TUCSON - Investigators are working to determine the cause of a chemical spill at a plant on Tucson's south side.

Tucson Fire Captain Jeff Langejans says around 2:30 a.m. Saturday, an operator from Sasol North America's plant in the 7800 block of South Kolb Road, noticed that hydrochloric acid (HC1) was pooling in a spill containment area.

After investigating, workers determined that a 12,000 gallon HC1 above-ground storage tank was leaking at a rate of five gallons per minute. The chemical is 35% solution and is extremely corrosive.

Workers started off-loading the tank, which had approximately 9,000 gallons. An estimated 4,000 gallons of the liquid had been spilled into the secondary containment area.

Tucson Fire crews responded around 5 a.m. as a precautionary measure. They remained on scene until the leaking tank was emptied into other storage tanks.

No employees or firefighters were injured.

Around 100 residents and workers were evacuated after fire broke out in a waste plant sparking a chemical alert.

The blaze in a number of large oil drums caused plumes of black smoke visible from miles around as it spread through Arrow Environmental Services in West Bromwich.

Acrid smoke shot into the air from the fire, which started at around 1.45pm in part of the premises used to recycle waste oil.

See more pictures in our gallery to your right
Staff at the firm in Kelvin Way faced a huge clean-up today as oil had flooded from the building onto land outside. The cause is not yet known but it is suspected the hot weather may be to blame. Workers at the scene described how the flames escalated in seconds and a series of bangs followed.



Around 35 firefighters tackled the blaze at its height and hazardous materials officers were drafted in. Firefighter Steve Husbands said crews faced a fight to stop the waste oil entering water courses. Also an oxygen cylinder exploded, causing a fireball, and about seven other cylinders had to be removed amid fears they would also blow up.

Arrow declined to comment.

A small fire erupted at the Montana Refining Company in Great Falls after a chemical leak at the plant on Thursday.

An MRC official says that a small tube leak fire occurred inside the heater fire box.

Great Falls Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Steve Hester says a flammable chemical called naptha overfilled and fire started burning into one of the stacks.

Water doused the flames and Hester said refinery officials just worked to keep the stack cool, and said this type of event isn't out of the ordinary.

An Oklahoma City business was evacuated Thursday and several workers were treated after a chemical solution started smoking and made people nauseous, firefighters said.
Fire Maj. Tammy McKinney said several workers at Macklanburg-Duncan, 4041 N Santa Fe Ave., were mixing a sodium hydroxide solution about 3 p.m. when the solution started smoking and three workers became nauseous.
The building was evacuated and the three workers were treated by emergency workers.
“We've given them oxygen and their symptoms have gotten better,” McKinney said.
Eight other employees were evaluated by paramedics, she said.
Fire Deputy Chief Marc Woodard said the mixing of mislabeled chemicals caused the situation. None of the workers were taken to the hospital, he said.
Macklanburg-Duncan manufactures building products such as weather stripping, flooring and decorative moldings.

An explosion at Arens Controls Facility in northwest suburban Arlington Heights in Chicago, has left one person dead and ten injured.
Firefighters and police responded to Arens in the 3600 block of North Kennicott Avenue around 9 a.m. for what they considered at the time a chemical explosion. About 50 employees were evacuated and were left standing outside for more than three hours after the explosion this morning at the factory in Chicago.
Seven workers were injured and three police officers, two from Arlington Heig

hts and one from Buffalo Grove departments, were treated for respiratory problems.
The Arlington Heights Fire Department have reported the injuries were caused by a malfunctioning machine. Police have confirmed it was likely an industrial accident because there is no visible damage on the outside of the factory building.
Arlington Heights Fire Chief Glenn Erickson said in a statement, “The chemical they were using was a diluted form of potassium hydroxide. At this point in time we don’t know what role the chemical had in the accident, if it had any role at all.”
Firefighters and police are still investigating what exactly caused the explosion at the Arlington Heights Factory in Chicago.
Mary Capelli-Schellpfeffer, MD, medical director of occupational health at Loyola University Health System said, “After an industrial accident, even if someone can ‘walk away’ without visible injuries, it doesn’t mean there aren’t health concerns. Even after authorities have determined the cause of today’s explosion, the uncertainty and worry about the tragedy can continue for several weeks or months. It’s important during this time to help employees and neighbors to stay focused to limit additional injuries.”

The chemical that sent a dozen people to the hospital Tuesday following an explosion in an Arlington Heights factory demands caution when working with it, even in laboratory conditions, a chemistry professor said Wednesday.

Kristen Leckrone, an associate professor of chemistry at Roosevelt University, said people expecting to encounter the substance, potassium hydroxide, normally wear gloves, goggles, and sometimes even a respirator if there’s a possibility of it being released into the air.

“It can dissolve and damage lung tissue,” Leckrone said.

According to its material safety data sheet, potassium hydroxide has a fire hazard of 0 on a 4-point scale, Leckrone said. But it has a reactivity rating of 2 out of 4, and a health risk rating of 3 out of 4.

Though not flammable itself, it can react with metals or other substances to produce potentially explosive hydrogen gas, Leckrone said.

As with a strong acid, a strong base like potassium hydroxide can have a caustic effect on the skin and lungs. But what makes a base different from an acid is that it’s more readily absorbed by tissue and thus easier to neutralize than to wash off, Leckrone added.

A dilute solution of weak acids such as vinegar could be used to treat skin burned by potassium hydroxide. But the treatment of potassium hydroxide inhalation or ingestion would be more complicated, she said.

PLAQUEMINE, La. — Four Georgia Gulf contract employees are recovering after being exposed to chlorine at work.

WAFB TV reports (http://bit.ly/KnT0FD ) the accident happened at the chemical and vinyls plant in Plaquemine around 9 p.m. Tuesday.

A Georgia Gulf spokesman said the four were near a railcar when the chlorine was being offloaded, but they were not the ones handling it.

Parish officials said there was no need for road closures or evacuations.

Spill occurs at BP processing facility
The Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A state agency says thousands of gallons of crude oil and oily water have spilled at a BP processing facility on the North Slope.

The Anchorage Daily News says a tank at Prudhoe Bay overflowed on Monday, spilling about 4,200 gallons of crude oil and oily water into a containment area. The overflow was stopped and the Department of Environmental Conservation says the liquids did not leach out onto the tundra.

Officials say instruments and valves used to control the level of fluids in the tank malfunctioned.

BP spokesman Steve Rinehart says an alarm went off. A BP worker checking on the alarm discovered the spill at the processing facility where oil, natural gas and water are separated.

The Massachusetts state hazmat team suits up after a sulfuric acid spill at a Goddard Memorial Drive business.

Fire officials say a 250 gallon container of 50-percent sulfuric acid spilled Monday as workers were moving with a forklift and punctured it.

“It was punctured somewhere down about 6 inches from the bottom. A good deal spilled out and leaked on the asphalt,” says Deputy Chief John Sullivan.

The business, Pan-Glo New England, was evacuated.

(NECN) - Crews rushed to the scene of a tier three hazmat situation at an industrial complex in Southbridge, Mass.

