Monday, June 29, 2015

A string of churches with predominantly black congregations – from Florida to Tennessee -- has reported fires in the past week

String of Fires at 6 Predominantly Black Churches Scrutinized

ABC News
String of Fires at 6 Predominantly Black Churches Scrutinized

String of Fires at 6 Predominantly Black Churches Scrutinized (ABC News)
A string of churches with predominantly black congregations – from Florida to Tennessee -- has reported fires in the past week, officials say.

The circumstances surrounding the six fires in five states differ in each case, but their occurring in the past eight days has prompted closer scrutiny.

So far only two of the six cases are being investigated as arson, and federal authorities have not launched any official hate crime investigations.

Charleston Church Pastor Remembered After VP Biden VisitCharlotte Church Fire Was Arson, But No Hate Crimes Investigation 'At This Time,' FBI SaysArson was a notable problem for black churches in the mid-1990s and prompted then-President Bill Clinton to push for the creation of the Church Arson Prevention Act in 1996, though a related U.S. Department of Justice task force was suspended at the end of his second term.

This week's fires come amid a tense time in some Southern cities after a shooting by an alleged racist at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, left nine dead. The result has been a push for the removal of the Confederate flag from several state Capitols amid reignited debates over the region's racial history.

A senior official from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said they have special agents, certified fire investigators, looking into the different fires.

"At this time, ATF has not determined the fires are related. We are still determining origin and cause so we cannot say all are arson," the official told ABC News.

The ATF is also reportedly checking the fires against its Bomb Arson Tracking System to see whether there are any commonalities among the fires.

Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama, a hate group-monitoring organization, said only three of the six fires appear to be true cases of arson. And while those three -- in Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina -- may have been intentionally set, he said he believes it's unlikely they were done in an organized and unified fashion.
"I think it's very unlikely,in terms of a conspiracy," he told ABC News.

"It's entirely possible, perhaps even likely, that some of these churches were attacked because of all that's happened in the past three weeks," Potok said in reference to the debate over the continued use of the Confederate battle flag.

The first fire was reported at the College Hill Seventh Day Adventist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Sunday, June 21. Stacks of hay and soil were placed against the church's metal doors and set on fire, according to ABC affiliate WATE-TV.

"I see this and I think of an intention to try to destroy this entire church," Pastor Cleveland Hobdy III told WATE.

Knoxville Police Department spokesman Darrell DeBusk told WATE that it has been deemed an incident of vandalism and not a hate crime because, in most hate crime cases, the suspect leaves a message or indication of the reason behind the attack and no such mention was found in this case.

The second church was in Georgia two days later, and Macon Bibb County Fire Chief Marvin Riggins told station WMAZ that it was suspicious and is being investigated as an arson.

Fruitland Presbyterian Church in Gibson County, Tennessee, was also set on fire that same day and officials have not released any updates about the investigation, nor did they immediately return ABC News' calls. Fire Chief Bryan Cathey told ABC affiliate WBBJ-TV that there were some questions about whether it was an accidental fire because residents recalled there being several lightning strikes in the area around the time of the fire.

The fourth fire burned down a portion of the Briar Creek Road Baptist Church in east Charlotte, North Carolina, in the early morning hours of June 24, and investigators immediately classified it as arson.

"We completed our work on the scene and determined this was intentionally set," Charlotte Fire Department senior investigator David Williams told The Associated Press of the $250,000 worth of damage.

The investigations into the final two churches that reported fires Friday June 26 are still underway and their respective cause has not yet been determined. Both the state law enforcement agency and the FBI are looking into the Glover Grove Missionary Baptist Church fire in Warrenville, South Carolina, according to the AP.

Further south, the state fire agency is also looking into the blaze at Greater Miracle Temple in Tallahassee, Florida, that caused an estimated $700,000 in damage early Friday morning, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
No injuries were reported at any of the fires

SMASHING COLLISION: Sheriff's Deputy, driver seriously injured in Hwy 18 head-on crash in Oregon

JUNE28, 2015
 
 
Photo: OSP
Photo: OSP
 
Photo: OSP
Photo: OSP
 
MCMINNVILLE, OR (KPTV)


A driver slammed head-on into a Yamhill County Sheriff's Office patrol car on Highway 18, causing serious injuries to himself and a deputy, according to police.

