Latest Chemicals Headlines

All the headlines from our Chemicals Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Three Workers Sickened by Cleaning Chemical at New Hampshire Amazon Warehouse

Jan 10 2020 // Three employees were sickened by a cleaning chemical at an Amazon warehouse in New Hampshire, fire officials said Thursday.Firefighters in Nashua responded at about 4 a.m. for a report of a chemical reaction that happened...

Steelworkers Union Sues to Reverse EPA Weakening of Chemical Plant Rules

Jan 10 2020 // The United Steelworkers sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in federal court on Thursday in a bid to reverse its gutting of a safety rule at chemical plants, the union said.The largest U.S. industrial...

Some Fire Agencies in Wisconsin Ditching Hazardous Firefighting Foam

Jan 3 2020 // Some Wisconsin fire departments have stopped using firefighting foam that contains a group of man-made chemicals that have been linked to increased cholesterol and cancer risk, among other health hazards.The Per- and...

Insurance Journal’s Top 10 South Central Region Stories of 2019

Jan 2 2020 // It almost seemed like there was a major fire or explosion per month at one petrochemical facility or another in the South Central region last year. That’s not really the case, but there were a number of high-profile...

Alabama School System to Sue 3M Over Contamination

Jan 2 2020 // A north Alabama school system has taken the first step to sue 3M Co. over claims that chemicals are leaking from a closed landfill that is on school system property.News outlets reported that Decatur’s school system...

2 Workers Die While Cleaning Chemical Tank at Houston-Area Business

Dec 30 2019 // Two workers apparently became overcome by fumes and died while cleaning a chemical tank at a business near Houston, authorities said on Dec. 28. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in a tweet that deputies responded to...

New York Tweaks Clean Water Plan as Suppliers Call for More Time

Dec 24 2019 // New York would not issue violations against certain water suppliers who notify the public that they have too-high levels of certain industrial and synthetic chemicals under the latest plan to be proposed by state...

Texas Regulators Want Stiffer Penalty for Owner of Port Neches Plant That Exploded

Dec 20 2019 // Environmental and watchdog groups have long criticized the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for taking it too easy on polluters — and the TCEQ has often countered that its job is to coax industrial facilities...

Steel Mill Sued over Chemical Spill in Indiana Lake

Dec 17 2019 // Two environmental groups are suing a steelmaker for allegedly violating the Clean Water Act at its northwestern Indiana facility more than 100 times in the past five years, including an August spill that killed more than...

11 People Treated for Injuries from Chemical Reaction at Alabama Plastic Plant

Dec 11 2019 // Medical workers treated nearly a dozen people and firefighters evacuated a building Monday after a chemical reaction caused injuries inside a manufacturing plant.The Montgomery Fire Department said the incident happened...

Texas City Again Issues Voluntary Evacuation Order over Chemical Plant Blast

Dec 6 2019 // Concerns over air quality have prompted a voluntary evacuation order that was in effect on Dec. 5 for a Texas Gulf Coast city where a pair of chemical plant explosions occurred last week.Port Neches issued the voluntary...

Texas Chemical Plant Shut by Explosions, Fire to Be Rebuilt, Company Says

Dec 5 2019 // Petrochemical maker TPC Group Inc will rebuild the Texas plant shut last week by devastating explosions that ignited fires that burned for six days, a spokeswoman said on Dec. 4.The last fire at the Port Neches plant was...

County Official: No Plans to Sue over Texas Chemical Plant Fire

Dec 4 2019 // The top official of an east Texas county that evacuated 60,000 residents last week after a petrochemical plant exploded and caught fire said on Dec. 3 he does not plan to sue the company, and will leave potential...

Texas Plant Rocked by Explosions Was Declared High Priority Violator by EPA

Dec 3 2019 // The Port Neches, Texas, chemical plant where two explosions and a fire prompted widespread mandatory evacuations on Nov. 27 has a years-long history of state and federal environmental violations.The facility owned by...

3 Hurt At Texas Chemical Plant Hit By Two Massive Explosions

Dec 2 2019 // Two massive explosions 13 hours apart tore through a Texas chemical plant last week, and one left three workers injured.The blasts blew out windows and doors of nearby homes and prompted a mandatory evacuation of a 4-mile...

Texas Chemical Plant Fire Brought Under Control

Nov 29 2019 // AUSTIN, Texas , NOV. 29 —Officials lifted evacuation orders Friday for around 50,000 people on the Texas Gulf Coast, determining a massive fire was finally under control at a chemical plant rocked by two major explosions...

Massachusetts Attorney General Issues Asbestos Safety, Enforcement Report

Nov 26 2019 // Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has released a report highlighting her office’s ongoing efforts to protect children, families and workers from the health risks posed by exposure to asbestos.The report...

EPA Eases Safety Requirements Enacted after Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion

Nov 22 2019 // Days before President Barack Obama left office in 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule aimed at preventing tragedies like the 2013 explosion and fire in the tiny Central Texas town of West that...

13 Workers from a New Hampshire Company Treated at Hospital After Chemical Incident

Nov 22 2019 // Authorities say 13 people from a New Hampshire company were taken to hospitals and more than 50 others were evacuated after being exposed to a chemical. The incident at Fluid Air, a subsidiary of Spraying Systems Co., in...

Ex-DuPont CEO Backtracks, Says Chemours Liabilities ‘Uncapped’

Nov 15 2019 // DuPont de Nemours Inc.’s ex-top executive is backtracking on claims the chemical maker never intended to saddle its spinoff Chemours Co. with “unlimited exposure” for liabilities.Ellen Kullman, who...