The call came in around 7:40 a.m. on Monday, for 15 Wells St.

The Southbridge Fire Department confirms there was a chlorine gas leak at the Schott Fiber Optics.

The company produces fiber optic materials there.

The building was evacuated, but no injuries were reported.

DOVER, Ohio - Authorities in Dover have reopened Interstate 77 and said it's safe for residents in the area to go outside following a chemical reaction at the Dover Chemical Corporation.

I-77 north and southbound, from Strasburg to New Philadelphia, reopened at 2 p.m. on Monday after being shutdown around 9:45 a.m.

Around 9:20 a.m., a reactor overheated inside the plant causing a vapor release that resulted in off-gassing of antifreeze.

Reverse 911 calls went out to about 100 residents shortly after the incident, advising them to stay inside and close their windows.

"No employees were injured. We are in the process of cooling the reactor, which appears to be working," said Dover Chemical Corporation President Dwain Colvin. This means there's no longer an explosion threat.

Two drivers along I-77 were taken to nearby hospitals after being overcome by the fumes, complaining of respiratory problems.

Chemical workers weren't affected by the plume because the off-gassing occurred outside the plant. An alarm sounded alerting them of the problem.

PORT ALLEN, LA (WAFB) -
One person was injured, families were evacuated and US 190 is shut down at Bueche Road between Port Allen and Erwinville due to a chemical fire.

Acetylene Fact Sheet
Acetylene is a colorless and odorless gas. Commercial grade Acetylene may have an Ether-like or garlic-like odor. It is used for welding, cutting, brazing and soldering, and in making other chemicals. Click here for more information.

The Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) has activated its Crisis Action Team (CAT) because of the fire at the Air Liquide facility.

The fire is at the Air Liquide Specialty Gases plant. It happened around 10:30 a.m. Emergency officials, along with DEQ and a hazardous material team are on the scene to control the fire.

Late Monday afternoon, firemen, company officials and State Police technicians were able to enter the hot zone in order to inspect several cylinders, which were not damaged by the fire.  Several hundred tanks were still on fire.  State Police Air Support assisted technicians in inspecting the fire from the air before crews could enter the site.

One person was taken to the hospital with injuries to their eyes. That person's identity has not yet been released. The West Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office says two tanks of acetylene exploded, however, the public relations office for Air Liquide in Houston says the tanks were empty and waiting to be filled with acetylene.

DALTON, GA. (WRCB)  --  More than two dozen Dalton employees were taken to a local hospital Monday for decontamination after an explosion occurred at the MFG Chemical plant on Callahan Dr.  

"I thought it was a pressure valve releasing," says International Coatings employee, Darrin Locke. "Heard a loud, very loud whistle."

International Coatings sits across the street from the MFG Chemical plant. Employees tell Channel 3 the explosion happened just before 9 Monday morning.

"We saw just some color in the sky. Of course we all made a mad dash for the backside of the building, not sure what was going to take place at that time," Locke says.  

"We have an over-pressured rupture of a reactor," says Dalton Fire Chief Bruce Satterfield.  

"It blew a hole in the roof of the building," adds Bruce Frazier, with the Dalton Police Department.  

The chemical that was being made during the time of the explosion is called coagulant 129. Its a substance used for water treatment and can cause skin irritation or respiratory problems. "Its not the nastiest stuff in the world but you wouldn't want it on your skin or anything," Frazier says.  

Nearly 50 employees from the surrounding area were taken to a local hospital for decontamination. Even a few from International Coatings came forward with symptoms after we talked to them.

"I've got a couple with some irritation to their throats, stuff like that," says Locke.  

All told, 47 people were brought to the Hamilton Medical Center for decontamination.

Chemical companies should always assess and, when possible, adopt inherently safer manufacturing processes that minimize or eliminate hazards, says a National Research Council (NRC) panel in a May 10 report. The committee says chemical manufacturers don’t always consider inherently safer processes and many lack a clear, consistent corporate policy to conduct an adequate analysis.
Inherently safer processes are a hierarchy of manufacturing practices—such as minimizing or finding substitutes for toxic materials—that lower the threat of plant hazards or accidents, which affect workers and community residents. The goal is to eliminate hazards, dangerous materials, or processes, rather than to manage and control them, explains Elsa Reichmanis, the NRC committee’s chair and a chemistry professor at Georgia Institute of Technology.

At least four workers at the toxic chemicals site in Mapua could have been made sick from working on the cleanup and they may suffer further work-related health problems, a report has revealed.

The Environment Ministry, as the main resource consent holders of the project, has accepted the report, and says it is taking steps to offer workers medical assessments.

The controversial $12 million cleanup finished five years ago and the four workers interviewed in the report have been waiting four years for acknowledgement of their health issues.

The Environment Ministry is also taking steps to contact others who worked at the site, previously considered New Zealand's most toxic, and offer them health checks. Thirty people are believed to have worked at the project.

MIDDLETON, Mass.—A Massachusetts adhesive manufacturer will pay $600,000 in fines for numerous safety infractions after a March 2011 explosion that injured four workers.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration initially had sought fines in excess of $917,000 for Middleton, Mass.-based Bostik Inc. after a six-month investigation revealed several violations of the agency’s rules governing the treatment of hazardous chemicals.

In a statement released Thursday, OSHA officials said the agency ultimately reduced the fine amount, in part to expedite the implementation of improved safety practices at Bostik’s plant.

“This resolution speeds corrective action that might otherwise have been delayed through lengthy litigation,” Michael Felsen, regional solicitor for the U.S. Department of Labor in Boston, said in the agency’s statement.

According to the settlement, Bostik has agreed to certain corrective actions to address failures in its chemical safety protocols and to submit proof of those actions to OSHA.

In March 2011, an open valve resulted in the release of flammable acetone vapors, causing the explosion. Bostik since has stopped using acetone in its processing operations.

Research to be published in Science on May 18, 2012, sheds light on a hot-button political issue: the role and effectiveness of government regulation. Does it kill jobs or protect the public?

The new study, co-authored by Harvard Business School Professor Michael Toffel, Professor David Levine of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and Boston University doctoral student Matthew Johnson, examines workplace safety inspections conducted by California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA). The authors carried out the first evaluation of a "clinical trial" of the state's mandated randomized inspections to discern their effect on both worker safety and companies' bottom lines.

The results overturn conventional wisdom: Workplace inspections do reduce on-the-job injuries and their associated costs, and the researchers could not detect any harm to companies' performance or profits.

"The randomized inspections provided a perfect natural experiment that uses the power of randomization just like a medical clinical trial," Toffel said. "Because Cal/OSHA typically inspects facilities following complaints or recent accidents, you can't study those inspections to get an unbiased understanding of whether they make a difference. By studying the inspections Cal/OSHA conducted at workplaces selected at random, we were able to overcome this problem to learn the actual impact of inspections."

The study found that within high-hazard industries in California, inspected workplaces reduced their injury claims by 9.4 percent and saved 26 percent on workers' compensation costs in the four years following the inspection, compared to a similar set of uninspected workplaces. On average, inspected firms saved an estimated $355,000 in injury claims and compensation for paid lost work over that period. What's more, there was no discernible impact on the companies' profits.