Emergency crews responded to the highway about 7 miles west of McMinnville at 7:17 a.m. Sunday.

A 2006 Hyundai Santa Fe was heading east when it drifted off the highway and into the adjacent ditch. Investigators said the driver, Randy Manns, 46, of Depoe Bay, overcorrected and traveled across the eastbound lane and into the westbound lane.

His car collided with a westbound Yamhill County Sheriff's Office patrol car driven by 27-year-old Deputy Dave Mills of Sheridan.

Both cars were severely damaged and the Hyundai caught on fire.

Another deputy and a good Samaritan helped get Manns out of the burning car, while an OSP trooper and two passers-by used fire extinguishers to put out the fire.

Mann was flown to a Portland hospital, while Mills was taken by ambulance. Police said both suffered serious injuries.

The cause of the crash is under investigation. Police said both men were wearing seat belts.

Both directions of Highway 18 were closed for hours following the crash. The Oregon Department of Transportation reported that all lanes were open again by 1:45 p.m.

THE ULTIMATE BAD LUCK: A 27-year-old Washington man was killed when a falling tree hit his car on the Historic Columbia River Highway just east of Latourell Falls.

Deputies ID driver killed by falling tree on Columbia River Hwy

Photo: Multnomah County Sheriff's Office
 Photo: Multnomah County Sheriff's Office
 Photo: Multnomah County Sheriff's Office
 
 
JUNE 29, 2015

COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE, OR (KPTV) - 

A 27-year-old Washington man was killed when a falling tree hit his car on the Historic Columbia River Highway just east of Latourell Falls.

Emergency crews responded to the scene at 2:55 p.m. Sunday.

Investigators said a tree fell from a hill on the east side of the road. A branch of the tree hit the top of the passing eastbound car, a 2001 Saturn.

The car continued eastbound another 500 feet before running off the side of the road and coming to a stop on the embankment.

The driver, identified Monday as 27-year-old Jorge Roman of Covington, WA, was pronounced dead at the scene. Two women in the car, Rosalba Ortega, 57, and Rosa Ortega, 20, both of Vancouver, were taken to the hospital with injuries described as non-life threatening.

A 1-year-old child in a car seat in the back of the car was not hurt, according to police.

The Historic Columbia River Highway was closed between Latourell Falls and Alex Barre Road for several hours while investigators were at the scene. The Vehicular Crimes Team responded to conduct the investigation.

Park rangers removed an additional tree from the hillside prior to reopening the road.

Jury Awards $24M to Widower of Woman Killed in Florida Hotel Cabana


June 29, 2015

A South Florida jury awarded $24 million to a man whose pregnant wife was killed when a drunken driver slammed into a cabana at a Fort Lauderdale hotel.

The decision came more than three years after a car crossed a sidewalk, jumped a curb and plowed into the poolside cabana at the Riverside Hotel. Jurors assigned 15 percent liability – or $3.6 million – to the hotel.


The Sun Sentinel reports Michael DeMella was in a restroom a few feet away when his 26-year-old wife Alanna DeMella died. She was seven months pregnant. The couple had won a trip to Fort Lauderdale from their church in Woburn, Mass.

Jurors assigned 85 percent of the responsibility to 37-year-old Rosa Kim. She was sentenced in January to 15 years in prison.

Sunoco Logistics Partners, LP fined $95,000 over drilling fluid spills in Pennsylvania during the construction the Mariner East pipeline


JUNE 29, 2015

Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. has agreed to pay about $95,400 to settle a civil complaint arising from accidental drilling-fluid spills.

The spills occurred in Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland counties last year during boring operations associated with construction of the Mariner East pipeline, according to a consent decree with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

More than 1,000 gallons of fluid spilled in six separate instances, the Department said. The company also failed to implement proper erosion and sedimentation controls at certain project sites, .

Mariner East runs from Delmont, Westmoreland County, to the Marcus Hook facility near Philadelphia. Sunoco is lengthening the pipeline, from Delmont to Houston, Washington County. The pipeline carries propane and ethane east to the facility.

