Just a heads-up, for all of you who conduct ignitibility testing of certain wastes, or use SW-846 air sampling and stack emissions Methods 0010, 0011, 0020, 0023A, or 005 for determining ignitibility characteristics. September 8, 2020 will be a day to mark on your calendar, as the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rule will go into effect (RIN 2050-AG93). Some other potentially affected groups are as follows:
As many of us are likely aware of by now, the recent explosion in Beirut which injured thousands and killed over 135 people and counting, should act as reminder of the importance of proper storage of hazardous materials. The blast that was felt over 9KM away, was magnified by the improper storage of 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate and other “highly explosive materials which had been confiscated years earlier and stored in the warehouse near where the ammonium nitrate was left,” according to Prime Minister Hassan Diab.
For those of you who aren’t quite sure what ANPRM stands for, it represents an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. In January 2017, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), of the Department of Transportation (DOT), considered revising the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) to make transportation of unrefined petroleum-based products (and potentially all Class 3 flammable liquids) by any mode of transportation safer through vapor pressure standards.
In light of the recent pair of derailments in Saskatchewan, Transport Canada (TC) has issued a Ministerial Order (MO) to slow trains carrying more than twenty cars bearing dangerous goods (known as “key trains”) to no more than 25MPH. The Ministerial Order was placed in effect on February 6, 2020 and will stay in effect until at least March 9th, and may continue further while Transport Canada investigates the cause of recent incidents.
They say knowledge is power, and I guess the opposite can be true as well. Sadly, a 32-year-old manager at a local Buffalo Wild Wings in Massachusetts found this out in the saddest of ways. When an employee attempted to clean the kitchen with a chlorine and bleach based cleaner known as Super 8, he was unaware that an acid based cleaner, Scale Kleen, had been spilled earlier on the floor. This mixture created a “bubbling green concoction” triggering eye and respiratory irritation, causing the employee to flee the kitchen.
In response to industry petition regarding several provisions set forth in the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR), the Department of Transportation (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has proposed 19 Amendments to update, clarify, improve the safety of, or provide relief from various regulatory requirements.