A chemical fire in Bristol, Pennsylvania led several residents to contact police Wednesday complaining about a sulfur odor in the air, according to officials.

   In a press release Wednesday, police said that the odor reported by residents could be traced to a chemical fire overnight at a Dow Chemical facility in Pennsylvania.The odor was reported in several central and southern New Jersey communities, according to the company.

   In a statement, the company said that two holding tanks at the Rohm and Hass Bristol Plant containing two different materials, ethyl acrylate and butyl acrylate, were struck by lightning at 3:35 a.m. and ignited.

   The chemicals involved are used in the manufacturing of paint, according to the company.

BOSTON — The Labor Department says it has reached a $600,000 settlement with adhesives manufacturer Bostik, Inc., over workplace safety citations related to a March 2011 explosion at its plant north of Boston.

Four workers had nonlife-threatening injuries. Investigators said a valve had accidentally been left open, causing acetone vapors to fill the building and ignite. The explosion rattled a surrounding neighborhood, and damaged two buildings at the plant complex in Middleton.

(Medina)- The Medina Fire Department along with three other area fire departments battled a blaze behind the Medina Steakhouse on W. Liberty Street.

Fire Chief Bob Painter says the fire started around 10:30am Wednesday at an unoccupied warehouse used by the company Free Oil. The building housed chemical solvents. Forty-five firefighters worked to put out the fire.



No one was injured but the building is a total loss. The walls collapsed and even melted some of the siding at the steakhouse and a nearby home.

It's not known yet what caused the blaze.

Painesville Township Fire Department and Lubrizol Corp. emergency personnel responded to the release of a chemical compound Wednesday at the company's Painesville Township plant.

According to a Lubrizol news release:

About 8 a.m., the fitting on top of a tank truck was damaged while positioning the truck for unloading. As a result, a small amount of hydrazine vapor was released.

Emergency personnel responded immediately and implemented existing emergency procedures, including activation of a water deluge safety system.

The incident was under control by 8:54 a.m. Representatives from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Public Utilities Commission of Ohio inspected the site and were satisfied with response and management of the incident.

There were no reported injuries and there was no evidence of any vapors leaving the plant property.

QUINCY, Ill. (WGEM) - Fire investigators return to the scene Wednesday of a five-alarm fire at the Doyle Manufacturing complex at 40th and Broadway in Quincy.
...
A Doyle spokesman says the fire was in a building where they paint fertilizer equipment.

Tipton says that building contained flammable materials like aerosol cans, which led to several explosions inside.

"It's always a dangerous situation when you come on a manufacturing facility because you don't know what's inside at first and the first moments are a little bit anxious when you first start," said Tipton.

Tipton says the metal roof on that building collapsed on top of the fire, making it difficult to fight the flames. 

BOARDMAN, Ore. - Morrow County Sheriff's Deputies say an ammonia leak at a food processing plant in Boardman, Oregon sent seven people to the hospital overnight. The seven people were working at frozen food processor Lamb Weston/Con Agra on Columbia Avenue around 9:45 Tuesday night when the leak was reported. All seven were taken to Good Shepard Hospital in Hermiston. They were treated for respiratory distress and nausea and were released after a few hours. Crews had the leak contained and clean up complete around midnight. No word on a cause or if the processing plant will be open Wednesday.

NIXON, Texas (AP) - Emergency officials say a fiery explosion at an energy company site in South Texas has left two workers with burns.

The Gonzales County Sheriff's Office says the explosion happened early Wednesday at a Vann Energy location near Nixon.

A sheriff's dispatcher says the workers were hurt during the fracturing process known as fracking. Chemically treated water is used to crack shale and release natural gas.

The dispatcher says both men suffered second-degree burns and have been airlifted to a San Antonio hospital. Their names and further details on their conditions weren't immediately available.

The cause of the accident has not been determined. Some nearby homes were evacuated for about two hours, as a precaution.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) -- No injuries are reported in an explosion at a biodiesel plant in Mason City.

The Globe Gazette in Mason City says the explosion happened late Tuesday afternoon at the Soy Energy plant on the city's southwest side. The newspaper says fire trucks and firefighters are on the west side of the plant, but no damage or smoke was visible. The explosion was reported about 6 p.m.

The fire department had no immediate details on what happened. Soy Energy produces biodiesel from soybeans and corn stillage.

HARMFUL chemicals including hydrochloric and sulphuric acid were left in an Ammanford factory — creating a high risk for people living nearby.

The Environment Agency Wales (EAW) removed some 500 containers and five chemical lagoons at the former electroplating facility, the exact location of which has not been disclosed.

Kimberley Ekin-Wood, from the EAW, said: "This site posed a high risk to both the local environment and people living in the area so removing the chemicals had to be a priority."

The factory has been empty for several years.

The EAW, alerted by the fire service found the previous landowners had left it full of waste chemicals. These included hydrochloric acid, chromic acid, sulphuric acid and sodium hydroxide.

LSB Industries said its El Dorado chemical facility in Arkansas suffered significant damage to the DSN concentrated nitric acid plant and surrounding equipment when a reactor exploded Tuesday morning.

There were no injuries to employees or anyone in the El Dorado community, the company said, adding that it believes there was no environmental release.

LSB is investigating the cause of the event and the extent of the damages, it said.

LSB said it does not have an estimate on the extent of the damages or the repair time. However, the El Dorado facility is out of operation at the present time due to the damage.

Lightning appparently ignited a fuel tank at Dow Chemical Co. in Croydon early this morning, touching off a three-alarm blaze that sent a large orange ball of flame into the predawn sky.

Firefighters from around the area rushed to the large plant at Routes 413 and State Road in Bucks County, less than a mile from the Burlington-Bristol bridge. The county's hazardous waste material team was also called to the scene,

The fire erupted at about 4 a.m. A large black plume of smoke extended high into the sky above the orange flames. Firefighters battled the blaze not only with water, but with foam.

Robert Miller, 49, of Linden Street in Bristol, said he was awoken by a large noise and was not sure if it was thunder or something else.

"The minute it stopped" he said, referring to the thunder or explosion, "the fire alarm went off immediately. The sirens went off like crazy - like I've never heard them before."

GUANGZHOU, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- A large explosion ripped through a steel plant in southern China on Monday afternoon, killing nine people and injuring several others, state-run media reported.

The explosion occurred at around 3:48 p.m. local time at a plant operated by Shaoguan Steel Co. Ltd. in the municipality of Shaoguan in China's southern province of Guangdong. It happened as workers from China MCC5 Group Corp. were installing facilities at the location.

The state-run Xinhua news agency cited local government officials as saying that eight people died at the scene, while a ninth victim died late on Monday evening. Six workers were injured, including one person who remains seriously injured.

The cause of the explosion remains unknown, but investigations have already been launched.

The rapid economic growth in China, in combination with poor safety measures, frequently result in deadly industrial accidents. In late February, thirteen people were killed and 43 others were injured when a blast ripped through a chemical plant in China's northern Hebei province.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A fire with flames 100 to 200 feet high erupted Friday at an oil well east of Cheyenne owned by SM Energy.