While issues Sunoco Logistics (NYSE: SXL) deals with the fallout connected to thee Mariner East pipeline, the Philadelphia-based owner and operator of oil terminals and pipelines recently said it is working to build a second pipeline in the second phase of its project, Mariner East II.

The company declined comment.

Bad Weather, Rugged Terrain Caused US Chopper Deadly Crash in Nepal that took the Lives of 6 Marines, 2 Nepalese Soldiers and 5 Civilians



Nepalese military service members unload supplies from a UH-1Y Huey in Charikot, Nepal on May 5. (Marine photo)
Nepalese military service members unload supplies from a UH-1Y Huey in Charikot, Nepal on May 5. (Marine photo)
 
KATHMANDU, NEPAL

The crash of a US military helicopter distributing aid to victims of an earthquake in Nepal in May was caused by bad weather and the rugged terrain of the Himalayan region, Nepal's army said.

The wreckage of the Marines UH-1Y Huey helicopter, which had gone missing on May 12, was found three days later on a steep slope near dense forest high in the mountains.

Six US Marines, two Nepalese soldiers and five civilians were killed in the crash.
"Because of the terrain and bad weather the helicopter ... collided with hard rock and crashed about 11,200 feet (3,413 meters) above the sea level in Kalinchok," Nepal's army said in a statement late on Friday, following a joint investigation with the US military into the accident.

The helicopter was part of a huge international relief and rescue operation for the victims of the earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25.

The quake and a second tremor on May 12 killed at least 8,832 people and injured more than 22,000.


© Copyright 2015 The Saudi Gazette.

T-38 Loses Canopy after Takeoff from Vance Air Force Base



T-38 Talon
Civilian crew chiefs perform their final preflight checks on a T-38 Talon prior to launch at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. The T-38 Talon Twin-Jet High-Altitude Supersonic Trainer is a vital tool used by pilots at Whiteman AFB.
BISON, Okla.

A T-38 that had just taken off from Vance Air Force Base Wednesday morning lost its front canopy about 10 miles south of the airfield.

The canopy was located at 8:45 a.m. Thursday, June 25, 2015, thanks to an Oklahoma Highway Patrol helicopter pressed into the search, said Linda Frost, public affairs chief at Vance. The four-foot long, clear Plexiglas canopy was located a half-mile north of Bison Road between Cleveland and Oakwood.

The jet was flown by two instructor pilots on an instrument flight bound for Topeka, Kan. When the aircraft lost its canopy at about 10,000 feet, the pilots declared an in-flight emergency and returned immediately to the airfield, where they landed safely, Frost said.

The crew was met by a flight surgeon, but neither pilot required any medical attention.

Vance maintenance and safety personnel searched for the canopy all day Wednesday, with no success. Late Wednesday the OHP volunteered its assistance, and the search resumed Thursday morning.

The canopy landed in an open area and caused no damage on the ground. It has been returned to Vance. The Vance Safety office will investigate the incident.

As with all aircraft operating out of Vance, this one was given a thorough preflight maintenance inspection before it took off, Frost said.

The last lost canopy from a T-38 at Vance occurred in 2010, said Frost. In 2012 a T-6 lost its canopy. Both aircraft returned safely to Vance.

The T-38 is a twin-engine, high-altitude, supersonic jet trainer. It has been service since 1959. The first T-38 arrived at Vance in April 1963.


GAO Discovers More Problems at Military Labs Beyond Anthrax Fiasco



This is Referee Module No. 2 of the Whole System Live Agent Test at Dugway Proving Ground in Dugway, Utah. (AP photo)
This is Referee Module No. 2 of the Whole System Live Agent Test at Dugway Proving Ground in Dugway, Utah. (AP photo)
 
The Defense Department failed in the oversight of its high-containment laboratories leading up to the anthrax scandal and also mismanaged the program to fix crumbling infrastructure at its vast array of facilities for chemical and biological defense, the Government Accountability Office reported.

In addition, Pentagon officials last week said that Defense Department has yet to determine how much money was spent on the botched 10-year program that shipped live anthrax samples around the nation and the world to laboratories and contractors for experimentation.

