Charlottesville Fire and Hazmat crews responded to the Chemistry Building at the University of Virginia early Sunday evening to investigate Nitrogen tanks.

Fire officials say the Nitrogen tanks started to vent, which caused the valves to freeze. But they say there was never a leak and the tanks were just releasing air as they normally do.

U.Va police evacuated the build as a precaution. Students were allowed back in the building after the all-clear was given shortly after 6pm. There were no reported injuries.

FRANKLIN, Ohio -- Cincinnati hazmat crews have been called to a business in Franklin after an apparent chemical gas leak.
Crews were called to Nation Coating Systems at 501 Shotwell Drive on reports of a leaking tank, according to police dispatchers.
Officials said nitrogen from leaking from a tank at the facility. The company is "a supplier of thermal spray coaling for industrial applications," according to the company's website.

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.

MENLO PARK -- A scientist was killed and another employee was injured Friday when a methane canister exploded at a Menlo Park research and development company that produces systems for the gas and petrochemical industry, authorities said.

The male scientist, whose name was not immediately released, was transferring separate canisters of methane, helium and nitrogen into one container when the explosion occurred during a laboratory experiment, said Menlo Park Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman.

The victim died at the scene.

A female co-worker sustained injuries to her eardrum. She was taken to Stanford Hospital.

The explosion at Membrane Technology & Research Inc. at 1360 Willow Road was reported at 4:07 p.m. Firefighters evacuated 23 other employees from the company's building. No other businesses or residences in the area were evacuated.

Company workers were able to shut off the canisters containing helium and nitrogen. The methane, however, continued to leak, and fire crews stayed into the night venting the building with portable fans, the chief said.

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 49-year-old man has been found dead in his flat following a suspected chemical incident.

Residents of Valiant House, in Vicarage Crescent, Battersea, were evacuated from their block this morning after the building's caretaker found a suicide note pinned to the front door of one of the flats.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan (Met) Police said: "There was a suggestion that Nitrogen gas had been used so it was treated as a chemical incident."

Police, the London Ambulance Service and the London Fire Brigade all sent specialist teams to the area after the caretaker raised the alarm at 8.05am.

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) – Drivers are now permitted to use Spencer Street in Myrtle Beach near the former Freestyle Music Park after a hazmat situation was cleared at Coastal Paper Monday morning.

Commuters were being diverted away from Spencer Street by Horry County Fire and Rescue to George Bishop Parkway at the Spencer St intersection as emergency responders worked to contain a nitrogen gas cloud.

HCFR Public Information Officer Leslie Yancey says emergency tones went sent out at approximately 7:20 a.m. and people in the area were immediately evacuated. Residents and employees were allowed to return to the area just after 9:30 a.m. Monday.

HCFR, Horry County Police Department, South Carolina State Troopers, and a hazmat crew tended to the scene. Yancey says crews checked nitrogen levels in the area before allowing evacuees to return.