The fire at 1781 County Road 136 started in an oil treater containing 20 to 250 gallons of an oil and water mixture, Laramie County Fire District 2 spokesman Lew Simpson said. The treater overflowed and was ignited.

An oil treater removes sediment and water from crude oil before it is transported to refineries.

"It ignited, and it was threatening about 42,000 gallons of other oil fuel stored nearby," Simpson said. "We managed to control it — we shut off the fuel to the fire."

About 60 firefighters responded to the scene from several agencies, including six Laramie County fire districts, the Torrington Fire Department and F.E. Warren Air Force Base. Firefighters from the local Frontier Oil refinery also helped out.

The fire was extinguished in about an hour. No injuries were reported.

Two serious accidents occurred within two days at the Map Ta Phut petrochemical production zone in eastern Thailand.
An explosion on May 5 at a synthetic rubber plant owned by Bangkok Synthetics killed 12 people and injured more than 140 at Map Ta Phut. The next day, a chlorine leak at a hydrochloric acid plant operated by Aditya Birla Chemicals led to the hospitalization of 13 people, according to the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT).
The back-to-back accidents have revived tensions between the facilities in the industrial zone and nearby residents who blame the petrochemical industry for causing pollution and posing a safety risk.
Bangkok Synthetics said in a statement that the explosion occurred when the plant was shut down and undergoing maintenance. During a storm, a fire broke out in a toluene vessel that had just been cleaned, the company said.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The chemical industry needs guidance in choosing alternative processing methods to reduce or eliminate hazards, a national panel said in a report released Friday.

U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations require chemical companies to follow certain procedures to ensure manufacturing processes are safe. But the report by the National Research Council said the industry lacks common practice protocols and understanding to identify safer processes.

It recommends that the U.S. Chemical Safety Board or other entity develop a plan to help chemical plant managers choose alternative processes to reduce or eliminate hazards.

One method, known as an "inherently safer process" assessment, aims to minimize or eliminate a hazard. But the assessment does not always provide clear guidance. The report said switching to a non-flammable solvent in a process would remove a fire hazard. But if the solvent is toxic, a new hazard is created.

Use of inherently safer process strategies would reduce the number of vulnerable areas around a company's facilities, which would decrease the scope of emergency preparedness programs. But it potentially could narrow the focus too much and overlook certain outcomes, the report said.

VISTA, Calif. -- An explosion at a spa manufacturing factory blew a 20x20 foot hole in the roof of a Vista business around 10:30 p.m. Thursday.
The explosion occurred inside a container at Watkins Manufacturing Inc., located at 1280 Park Center Drive.
According to 10News, investigators aren't sure what caused the explosion, but the 8,000 gallon container filled with chemicals was cleaned early Thursday and it was that container that exploded late Thursday night.
When Carlsbad and Vista fire units arrived, they had toxic smoke wafting from the remains of the building, as well as water running from the building to a storm drain at 100 gallons per minute.
Fire officials called Camp Pendleton HAZMAT, as well as San Diego County Health, and then pulled their units across the street to a safe distance fearing another explosion.
No one was inside the building at the time and no injuries were reported.

Pressure from a failed drip vessel started a fire which in turn caused the April 30 explosion at a natural gas plant southeast of Canadian, said Todd Johnson, Eagle Rock Energy Partners vice president of environmental health and safety.

The blast occurred at Houston-based Eagle Rock Energy Partners’ Phoenix-Arrington Ranch processing plant in Hemphill County, and no one was hurt, spokesman Craig Brown said.

A drip vessel is a small tank that collects liquid from a gas field, which is required to process the gas, Johnson said. The vessel failed to release pressure, causing it to rupture and starting a fire that led to the explosion.

“There are some lessons that we are learning, and we are going to incorporate those lessons into our design standards and our safety procedures,” Johnson said.

DALLAS TWP. — The state Department of Environmental Protection is investigating a second release of drilling mud from natural gas pipeline installation.

The spill occurred at Lower Demunds Road and Goodleigh Road.

Chief Gathering LLC, recently bought out by PVR Partners, hired contractors to install a pipeline to connect natural gas wells in Susquehanna County to the Transco interstate pipeline in Dallas Township.

Chief’s Vice President of Industry Affairs Kristi Gittins said the mud release is not new. She said release of mud at pipeline boring sites are not uncommon and “we plan for them and we deal with them.”

DEP has been to the site and approved remediation plans, Gittins said.

The first spill, of approximately 200 gallons of water containing a small amount of bentonite clay, occurred on May 2 as contractors were boring about 30 feet beneath Leonards Creek on Kunkle-Alderson Road.

Downers Grove, IL —

Downers Grove fire officials said roads have been reopened following a chemical spill at the Flavorchem Corp., 1525 Brook Drive, Downers Grove, located just north of the Finley Square Mall shopping center.

HAZMAT units were called out after a 55-gallon drum of bleach ruptured, fire officials said.

Flavorchem creates and manufactures solutions for food and beverage applications, including flavor and color development, formulations for nutritional and functional purposes, and works with masking and sweetener technologies.

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.

GEISMAR, LA (WAFB) -
A hazardous materials team has been called out to Westlake Vinyl in Ascension Parish after a power outage and chemical release Wednesday.

According to officials at Westlake, the power failure around 4 p.m. resulted in a release of a substance. The substance and the amount that was released is not known at this time. That is why the hazardous materials team was called.

There were no serious injuries reported, however, three contractors were taken to the hospital as a precaution and released.

This is the second time since March the hazardous materials team has been called to Westlake Vinyl. In March, an explosion and fire lead to a chemical release. The plant had just reopened Wednesday following repairs.  The Department of Environmental Quality said there was no threat to people in the area following that incident.

The massive explosion at the factory of a Bangkok Synthetics subsidiary that killed 11 and injured another 129 people on Saturday has prompted the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) to examine 65 hazardous factories in Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate.

The Pollution Control Depart-ment (PCD) has also called on manufacturers in the estate to reveal to the public and other agencies all hazardous and non-hazardous chemical substances used in their production processes.

The IEAT's deputy governor, Peerawt Rungrueng, said his agency would send teams to investigate 65 factories likely to be at risk accidents inside the estate.

The team will comprise staff from related agencies, local representatives and the Industrial Works Department.

"We will not investigate without participation from local people," he said, adding that the survey was expected to be finished next week.

Currently, IEAT staff are examining damage to the BST Elastomers facility and nearby factories affected by the massive explosion.

The IEAT has also ordered Aditya Birla Chemicals to suspend operations after a chemical leak at its Map Ta Phut factory on Sunday that led to the hospitalisation of 138 people.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- 
An explosion at a Volusia County business early Tuesday may have been caused by an ammonia leak, investigators said.
It happened around 3:30 a.m. at a Reddy Ice in the Airport Industrial Park, just south of New Smyrna Municipal Airport.

Hazardous materials crews shut down the industrial complex as they cleaned up the scene. The complex has since reopened.
According to New Smyrna Beach fire Chief David McAllister, a police officer was conducting his regular beat check Tuesday morning, when he said he smelled the unmistakable odor of ammonia.