After nearly seven years of trying, DoD's Chemical Biological Defense Program (CBDP) has failed to reach its goal of identifying or correcting shortcomings at facilities in its inventory, the June 25 report by the non-partisan GAO said.

"While the CBDP Enterprise should continue to address its priorities, it remains important that it also ensures that its infrastructure is aligned to meet its mission given ever-changing threats," the GAO said in its report to Congress, the DoD and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"The CBDP Enterprise has made limited progress in achieving this infrastructure goal because CBDP Enterprise officials told GAO that they were focused on higher priorities and had no CBDP Enterprise-wide impetus to address the infrastructure recommendations," the report said.

The GAO recommended that DoD "designate an entity to lead the effort to identify required infrastructure," and also coordinate with other federal agencies "to avoid potential duplication."

In response, Assistant Defense Secretary Arthur Hopkins concurred with the GAO's recommendations and said "the Department is actively reviewing and assessing the core capabilities and infrastructure that are crucial to supporting the research, development, testing and evaluation of effective counter-measures against chemical and biological threats."

In an appendix to the report, the GAO noted that the infrastructure problems were part of a systematic failure of oversight and coordination across DoD programs and other federal agencies on chemical-biological defense and testing.

In 1999 and 2000, "we found ineffective coordination among the DoD and other federal agencies with chemical and biological programs that could result in potential gaps or overlap in research and development programs," the GAO said.

Fourteen years later, in July 2014, "we testified before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on recent incidents at government high-containment laboratories and the need for strategic planning and oversight of high-containment laboratories," the GAO said.

Transporting Live Samples by Ziploc Bags

The "recent incidents" referred to were at the Centers for Disease Control laboratories. The CDC found that its bioterrorism labs were storing anthrax in unlocked refrigerators and transporting live samples in Ziploc bags.  Pretty much this shows the training quality level of the labs' employees.

CDC officials later told a congressional panel that the lax security was "completely unacceptable" and "should never have happened."

In addition to the DoD review on the anthrax scandal, the CDC is now also conducting a separate investigation of how live anthrax samples were mistakenly shipped by DoD facilities.

In its June report, the GAO also noted a previous September 2009 report which concluded that "without an entity responsible for oversight and visibility across the high-containment laboratories and a strategy for requirements for the laboratories, there was little assurance of having facilities with the right capacity to meet the nation's needs."

The 2009 report cited DoD's Chemical and Biological Defense Program (CBDP), DoD's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Biological Warfare Program, the Department of Energy's Chemical and Biological Nonproliferation Program, and the Counterterror Technical Support Program.

All of those programs "lacked information on prioritized user needs, lacked validated chemical and biological defense equipment requirements, and lacked information on how these programs relate their research and development projects to needs," the report said.

Live Spores Sent to Five Countries

In the anthrax scandal, the DoD was about three weeks into a 30-day review ordered by Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work and led by Frank Kendall, the under secretary for acquisition, over what went wrong in the shipment of live anthrax spores by Federal Express and other commercial shippers to labs and contractors in the U.S., Japan, Canada, Australia, South Korea and Britain.

The Pentagon has stressed that there is no threat to the general public but at least 31 military and civilian personnel at facilities which received the samples were put on antibiotics as a precaution.

Last week, Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said that an unidentified lab in North Carolina was added to the list of facilities that received live anthrax samples, bringing the currently known total to 70.

The states which received live anthrax samples totaled 19: California, Utah, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Washington, Illinois, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania.

The DoD's purpose in the shipments was to encourage research on better testing methods and an improved vaccine, and also to develop a field testing device that potentially could be used by troops.

Warren said that the DoD has now tested a total of 91 lots of anthrax samples in its inventory and 11 of those have turned up positive for live spores. All of the live samples have been traced to the Army's Dugway Proving Ground in Utah as the origin, Warren said.

An appendix to the GAO report said that officials at Dugway, known as the West Desert facility, "have identified gaps in subject-matter expertise in molecular biology, virology, chemical engineering, analytical chemistry, aerosol-dissemination technology, information technology, catalysis, and automation technology."

"According to West Desert officials, government compensation restrictions will likely preclude the hiring of full-time personnel in the areas of information technology and chemical engineering," the report said.

