical had spilled by the time the dangerous goods team arrived, even though the supplier had managed to slow down the leak.

Fire crews blocked off the area for about two hours and confirmed the leak had been slowed. The team stayed on the site while the supplier offloaded and removed the remainder of the ammonia in the tank. No one was injured by the leak.

In Thursday's warm weather conditions, the ammonia dissipated quickly and no chemical cleanup was required, the fire service says.

A pipeline break northeast of Peace River, Alta., has leaked 28,000 barrels of crude oil, during what is now considered to be one of the largest spills in the province's history.

The leak from the Plains Midstream Canada pipeline, discovered Friday, was originally thought to have involved several hundred barrels of oil.

It now appears to be the biggest crude oil pipeline leak in Alberta since 1975, when a Bow River Ltd. pipeline leaked 40,000 barrels, according to Davis Sheremata, a spokesman for the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board.

"It's been the biggest spill from a pipeline involving crude oil that we've had in Alberta certainly in about the last 18 years or so," Sheremata said.

No injuries reported at chem lab incident

A minor chemical spill at the University of Western Ontario sent one graduate student to hospital for precautionary reasons. No injuries were recorded.

The student was working in a basement lab of the school’s chemistry building when a small explosion reportedly occurred. It is unclear which chemicals were involved in the incident, but London’s emergency services and Western’s hazardous materials team responded after a call was placed at about 10:30 a.m.

An evacuation was ruled out after firefighters got a smoky industrial blaze under control in Oldcastle Sunday.

Firefighters, OPP and paramedics converged around 1: 30 p.m. on CBi Custom Coatings for Aluminum and Steel on Fasan Drive. Tecumseh fire Chief Doug Pitre said there was no need for an evacuation after firefighters quickly dealt with a chemical blaze inside.

"The product was extinguished quite quickly," Pitre said. He said the product was a type of nickel-based sealant into which metallic parts are dipped for oxidization. A sign in front of the shop advertises anodizing and black oxide services.

Though the fire was taken down quickly, Pitre said the main danger was to firefighters exposed to the chemical. "If you get it on your skin it would continue to burn for 48 hours," he said.

Firefighters washed down their equipment after coming into contact with the sealant, he said. He said a small amount of product was spilled and would be dealt with by Environment Canada.

Kelowna Assistant Fire Chief Jason Brolund says they got a call about a number of people complaining of sickness.

From there a Hazmat team was sent in to investigate the Canada Post building on Baillie Avenue.

"We came to learn that the postal carriers are routinely issued animal spray, as a part of their work. It's our suspicion that some of the spray may have been discharged inside the building."

Brolund says the risk was considered low but they always treat incidents like this very seriously.

Kathi Neal, a communications Manager with Canada Post says they were fortunate that the situation was handled so well.

"Luckily the emergency responders came on site so quickly and did a thorough investigation. So we felt comfortable to allow our employees back in a round 10am Tuesday morning. Now they did lose some work time, however we really are not expecting any delays of mail at this time."

Neal says two letter carriers were taken to hospital but both have been discharged and no one was hurt.

Edmonton Fire Rescue spent most of Monday afternoon neutralizing an explosive chemical that was spilt in southeast Edmonton.

Crews were called around 1:10pm at BP Automation at 36 Street and 56 Avenue.
 
Edmonton Fire Rescue spokesperson Tim Wilson says the building, and nearby buildings were evacuated and there are no reported injuries at this time.

"There were around 32 firefighters on scene, this includes our HAZMAT crew, hazardous materials crew," explains Wilson. He says the crews were working to neutralize the chemical, Perkadox 16, a peroxide-based dry powder, which can ignite at temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius. Prior to the spill, it was being stored in a refrigeration unit.

The police blocked off the entire commercial area while crews worked to get the spill under control.

"Our main priority during this event was firefighter and public safety," said Terry Bucharski, District Chief, in a release. "As a precaution, we evacuated a number of businesses and blocked off about four square blocks from traffic. We want to thank all the businesses and public in the area for cooperating with us. This allowed fire crews to focus on mitigating this emergency."
 
Fire Rescue was cleared out before 5:00pm. Now, a private company will clean the spill. This will take time, and the sand used to dilute the Perkadox 16 will be removed and then incinerated.

Twenty people were evacuated from their homes in North Surrey Wednesday after firefighters responded to a suspicious house fire only to find chemicals giving off gas from a suspected drug lab.

When police and firefighters arrived on the scene in the 13400-block 111A Avenue at about 10: 30 a.m., white smoke was billowing from the house, but a man greeted them saying nothing was wrong, RCMP Cpl. Drew Grainger said.

"Clearly, there was something to worry about because the house that he was standing in front of appeared to be on fire," Grainger said.

When firefighters entered the home, they didn't find a fire, but instead found "suspicious chemicals consistent with a clandestine drug lab," he said.