An explosion at a South Seattle gas processing facility Monday afternoon caused a lot of noise and little else.

Just before 1:30 p.m., Seattle firefighters were called to the Airgas facility at 7700 14th Avenue South following an explosion there.

Seattle Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore said the explosion occurred at an acetylene handing facility inside a room built to contain explosions. Six employees inside the building were uninjured.

Firefighters cleared a larger area around the facility following the explosion while they checked for gas leaks. The explosion damaged nearby windows and the building itself, but no injuries were reported.

A construction worker fell through a rotted roof into an acid tank in New Jersey on Monday, suffering severe burns before his co-worker jumped in to pull him out, officials said.

The second man was also burned, but less severely.

The men were working for a roofing company to replace the roof at 1 Clifton Boulevard in Clifton, N.J.

Fire officials said the first worker fell through the weakened part of the roof into the tank below, which was used for cleaning steel.

He suffered burns from head to foot, and was not responsive when rescuers arrived, officials said. His co-worker who jumped in also had signs of burns but was more lucid after the fall and was able to rinse himself off.

He was taken to the hospital along with the first man.

Three other workers also helped the two acid-soaked men. They were also taken to the hospital.

Clifton fire officials said the building work had no permits and was being investigated.

SIKESTON, Mo.  — Sikeston Public Safety is reporting an active Haz-Mat incident at Sikeston’s Board of Municipal Utilities Power Plant.
Around 4:30am Sunday, the Sikeston BMU Power Plant reported a trailer containing hydrochloric acid exploded at their facility.  The catastrophic failure of this container resulted in a 7,500 gallon spill.  Sikeston DPS immediately dispatched their Haz-Mat team to the site to evaluate the incident.
It was learned that the spill was confined to the immediate area of the incident and no one was injured during the release.  It isn’t known at this time what caused the pressurized container to fail, but we know that fire was not the cause.  This type of chemical release requires a relatively short evacuation distance, which fell inside the property of the BMU facility.  At no time was anyone outside the property lines of the power plant in any danger.  Residents who live nearby the Sikeston Power Plant are completely free of any danger.  In addition the Power plant did not suffer any significant damage.
According to BMU, this incident has had no effect on their operation.  Every year BMU has a planned outage to conduct yearly maintenance at their facility.  The Power Plant was currently going through this annual maintenance when this incident occurred.  As a result, this incident did not disrupt their service.

HILLSBORO, Ore. -- Three men were taken to area hospitals after they ingested chemicals released on the Intel campus Saturday, and a fourth man was treated for skin exposure.
An Intel hazardous materials team responded just before 11 a.m. to a report that the four employees had been exposed to the chemicals, made up mostly of sodium nitrate, a Hillsboro Fire Department official told KGW.
Primary and secondary safety procedures failed during a chilling process, he said.
The men were decontaminated on site in the Ronler Acres area of the campus. Soon afterward they started to experience symptoms and fire crews were called in.
Two of the men who had ingested the chemicals were taken by ambulance to Providence St. Vincent Hospital, and the third was taken to Tuality Hospital. All three men were expected to be released Saturday evening.

A LARGE blaze at a chemical factory in eastern Thailand killed 12 people, injured more than 100 and spewed toxic smoke into the air, the health ministry said today.


Hundreds of residents had to be evacuated after the fire, which was caused by an explosion at the factory in Rayong province, sent a plume of black acrid smoke into the sky yesterday.

Firefighters quelled the blaze but health officials continued to monitor air quality amid concerns poisonous fumes may still seep into the air.

A health ministry statement said 12 people had died in the explosion and ensuing fire while 129 were injured, mainly suffering burns.

The majority of the victims are believed to be factory workers.

"Doctors said 12 were killed in yesterday's explosion but we can only confirm 10 so far," Map Ta Phut police Lieutenant Colonel Charoen Vititkornkul said.

"Police forensic teams are searching for clues to what happened and we are also looking for any more bodies," he said, adding police were ready to evacuate more local residents if necessary.

LOS ANGELES - A worker for an independent construction firm suffered minor burns today after he broke a one-inch gas line and ignited leaking gas outside the track stadium at USC, according to fire department and gas company spokesmen.
The broken gas line at 3470 S. McClintock Ave., near Loker Stadium and Cromwell Field, was reported just before 8 a.m., fire department spokesman Erik Scott said.
"The department dispatched 27 firefighters and a Hazmat team to the site of the break," Scott said. "We also notified Southern California Gas, which sent repair crews to the scene."
Firefighters flooded the break area with water to keep the location cooled down until the gas company could shut off the leaking gas, Scott said.
"One adult male, a construction worker who reportedly broke the line, was treated at the scene for minor burns but was not transported to a hospital," Scott said. "We completed our work at left the scene around 10:30 a.m."

CARLISLE, Pa. (AP) — A ferocious fire has gutted an industrial building and damaged several others in central Pennsylvania.

The three-alarm blaze started about 10 p.m. Wednesday at the former Lear Corp. building in Carlisle, Cumberland County.

More than 100 firefighters from several counties were called in to help. A series of booms were heard throughout the night. It's believed propane tanks stored inside the buildings exploded.

Some residents in the area were evacuated. Several homes sustained minor damage.

The complex has had a variety of owners in recent years. Carlisle Events, owners of the local fairgrounds, bought the property in 2010 and planned to redevelop it.

No one was hurt. Investigators are trying to determine a cause but the fire was so severe they may never be able to determine what sparked it.

WATERBURY, Conn. (WTNH) -- State environmental investigators are investigating a factory fire that burned for days in Waterbury.

The former Nova Print & Dye factory went up in flames last month. It burned for days inside the 86,000 square foot building.

The owners had abandoned the building and left the city with a $2 million tax lien , so the city is stuck footing the bill.

Officials say there could have been any number of toxic chemicals inside the factory when it caught fire. State environmental experts are now investigating.

Federal officials were on the scene Thursday to help get rid of the rubble and hopefully redevelop the property.

Firefighters say the fire, which took hours to control, is suspicious .

Folks who live in the area said the burned out factory is dangerous.

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.

A chemical spill early Wednesday morning at a Bay City plant was contained several hours later.

At 6:05 a.m., plant workers reported a butanol leak at the butanol unit at the Oxea Plant near Bay City. Butanol is a solvent used in everyday products, such as paints and coatings.

No one was injured and everyone on site was accounted for, according to a company news release.

The leak was confined to the butanol area.

The area was closely monitored by the company's emergency response team and there was no off-site impact, according to the release. The incident was under investigation and all work has been resumed at the plant.