In response to queries from Military.com, Pentagon officials last week provided an initial estimate of how much was spent on the anthrax shipments but later said the figures were inaccurate and may have applied to all programs at four facilities -- Dugway, the Edgewood Chemical and Biological Defense Center (ECBC) in Maryland, the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) in Marylan , and the United States Army Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Maryland.

At the June 4 announcement of the 30-day review, Kendall said that it will be difficult to determine how much money was spent and how much live anthrax was sent around the states and the world until the review is complete. "The numbers are in flux," he said.

WORKER INJURED BY LAWNMOWER ON GREENLEAF NEAR TONNE, ELK GROVE VILLAGE

Monday, June 29, 2015

WORKER INJURED BY LAWNMOWER ON GREENLEAF NEAR TONNE, ELK GROVE VILLAGE

MON JUN 29 2015 ~11:40 AM
ELK GROVE VILLAGE FIRE DEPARTMENT
LAWNMOWER FINGERS CUT/PERSON INJURED/EMS CALL
275 GREENLEAF AVE ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL

REPORT OF A LANDSCAPER INJURED FROM A LAWN MOWER ACCIDENT. POSSIBLE PARTIAL FINGER AMPUTATIONS.

CREW ON ARRIVAL REPORTS

UNITS ASSIGNED …

ENGINE(S): E9

EMS: A7

For the first time, OSHA cracks down on 'epidemic' of injuries among nurses

'It's time for us to start doing some enforcement to make sure fewer workers are hurt,' OSHA chief says

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on Thursday announced it will crack down on workplace hazards in hospitals and nursing homes to help address an "epidemic" of arm and back injuries among nurses and nursing assistants, Danizel Zwerdling reports for NPR's "The Two-Way."

The new initiative comes after an NPR investigative series found that many hospitals do not have equipment in place to reduce the risk of injury to nurses. 

The investigation found that nurses suffer more debilitating back injuries than any other occupation, simply by doing their job of lifting and moving patients.

"We've seen from the statistics how bad the problems are, but we haven't been to that many hospitals—and the NPR stories helped motivate us to say, 'What can we do?' says OSHA chief David Michaels. "It's time for us to start doing some enforcement to make sure fewer workers are hurt."

Details of inspections

OSHA's inspections will focus on:
  • Musculoskeletal disorders related to patient or resident handling;
  • Bloodborne pathogens;
  • Workplace violence;
  • Tuberculosis; and
  • Slips, trips, and falls.
Such hazards are not protected under formal rules, but instead likely will be cited under the OSHA Act's general duty clause.

Health care has the highest rate of workplace injuries—and regulators are cracking down. 
 
OSHA inspectors will interview managers and nursing staff and analyze internal hospital documents during their investigations. 

"We're hoping most hospitals will abate those hazards before we get there," Michaels says. "But we'll go in, we'll issue penalties, and that will tell the industry to change things." According to an OSHA official, an average penalty likely would be $7,000 per hospital, but penalties could be as high as $70,000.

Reaction

American Nurses Association (ANA) Executive Director Debbie Hatmaker says health care workplaces still need formal federal standards, but "ANA is hopeful that OSHA's enforcement memo will encourage hospitals to proactively address safe patient handling and mobility and create comprehensive programs to protect patients, nurses, and other health care workers."

 
Michael Silverstein, former head of Washington state's program for occupational safety and health, says that OSHA's action likely would lead to some improvements. However, he cautions that budget constraints, court decisions, and Congressional opposition would mean the actions likely would only amount to "baby steps" toward safer workplaces. 

According to an OSHA official, the regulator likely will only be able to investigate dozens of hospitals per year (Zwerdling, "The Two-Way," NPR, 6/24; Rubenfire, Modern Healthcare, 6/25; [subscription required]; Caspi, Healthcare Dive, 6/26; Budryk, FierceHealthcare, 6/25).

The takeaway: Federal regulators plan to increase inspections and issue penalties as they crack down on workplace hazards in hospitals and nursing homes amid an "epidemic" of injuries among nursing staff

2 workers electrocuted after front-end tractor touches 69,000 volt power line at Rightway Fasteners, a Columbus, Indiana manufacturing facility


columbus workers exectrocuted

 JUNE 29, 2015

COLUMBUS, Ind. 

