ABILENE, Texas -- The Abilene Fire Department hazardous materials team responded to a chemical spill at Hendrick Medical Center just after noon Friday.
There was no report of injuries, and only a portion of the hospital basement was evacuated.
Although fumes from the chemical spill circulated through several floors of the hospital, there was no evacuation ordered.
The hazmat team determined there was no threat to staff or residents in the hospital.
AFD hazmat personnel checked air quality throughout all wings and floors of the hospital before the incident was resolved by 1:45 p.m.
The incident began when a maintenance team in the basement of the hospital was preparing to change out a pipe. The crew was using the chemical Xylene to clean the pipe, when about 1 gallon was spilled.
The spilled liquid sent an odor into the hospital ventilation system.

The building was evacuated when the Clayton hazardous materials response team arrived at 8:44 p.m. The team, consisting of seven fire trucks and an ambulance, left the scene at 10:37 p.m. Meanwhile, police officers rerouted all traffic around the building.

The incident occurred after a graduate student mixed 30mL of lithium, dibromo-o-xylene and tetrahydrofuran in a 50mL flask on a bench top instead of under a fume hood. The top came off the flask and vapor came out, irritating the student’s eyes, Backus said. According to Backus, other people nearby pulled the fire alarm and recommended the building be evacuated and ventilation systems turned off.

“My staffer there went in and the only concern we had after vapors had been dissipated was the trace amount of lithium might be present, since that’s a reactive metal,” Backus said. “We just covered areas of the flask with oil, which smothered it, sealed up lab, [and] cleaned up [the] next day.”

Southbound I-65 has now reopened, after temporarily closing following a semi fire.  

At approximately 7:50 this morning a semi tractor pulling a box trailer was northbound on I-65 near the 47 mile marker (south of U.S. 50-Seymour) caught fire due to overheated trailer brakes.

The trailer was hauling 75 barrels of Xylene, which is a highly flammable and toxic liquid.   Due to the fire and heavy smoke, both north and southbound I-65 lanes were shut down.  Less than 30 minutes later, the southbound lanes were reopened as the fire was extinguished.  

Tuesday's explosion in New Iberia is raising concerns from doctors and chemists. Some of those chemicals involved in the explosion could cause side effects for people nearby. A few of the chemicals used at the plant include xylene, toluene and methanol. All, highly explosive chemicals. Now, residents are voicing some health complaints in the aftermath.

"It's unusual," one resident said. "I wasn't feeling the same after I left."

He complained of being light-headed and experienced some headaches. It's statements like that are common in New Iberia now, after a chemical explosion rocked some nearby homes.
Louisiana's Department of Environmental Quality says air measurements in the area are at safe levels but experts say there are some risks.

"If you around this fire and breathed in some of the smoke and fumes, you'll probably have some symptoms," Dr. Gary Guidry said.

Dr. Guidry is a pulmonologist at Lafayette General. In short, he studies lungs.
Guidry says if chemicals like xylene and methanol are airborne, it won't take much to start seeing side effects.

"Headache, nausea, vomiting, CNS (central nervous system) depression," he listed. "For toluene, they can go into pulmonary edema which is fluid building up in the lungs."

The list of possible problems doesn't just stop with people. Chemist Wilma Subra says the affected area also includes local farms and food supplies.

NEW IBERIA, La. (AP) — A fire at a southern Louisiana plant where chemicals are blended and stored for oilfield operations was being allowed to burn itself out Wednesday before investigators enter the facility to search for a cause.
Tuesday afternoon's explosion and fire at the Multi-Chem Corp. plant in New Iberia forced residents within a 1-mile radius of the area to evacuate. There were no injuries.
The evacuation remained in effect Wednesday morning. Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality staffers at the scene have identified xylene, toluene and methanol among chemicals at the site, department spokeswoman Jean Kelly said. All three can pose health risks.
However, the corporation and the DEQ said air quality measurements in the evacuation area were at safe levels as of Wednesday morning and that air monitoring was continuing.

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii — A Big Island emergency room was evacuated and closed for several hours after an apparent leak of a chemical used in the hospital's morgue and laboratory.

Kona Community Hospital employees reported smelling a strong odor in the emergency room Thursday morning, prompting an evacuation of about 35 people.

West Hawaii Today reported Friday six patients and seven staff members overcome by fumes were treated in other areas of the hospital. There were no serious injuries.

A fire department hazardous materials team deemed the area safe after checking air and flammability levels.

Capt. Kaipo Parish told the newspaper the exposure occurred when the chemical called xylene was being transferred between containers.