The initial call to the Mineola Fire Department began at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Saturday with a request to assist ETMC EMS on Farm-to-Market 1799 in Wood County. It was reported that the incident involved a man being exposed to a toxic substance. The toxic substance was reported to emergency service personnel as Temik, which MFD Public Information Officer Steve Finley said is reported by some resources as one of the most toxic poisons that may have ever been produced.
At approximately 7:30 p.m., the Quitman Fire Department was called to respond to ETMC Quitman to assist with the clean up efforts inside the emergency room after the patient was treated there.
After Quitman Fire Department assessed the situation they requested the assistance of the Mineola, Hainesville and Longview Fire Departments. The Longview Fire Department was specially requested for their Haz-Mat team and expertise in these operations.
Through a combined effort, the emergency responders determined that the threat of potential contamination to the emergency personnel who treated the exposed patient warranted immediate action. Additionally, the evaluation of the incident necessitated the temporary closure of the ETMC Quitman emergency room.

A fire at the Arizona Chemical plant in Springfield Tuesday was quickly put out.

But there are still questions over how the fire started.

Around one o’clock, emergency workers responded to a fire originally reported at Rock-Tenn paper mill. The location was quickly changed to Arizona Chemical.

Firefighters from Springfield and Panama City quickly jumped into action to put out to blaze.

Both units, along with Arizona Chemical’s in-house fire and rescue team, had the fire under control within twenty minutes.

While the location and source of the fire are known, the cause is not.

"We're going to do a root cause find out what the problem is and make sure that this doesn't happen again to the best of our ability. But the good thing is no injuries, no incidences, no destruction, and everyone is safe." said DeVaughn Stephens of Arizona Chemical.

At the time of the fire, there was supposedly a lot of tall-oil in the pond, which is quite flammable.

ROANOKE, Va. --
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality says a small chemical spill at the Celanese plant in Giles County doesn't appear to be a threat to the New River.

The nonhazardous spill occurred on Thursday night.

DEQ has not received any reports that the material leaked into the nearby New River and no damage to wildlife has been observed.

Linda Beheler, a Dallas-based spokeswoman for Celanese, said Friday that fewer than 5 gallons of fire suppression foam leaked into the plant's rainwater drainage system during a routine safety test.

The foam is considered nonhazardous.

She says the company's internal hazardous

Chandigarh, April 30: At least four workers were killed and 12 others received burn injuries Monday after a chemical factory caught fire in Punjab's industrial town of Lalru, 30 km from here, police said.

The fire started following a blast in a reactor of the factory, a police officer said.

According to police, four bodies have been recovered so far from the factory.

At least 12 workers, who had received burn injuries, were rushed to nearby hospitals. The seriously injured ones were referred to the Government Medical College and Hospital in Chandigarh's Sector 32, the officer added.

Fire tenders arrived from the industrial town of Derabassi and other places, but it took some time to control the fire, police said.

Quick action by firefighters and efficient response by local utilities likely prevented a more serious outcome during an incident Friday morning at Johns Manville in Richmond.

Richmond Fire Department Chief Mike Crawley said a fire was caused when an elbow joint on a hopper came loose, spilling molten glass inside the facility at 814 Richmond Ave.

Crawley said the temperature of the glass can reach in excess of 2,100 degrees, and RFD Battalion Chief Bob O'Neil said Friday afternoon that there were several tense moments Friday morning as the glass spread throughout the building and threatened to destroy the structure.

"You can't walk into the building now it is so hot," O'Neil said just before 5 p.m. Friday.

"At one time, I thought we were going to lose the building. We had two ladder crews putting cold water on the molten glass and we had more lines running into the building to cool the glass, but the smoke was getting worse and I was worried we were going to lose it."

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.

ORTSMOUTH — An employee of the Redhook Brewery was fatally wounded Tuesday when a pressurized beer keg exploded at the company's facility in Portsmouth.

The man was rushed to Portsmouth Regional Hospital by ambulance after he was struck in the head and chest by pieces of the keg, according to Assistant Portsmouth Fire Chief Steve Achilles.

Redhook employees found the worker unresponsive in the loading dock area at approximately 7:06 a.m., a short time after the explosion.

Achilles said the worker, who is believed to be in his 20s or early 30s, had been filling kegs with air as part of a cleaning process that removes residual beer from the kegs. He said firefighters responded within three minutes after receiving a 911 call from the employees.

GLENROCK, Wyo. (AP) More than 60 residents have evacuated their homes after a natural gas leak at an oil well being drilled into the Niobrara (NYE'-oh-BRER'-uh) formation in Wyoming.

Natural gas has been spewing into the air from the oil well since Tuesday. Witnesses told television station KCWY-TV that the roar of escaping gas could be heard six miles away.

The town of Douglas is not threatened, since it is about 10 miles northeast. Well operator Chesapeake Energy says air samples are normal but the company asked about 80 residents who live within 2.5 miles to voluntarily evacuate.

Chesapeake officials say they are working with contractors to bring the well under control.

A stubborn Monday-morning industrial fire involving magnesium shavings forced nearby businesses in the 2400 block of Southeast 10th Avenue to evacuate as a precaution, Portland Fire & Rescue reported.  

Firefighters arrived at Oregon Engraving & Rubber Plates, 2415 S.E. 10th Avenue, and attacked with dry chemical and CO2 extinguishers.  

The fire was tough to extinguish because it involved magnesium shavings and plates, firefighters said.  A Hazardous Materials Response Team was called to the scene. Smoke from the shavings could cause problems if inhaled, firefighters said. Neighboring businesses were evacuated, and pedestrians on the street were told to move.

YAMAGUCHI (Jiji-Daily Yomiuri)--One male employee died and 11 were injured at a chemical plant in an explosion in Waki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in the hours just before dawn on Sunday.

The blast occurred at about 2:15 a.m. in one of the plants at Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.'s Iwakuni-Otake factory, causing a fire. According to the prefectural government and other sources, the explosion affected about 410 households in Waki and Iwakuni, both in the prefecture, as well as neighboring Otake, Hiroshima Prefecture, breaking residents' windows. Police reported nine residents were injured.

Shota Sunakawa, 22, a plant employee, died in the explosion, according to Iwakuni Police Station. No noxious gas is believed to have been produced despite the fire that broke out, police said. The Yamaguchi prefectural police are questioning plant officials on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death.

According to the company, two employees near the explosion site were seriously injured and five others were harmed. Four employees of another company sustained minor injuries.

Plant manager Shigeru Hara said the accident occurred at a plant manufacturing resorcin, a material for making an adhesive agent commonly used in tire production. According to Hara, after a facility responsible for supplying steam to the factory unexpectedly stopped, operations at about 70 percent of its plants were suddenly halted.

CINCINNATI - Officials are investigating what led to an ammonia leak at the Madisonville Coca-Cola plant late Sunday night.

Hazardous material teams, rescue units and Cincinnati fire crews rushed to the Coca-Cola plant, 5100 Duck Creek Road, around 11:55 p.m. after employees reported an ammonia leak. Employees evacuated the building following the leak.

NORTHVALE – Authorities on Saturday found no leaks or spills from multiple drums at a Livingston Street industrial building that’s been the site of a cleanup of toxic chemicals buried there a generation ago.

Police and firefighters responded to the TECT/Danzig property at 254 Livingston St. at about 10:45 a.m. on a call that doors had been left open in the building, said Northvale Fire Chief Ed Rejmaniak.