Two workers at a Columbus manufacturing facility were taken to the hospital after being electrocuted when a front-end tractor loader made contact with a power line.

Emergency crews responded to Rightway Fasteners at 7945 S. International Drive around 2:06 p.m. Monday. 

Representatives from the facility told responders the two injured men, who are contractors from an outside vendor, were moving a large air handling unit through a parking lot outside the facility. 

According to initial reports, the victims were walking along the unit as it was being transported using the front-end tractor loader. As the two men, and another worker inside the tractor, maneuvered the unit, the loader hit overhead power lines, electrocuting the two men on the ground.

Officials said the operator of the tractor was uninjured and remained in the loader until power to the 69,000 volt line was de-energized. 

One of the injured men was transported to Eskenazi Health’s burn unit via Lifeline. The second man was taken to Columbus Regional Health. Their conditions are unknown at this time.
Source:http://fox59.com

CONSTRUCTION WORKER ELECTROCUTED AT MASCOUTAH, ILLINOIS WORKSITE DIES FROM HIS INJURIES




JUNE 29, 2015

MASCOUTAH, ILLINOIS

The construction worker who was electrocuted Thursday morning at a worksite in Mascoutah died early Friday, according to his employer and a relative.

Joshua T. Morgan, 35, of Troy was working with two others at an apartment complex site near Nathan Avenue and Douglas Avenue when the other workers called 911 after hearing a loud popping sound shortly before 11 a.m. Morgan was transported to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Belleville and then transferred to St. Louis University Hospital, where he later died.

Peter Foschiatti, the owner of Bunker Hill-based Foschiatti Construction, confirmed Monday that Morgan had died but declined further comment.  

 Foschiatti Construction is listed as a general contractor for single family homes.  It was established in 2010 and incorporated in Illinois. Current estimates show this company has annual revenue of $120000 and employs a staff of approximately 2.

According to Morgan’s uncle Jeff Reynolds, Morgan died at 4:59 a.m. Friday. Reynolds said first responders and doctors had to restart Morgan’s heart several times while he was in their care.

“The doctors said ‘we’re fighting a losing battle. We’re doing our best but we don’t think that’s going to be good enough,’” Reynolds said. “They gave it their best effort.”

Reynolds said there will be no funeral held for Morgan, but family and friends will gather for a memorial at 10 a.m. Sunday at Premier Martial Arts, 121 Main St. in Collinsville. 

Morgan leaves behind his wife and three daughters. A GoFundMe page for his family has raised $935.

//----------------///

Troy man shocked by power line at Mascoutah, Illinois construction site 

Construction workers believe one of their crew members received a high-voltage shock while he worked on a construction site in Mascoutah Thursday morning.

According to a statement from Mascoutah Police Chief Bruce Fleshren, none of the crew members working at the site near Nathan Avenue and Douglas Avenue witnessed the accident, but they reported hearing a popping sound at 10:49 a.m. and found Joshua T. Morgan, 35, of Troy, unconscious with a leg injury. 

Authorities believe Morgan was moving an aluminum ladder when it touched a power line.

Morgan was taken to St. Elizabeth’s hospital in Belleville and then to Saint Louis University Hospital with serious injuries. As of 2:20 p.m., Fleshren said Morgan’s condition was unknown. 

The workers at the site are employees of Foschiatti Construction based in Bunker Hill.
Source: http://www.bnd.com

Maintenance worker treated for chlorine inhalation at the Pelican Place complex in Belleair, Florida

Maintenance worker treated for chlorine inhalation at the Pelican Place complex in
Belleair, Florida

Belleair, Florida 

Emergency rescue crews treated a maintenance worker for chemical inhalation at a townhouse complex after he was overcome with chlorine fumes when he walked into a pool shed on the property Monday morning.

Authorities say they believe there was a malfunction of an automatic pool system that mixes the chemicals together to treat the pool.

Hazmat crews responded and evacuated one nearby building while they investigated and aired out the shed.