TEMPLE (March 15, 2011)—A chemical spill Tuesday morning at Akzomobile on the north side of Temple forced evacuation of employees from the plant, but authorities report no one was injured.

Temple Fire and Rescue officials reported at about 10:30 a.m., 50 gallons of xylene spilled from a 700-gallon tank.

The spill was contained in a spill room which is specifically designed for that purpose.

Xylene, a substance similar to gasoline, is used in making adhesives.

The workers were evacuated by company officials because that is procedure in such incidents, firefighters said.

Temple firefighters and HazMat crews were on hand at noon doing atmospheric tests to determine the there was danger of explosion or fire.

An estimated 200 to 250 gallons of the chemical xylene spilled Tuesday evening at a manufacturing facility on Mercedes Drive in Riverside.

A call came in to the Harford County 911 Center shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday that the cleaning agent spilled at Citrus & Allied Corp. as a shipping container of it was being moved around the plant, according to Dave Williams, spokesman for Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association.

Xylene is a solvent used to thin synthetic enamel, anti-rust coatings, rubber cement and mastics, according to a product description.

The 12 to 15 employees in the plant at the time of the spill were moved to a safe location.

A sewer in Manchester city centre has been contaminated by a dangerous chemical.

Xylene, which is highly flammable and toxic if it goes above a certain temperature, leaked into the sewer in the Strangeways area when thieves tried to steal the cab of a tanker.

The gang opened a valve on the tanker and thousands of gallons of the chemical poured into the sewage system. The chemical has now solidified into a jelly-like substance which is clogging up the sewer.

Now United Utilities, the Environment Agency, the fire service, and Manchester council are working together to deal with the pollution.

They insist that there is no risk to public safety at the moment.

The chemical – a clear liquid – is refined from crude oil. It is used as a solvent in printing, rubber, and leather industries.

Nearly 300 gallons of the toxic liquid xylene spilled out of a holding tank in a light industrial park near 101 South Mckemy Avenue in Chandler on Tuesday, according to the Chandler Fire Department.

Authorities believe the level monitoring system in a 3,000 gallon holding tank malfunctioned, allowing the flammable liquid to overflow, according to Battalion Chief Paul Nies of the Chandler Fire Department. Firefighters were able to contain the highly flammable liquid and prevent any additional overflow.

The xylene that flowed out of the tank collected in a containment pit. Xylene is a clear, colorless liquid that has a characteristically sweet smell.

It is commonly used as a solvent in the printing and rubber industries and as a cleaning agent.

Contractors hired by the owner of the tank are expected to clean up the spill with fire crews providing protection.

POLAND — Firefighters responded to a small chemical spill at Poland Seminary High School on Dobbins Road this morning.

Around 8:30 a.m., someone was cleaning and knocked over a bottle of Xylene, a clear, colorless liquid that can be very flammable. Students were asked to leave the classroom where the spill was contained, but the building was not evacuated, said township Police Chief Brian Goodin.

“It had an odor to it, and as a precaution, they called the fire department,” he said. “It was determined that it was nothing of any major issue. They used big fans to blow the area out, and fortunately it was by one of the main doors.”

ODESSA - Portions of Highway 80 in Odessa have been reopened after a HAZMAT spill.

Odessa Police and Odessa Fire crews blocked off Highway 80 from Reed Road to Loop 338 after a Union Pacific railroad tank car started leaking a chemical called Xylene at the train depot on Friday afternoon.

Union Pacific officials are waiting to offload the chemical to another tanker car.

Patients were among 80 people evacuated from the Gold Coast Hospital after a chemical gas leak on Friday.

Firefighters were called to the hospital in Southport at about 9.45am (AEST) after staff complained of fumes coming from a fire-proof cabinet.

The chemical vapour is thought to have been xylene, a solvent used in the printing, rubber, and leather industries, a spokeswoman for the Department of Community Safety said.

Level two of the hospital was evacuated of 80 people, including patients.

Firefighters in splashsuits isolated the spill and contained it.

Crews monitored air quality before declaring the scene safe just after noon.

Crews worked Thursday to finish cleaning a spill of the industrial solvent xylene, a day after the chemical seeped out of a truck in northern Richardson.
City officials believe that Thursday's rain diluted the chemical and that it posed no threat to residents.
The chemical began seeping after a container fell over inside a truck Wednesday in the 2500 block of Custer Parkway, near Lookout Drive. It dripped for about a mile to a parking lot at the southeast corner of Custer and Renner Road. The driver notified his trucking company, and a cleanup company was called.
But on Thursday, city officials said the job was incomplete. City spokesman Greg Sowell said the cleanup company would be cited.