When firefighters checked the building, they discovered 55-gallon drums inside and contacted the hazardous-materials teams from Bergen County and New Milford as a precaution because they didn’t know the contents of the drums, he said. The teams found no leaks, Rejmaniak said.

“They were worried about the safety of our residents,” Northvale Mayor Paul Bazela said of the firefighters. “They took every precaution.”

OSAKA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- One people was killed and 11 others were injured when an explosion rocked a chemical plant in Yamaguchi Prefecture in southwestern Japan early Sunday, local press reported.

The explosion occurred at around 2:00 a.m. local time at a plant belonging to leading Japanese company Mitsui Chemicals , killing a 22-year-old worker and injuring 11 other workers at the site.

Glasses of windows of some 100 houses near the plant were broken due to the explosion, the report said, adding that firefighters are still trying to extinguish the fire caused by the blast

QUEENSBURY, N.Y. -- Roads in Queensbury are back open after a natural gas leak Thursday afternoon. It started near one of the area's largest manufacturing plants.

About a half mile of Bay Road was closed for a little bit, but is now reopened.

Around noon, the Queensbury Central Fire Department responded to a leaking tank on an abandoned Bay Road property that sits next to CR Bard's medical device manufacturing plant.

The fire chief says the leak was caused by someone who didn't realize the tank was full and cut into it while trying to salvage scrap metal.

Because the break was in a line and not the valve, crews were unable to stop the leak.

While there were no forced evacuations, CR Bard, which employs a few hundred people and uses numerous chemicals, stopped production for the day.

It is unclear how much gas was in the tank.

NEWPORT — A blockish two-story brick building next to a row of homes along West 12th Street does little to call attention to itself. Nearly all of the windows are covered with plywood, painted gray to match the brick.

A sign is tacked above a boarded-up doorway: L&H Tool & Die Co.

In 1910, however, it was the Newport Foundry Co., historical fire insurance maps show. From at least 1949 to 1954, industry directories show the site was home to Certified Metals Manufacturing Co., which made babbitt (or bearings) and solder, mixed metals that often contained lead.

Soil tests in nearby residential yards showed lead levels that could be hazardous to children, with some reading over six times the action level for residential areas.

Buffalo, N.Y. (WKBW) - It was an explosion that could be heard for miles. An empty tank was being repaired at the DuPont facility in November of 2010 when it blew up, killing Rich Folaron, 57, of South Whales.
Now, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board has answers as to why this tragedy happened.
"The accident occurred while a contract worker was welding a tank that unknown to him contained flammable gas," Chemical Safety Board Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso said.
The explosion occurred because there was a hole in the pipes leading from one tank to another. CSB explained how this happened in a computerized video they prepared. WKBW did not use some of the video because of its graphic nature.
"A whole around the agitators shaft was a path for ignition. Sparks could have fallen into the tank even as flammable gas drifted toward the sparks," explains the CSB video.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Three people have been sent to a hospital for treatment and other employees were evacuated because of a carbon monoxide leak at a Fayetteville plant.

Fire Department Battalion Chief Mauro Campos says three people were transported from Elkhart Products Corp. Tuesday morning, and a fourth person was treated at the scene. They complained of disorientation and nausea.

Campos says all four people, whose names weren't released, are expected to make a full recovery.

He says one person complained Monday night about symptoms consistent with carbon monoxide poisoning, and more people had similar complaints on Tuesday. Officials evacuated employees from around the area of the leak, but work continued in other parts of the plant.

The demolition of the former Canterbury Brewery had to be suspended on Wednesday after a small chemical fire.
The fire was caused by chemicals being taken from the site mixing with nitrous oxide in the bottom of the tank being used to transport the waste.
Workers at the site were evacuated while the fire was brought under control.

AMARILLO, TEXAS -- A massive fire at a warehouse in East Amarillo caused smoke to dominate the Amarillo skyline Tuesday evening.

The blaze is now under control, according to fire officials. Fortunately no injuries were reported.

At least two explosions were reported.

The location is near the area of 30th and Pierce, just off Interstate 27 where the railroad tracks run next to Llano Cemetery. The building that is engulfed is Courtesy Sign Company.

Traffic in the immediate area was stopped by officials and a house near the building was evacuated as a precaution.

The Amarillo Office of Emergency Management requested that citizens avoid the area because it is a biohazard and they believe some type of chemical was in the building. The fire burned extremely hot and quick, fire officials said.

DETROIT -- The potential shortage of a key component used to make fuel lines and brake lines could force automakers in the U.S. and around the world to close car and truck plants as they run short of parts.

Auto industry executives have scheduled an unprecedented meeting on Tuesday in suburban Detroit to talk about the problem. Officials from as many as 10 automakers and dozens of parts supply companies are set to attend.

A March 31 explosion at Evonik Industries in western Germany killed two workers and damaged a factory that makes CDT. That chemical is a key component in a nylon resin called PA12, which is used to make a specialized plastic. The plastic is used in auto fuel lines and brake lines. It is also a component in solar cells, pipelines, sporting goods and household items.

Any auto plant closures that might result from the shortage would come at a crucial time for the industry. U.S. sales are the highest they have been in recent years as the industry recovers from the recession. March was the best month for the industry in nearly five years.

Automakers aren't pushing the panic button yet, but they are concerned.

An explosion and subsequent fire that lasted 16 hours has killed two workers at an Evonik Industries chemical plant in Marl, Germany. The cause of the March 31 accident remains unknown but is under investigation by both government authorities and an Evonik contractor.
The accident occurred in the early afternoon at a plant that produces cyclododecatriene, an intermediate used to make nylon 12, flame retardants, flavors, and fragrances. One worker was killed immediately, and hours passed before his body could be recovered. A second worker, who suffered severe burns, died of his injuries two days later.
During the blaze, some unspecified amount of the carcinogen butadiene did leak, an Evonik spokeswoman says. However, she says, the chemical was consumed by fire, which accounted for the black smoke billowing from the plant site. The public was never at risk from exposure to butadiene, and no other chemical was involved in the blaze, she adds.
At C&EN’s press time, Evonik did not know the full extent of damage to the Marl plant, but it expects “substantial constraints” for the time being on its output of nylon 12, used in auto parts, photovoltaic modules, and sporting goods. The firm says the accident has not affected output of other plastics made at the site, including the engineering polymers polybutylene terephthalate and polyether ether ketone.
About 10,000 Evonik employees work at the 2.5-sq-mile Marl site, which is also home to 30 other chemical-related companies.
Accidents are infrequent in the German chemical industry. Chemical workers in Germany suffered 9.4 accidents per million hours worked in 2010, according to the German Chemical Industry Association, compared with 41.6 in construction, 9.8 in health care, and 16.5 for all industries. In the U.S., chemical workers experienced 11.0 accidents per million hours worked, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Evonik itself recorded just 1.3 accidents per million hours worked company-wide in 2010 and no deaths.

A small chemical fire April 13 forced the temporary evacuation of CK Enterprises, 1204 S.W. Jefferson St.

The Lee’s Summit Fire Department responded at 1:23 p.m. to the business, where occupants had called 911 to report a fire involving a chemical product in a warehouse.