The incident occurred at the Pelican Place complex off Poinsettia Road.

Complaint inspection finds workers exposed to amputation hazards at Cleveland Die & Manufacturing Company

June 29, 2015

Complaint inspection finds workers exposed to amputation hazards
at Cleveland Die & Manufacturing Company

Employer name: Cleveland Die & Manufacturing Company

Investigation site: 20303 1st Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio

Date citations issued and what prompted inspection: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Cleveland office issued 11 serious safety and health citations to Cleveland Die & Manufacturing Company. The agency initiated an inspection in March after receiving a complaint alleging unsafe working conditions at the company which manufactures brackets and parts for the automotive industry.

Investigation findings: Investigators cited 11 serious violations at the Ohio facility.

Violations included:
  • Exposing workers to operating parts of machinery by failing to install safety mechanisms
  • Lack of procedures to ensure equipment was de-energized to prevent it from operating during service and maintenance such as the changing of dies
  • Personal protective equipment such as arc-rated clothing and voltage rated gloves as well as face protection not provided
  • Hooks and wire ropes were not inspected as required.
  • Employees were not trained about the hazardous chemicals used in the workplace.
  • The company lacked a hearing conservation program and failed to implement engineering controls to reduce noise exposure.
"Lack of safety mechanisms on machines continues to be among the most frequently cited OSHA violations and that is unacceptable," said Howard Eberts, OSHA's area director in Cleveland. "Each year thousands of workers suffer injuries and illness that can affect their ability to earn a living. Cleveland Die & Manufacturing needs to make immediate improvements to ensure their workers are protected on the job."

Proposed Penalties: $59,400

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Cleveland Area Office at 216-447-4194.

Midwest Manufacturing and Distributing Inc., doing business as Midwest Metal Forming in Melrose Park, Illinois, exposes workers to machine hazards. OSHA proposes penalties of more than $54K for 3 safety violations

June 29, 2015

Midwest Manufacturing and Distributing Inc., doing business as Midwest Metal Forming in Melrose Park, Illinois, metal shop exposes workers to machine hazards.  OSHA proposes penalties of more than $54K for 3 safety violations

Employer name: Midwest Manufacturing and Distributing Inc., doing business as Midwest Metal Forming

Investigation site: 6025 N. Keystone
Chicago, Illinois


Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Chicago North Area Office initiated a follow-up inspection of Midwest Metal Forming, March 4. The sheet metal manufacturer was cited in 2014 for exposing workers to amputation hazards from unguarded machinery and failed to provide OSHA with information detailing how the company had abated the safety hazards. 

Investigation findings: OSHA issued one willful and two other-than- serious safety violations.

Investigators found the press brake lacked adequate machine guarding which protects workers from coming in contact with operating parts of the machine. Lack of appropriate machine guarding can cause lacerations, bruises, and amputations.

Two other-than- serious violations were issued to the company for not using electrical equipment in accordance with labeling and failing to post the annual injury and illness summary.

Quote: "Midwest Metal Forming has failed in its responsibility to protect workers from dangerous operating parts of machinery," said Angeline Loftus, OSHA's Area Director for the Chicago North Office in Des Plaines. "Each year thousands of workers are injured by such hazards."

Proposed Penalties: $54,780

To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint or report amputations, losses of an eye, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Chicago North Area Office in Des Plaines at 847-803-4800.

New York state officially bans fracking, issues a 1,448 page final report which completed the state’s seven-year review of fracking.

the risks to our water, soil, air, health and climate our simply too great to continue this fossil extraction strategy

ny state fair fracking rally 1.JPG
Elizabeth Henderson, an organic farmer in Newark, speaks out against fracking at a rally at today's New York State Fair. (Glenn Coin | gcoin@syracuse.com)

June 29, 2015
 
Albany, N.Y.

It's official: New York has banned fracking.

After more than seven years of study, the state Department of Environmental Conservation today issued the final document needed to ban the controversial drilling practice, known formally as high-volume hydraulic fracturing.