When firefighters arrived, light smoke was visible from the back of the business and all employees had been evacuated.

Plant staff provided information on the burning product to firefighters, who went inside the building and found the smoldering remains of several buckets containing a powdered cleaning product.

The heat from the initial fire activated one fire sprinkler head over the area. The sprinkler system contained the fire to the buckets of the chemical product and some nearby boxes. Firefighters completed extinguishment of the fire and moved the debris outside of the building. Crews then shut off the sprinkler head and assisted with smoke removal while assessing for any additional hazards.

The incident was under control by 2:24 p.m., with damage contained to the buckets containing the chemcial product and to nearby equipment and boxes, which sustained minor damage.

The cause of the fire was determined to be a chemical reaction of two materials being used to develop a new cleaning product.

After completion of smoke removal and air monitoring, the business was able to be reoccupied.

MAPLETON —
A fire Friday night at a chemical manufacturer sent three firefighters to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

Timber Hollis Fire Chief Guadalupe Arteaga said firefighters were dispatched a little after 8 p.m. on reports of a medium-sized fire at Lonza Inc. Within 30 minutes, Arteaga said firefighters were able to get the fire under control with the help of fire brigade personnel from Lonza’s emergency response team.

Two firefighters from Timber Hollis and one member of Lonza’s team were transported by ambulance to a local hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

Units from the Peoria County Sheriff’s Department and Glasford Police Department were on scene to assist in the event that traffic had to be shut down on Route 24, but no hazardous materials or other airborne agents were released into the air as a result of the fire.

Sparks from a burn barrel ignited a fire at a warehouse at Graham Dairy Supply in Hempfield on Saturday morning.

Dennis Graham, who owns the company that his father started in 1941, said he was burning trash in a barrel behind his warehouse at 1581 Business Route 66 when sparks flew and caused nearby plastic containers to catch fire. Within minutes, the fire spread to the large warehouse, he said. A call was placed to emergency dispatch at about 10:30 a.m.

Fire officials at the scene said there were no reported injuries.

Black smoke billowed from the brown metal warehouse, and the smell of burning plastic filled the air as firefighters from at least nine departments doused the blaze from ladders extended above the building from nearby fire engines.

No one was in the warehouse at the time, and the fire did not spread to an adjacent office, Graham said.

He did not have an estimate of damages, but said the warehouse contained five antique tractors, plastic containers and products he sells to dairy farmers, such as cleaning supplies, iodine, wash cloths and milk filters.

Jim Barkley, who lives about a quarter mile from the supply company, said he heard two explosions and the ground shook when the fire began.

"I sat up and looked out my window and there was a big cloud of smoke," Barkley said.

Activity at the fire scene shut down a stretch of Route 66 north of Greensburg for several hours. It took firefighters more than five hours to clear the scene.

Two white inflatable medic tents were set up for firefighters to rehydrate and to allow medics to check firefighters' vital signs and later rinse any chemical residue from clothes and equipment, said Edgar Grant, manager of Penn Township Ambulance.

HOHHOT - Fire fighters on Sunday morning put out the blaze in a chemical plant in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, which has caused one dead and three others injured.
The accident happened around 5 pm Saturday at Inner Mongolia 3F Fluorochemical Co Ltd. in the city of Fengzhen. A huge amount of flammable gas has been leaked after the chemical plant caught fire and exploded.
Some tanks containing VDF gas, a flammable and narcotic gas, on the ground floor of the plant's high-rise workshop caught fire. Fire fighters rescued three injured workers trapped in the flames, and evacuated other workers out of the building.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - ConocoPhillips said Friday it put out a small fire on a sulfur unit at its 120,200-barrel-per-day refinery in Rodeo, California.

The fire started at about 4.00 a.m. EDT and was extinguished within a few minutes, company spokesman Rich Johnson said. There were no injuries.

"Refinery operations are otherwise routine at this time," he added.

The Contra Costa Hazardous Materials Programs, which was monitoring the incident, said no chemicals were detected off site.

FAIRFIELD -- A chlorine-based chemical was released from a Commerce Drive metal-processing business Thursday morning, triggering a hazmat response by emergency services, forcing the building to be evacuated and shutting down several nearby roads.

There were a few tense moments immediately after fumes were first reported to be wafting from the building at 10:35 a.m. at 515 Commerce Drive. Anticipating the fumes could be toxic, fire officials took precautions and ordered people out of the area.

But less than an hour later, Deputy Fire Chief Art Reid said the fumes from processing the chemical, gallium trichloride, were not considered toxic because of the small amounts released.

The incident took place at 5NPlus, a custom manufacturer of metals previously known as Metalspecialties, at 515 Commerce Drive.

"There was an over-pressurization of this chemical, and when this situation occurs it releases the excess into the atmosphere. It is an intentional process and last done last year," Reid said. "They are working at this time to cut it off and hope to have that done within an hour."

Roger Ngassan, general manager at 5NPlus, said as soon as the alarm sounded, employees left the building, as called for in the company's safety plan. It worked, he said, "perfectly."

HUDSON, NC (WBTV) - At least person was injured in a furniture finishing plant explosion Thursday afternoon.

The incident was reported just before 3 p.m. at the RPM Chemical Coatings plant on U.S. 321 in Hudson, according to emergency officials.
...
Hudson Fire Chief Tommy Courtner said the fire happened at 2:29 p.m. and firefighters had it under control in about 30 minutes.

The fire started when a worker was mixing chemicals in the paint and coating tank when there was a flash.

All 250 people working in the plant were evacuated as a precaution, Courtner said.

Hazmat crews responded to reports of possible hazardous materials at a building in Carlsbad Wednesday afternoon.

According to Carlsbad Fire, they received a call around 3:10 p.m. about a possible combination of dangerous chemicals at a building on 3305 Tyler St. The building once housed K & K Laboratories, a vitamin factory that closed down about two years ago, according to authorities.

Carlsbad Fire said a cleaning company had been cleaning out old products in the building when an unknown solid and liquid accidentally combined, causing a violent reaction that sparked heat.

Police said there were around 10 people in the building at the time of the incident. The people inside evacuated the building and called 9-1-1.

No injuries have been reported, but it is still unclear if someone physically came into contact with the potentially harmful chemicals that combined.

Fire broke out at a chemical factory and its storage godown in Kathwada GIDC near Odhav on Wednesday. The fire caused widespread damage in the factory as sudden blasts in barrels filled with solvent and other chemicals took place. The solvents are used as raw material to make varnish.

The chemical factory, in Annapurna Estate, Kathwada GIDC, that caught fire was owned by Vinay Goswami. The cause of the fire is unknown as it broke out at 2pm, and in minutes spread to the other parts of the factory. The fire officials, after being informed about the incident, reached the spot with 11 fire fighting vehicles, only to learn that 20 more fire fighting vehicles were required to douse the fire.

As the fire officials started to douse the fire with water and chemical foam, blasts in a few barrels containing chemicals took place. This caused injury to two volunteers including Firoz Shaikh and Ashish Mishra. Both were sent to Shardaben Hospital for treatment.