"Prohibiting high-volume hydraulic fracturing is the only reasonable alternative," said DEC Commissioner Joe Martens in a prepared statement. "High-volume hydraulic fracturing poses significant adverse impacts to land, air, water, natural resources and potential significant public health impacts that cannot be adequately mitigated. This decision is consistent with DEC's mission to conserve, improve and protect our state's natural resources, and to enhance the health, safety and welfare of the people of the state."

Today's finding statement has been in the works since December, when Martens said he would ban fracking because too little was known about the potential health impacts. Last month, the DEC released a 1,448-page report on fracking that began in 2009. Today's findings statement is based on that report.

The fracking ban is not permanent, and could be rescinded. Proponents and opponents of the ban both said they expect lawsuits to be filed.

Fracking has drawn more scrutiny than any other environmental issue in New York. The study released in May drew 260,000 public comments. More than 300 pages of the final study were devoted to responding to those comments.

Tactics of U.S. oil companies used this spring to quash efforts by investors to win the right to nominate climate experts for board seats.

investors think the companies must do more to address climate change risks - which range from shortages of water needed for drilling to hefty carbon taxes governments could impose on fossil fuel producers

 

Oil Companies Played Hardball to Defeat Climate Outsiders

Published in Oil Industry News on Monday, 29 June 2015

Graphic for Oil Companies Played Hardball  to Defeat Climate Outsiders in Oil and Gas News
Petty legal filings. Diversionary ballot measures. Counting abstentions as no votes. These are just some of the tactics U.S. oil companies used this spring to quash efforts by investors to win the right to nominate climate experts for board seats.

Led by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer and proposed at 75 U.S. companies in various industries this year, the so-called proxy access measure would give investor groups who own 3 percent of a company for more than three years the right to nominate directors. At the 19 oil and gas companies targeted, the aim was to demand more accountability on global warming.

While the non-binding measure passed at two-thirds of all the companies targeted, and at 15 of the 19 energy companies, some took unusual steps to block it. Oilfield services provider Nabors Industries Ltd, for example, counted non-votes from brokers as votes against the proposal. Still, the measure passed at Nabors, which didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Shale oil company Pioneer Natural Resources Co filed a last-minute counterproposal calling for a higher ownership threshold of 5 percent, which institutional investors say is much harder to obtain. Pioneer said it gave shareholders extra time to vote. Stringer's proposal failed.

Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp tried to block the proposal by arguing the New York City pension funds behind it had not shown proof of owning their shares for a full year. The proposal passed at Chevron and narrowly failed at Exxon.

The 15 victories at energy companies show that investors think the companies must do more to address climate change risks - which range from shortages of water needed for drilling to hefty carbon taxes governments could impose on fossil fuel producers, fund managers said.

"ExxonMobil received this (proxy access) proposal due to its exposure to risk related to climate change," James Andrus, a representative from Calpers, told Exxon's annual meeting.

The outcome also shows companies miscalculated the groundswell of support for more climate accountability ahead of the U.N. conference on global warming in December, fund managers said.

A simple majority was needed for the non-binding proposal to pass. Of the 19 targeted energy companies, all opposed the measure, except for shale oil producers Apache Corp and Whiting Petroleum Corp.. The other two companies where the measure failed were Cabot Oil and Gas Corp and Noble Energy Inc.

'PETTY LEGAL ACTIONS'

Stringer characterized Chevron and Exxon's maneuvers as "petty legal actions" in a statement made in February. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sided with New York.

Because the measures are non-binding, corporate boards can either ignore the results of the votes or decide to change their bylaws.

While most companies say their boards' nominating committees are best suited to pick nominees for director, energy companies in particular likely do not want the type of board candidates that labor pension funds might promote, said Erik Gordon, clinical assistant professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business.

"Companies fear that the nominees will be single issue candidates who focus solely on a labor or environmental issue such as executive compensation or global warming," said Gordon. "In fact, the Comptroller's office has targeted companies that it feels have done too little to address climate change, and that frightens energy companies."

Steven Mueller, chief executive officer of Southwestern Energy Co, told Reuters that his board opposed the proxy access proposal because Southwestern was unfairly targeted because it produces oil and natural gas. The proposal passed at Southwestern.

"We didn't believe it was a governance issue," said Mueller, who said Southwestern's board is working on how to respond to the proposal.
Source: www.reuters.com