Man electrocuted to death after he was moving a fallen limb from a fence charged by a fallen live power line during the Belleville, IL storm

Jeremy Birich died in an electrocution in Belleville on July 13. Credit: KMOV 



Man electrocuted during Belleville storms identified

Posted: Jul 13, 2016 6:33 PM EST Updated: Jul 15, 2016 2:47 PM EST
By Dan Greenwald, Online News Producer
BELLEVILLE, Ill. (KMOV.com) -

A man who was electrocuted in Belleville on July 13 was identified Friday.

Jeremy Birch, 36, made contact with a fence charged by a live power line on 17th Street after the severe storm on July 13, according to the St. Clair County Coroner’s Office.

Tom Boyd, Deputy Coroner of St. Clair County, said Birch was moving a fallen limb from the fence when he made contact with the fence. He did not realize an active, fallen power line was also touching the fence.

Birch lived in Belleville with his long-time partner, Shanna Barnard, and their two children. Birch worked at A & E Truck Center. One of the owners at A & E Truck Center, Amanda Zimmerman, said Birch was an upbeat handyman that made others laugh.

Copyright 2016 KMOV (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.

Study: warming in the waters around Antarctica has corresponded with the widespread acceleration of glacier retreat

Scientists finally figure out why the Antarctic Peninsula is melting 

Robert Ferris,CNBC 4 hours ago

 

Scientists have been watching the Antarctic Peninsula melt for decades, but are still just figuring out why.

The prevailing conclusion until recently had been that rising air temperatures were causing the melt.


But it may be the water — warm water, according to research published in this week's journal Science.

The study by researchers at Swansea University, Durham University and the British Antarctic Survey says that warming in the waters around Antarctica has corresponded with the "widespread acceleration of glacier retreat." In addition, the melt is worse in the southern region, where some of the waters are relatively warmer, than it is in the cooler water of the northwest region.


Lead author Alison Cook found in a previous study that rising air temperatures alone could not account for the degree of glacier retreat that has been occurring, according to The Washington Post.

A patch of water known as the Circumpolar Deep Water, seems to be the force driving the more rapid glacial melting in the southwestern Antarctic Peninsula, the study concluded. In some areas, portions of the glaciers extend outward into the ocean like shelves or wings. The warmer water could be weakening these ice shelves from below, causing them to break off, and dramatically increase the rate at which the glacier retreats.

A truck driver crushed to death by the falling PVC load from his own truck in Limerick, Montgomery Co., PA

Truck driver dies after load of PVC pipe falls on him in Limerick, Pa.











A truck driver was been killed by the load from his own truck in Limerick, Montgomery Co. (WPVI)

Friday, July 15, 2016 12:34PM
LIMERICK, Pa. (WPVI) -- Police say a truck driver is dead after a load of PVC pipe he was unloading in Montgomery County fell on him.

It happened at 7:50 a.m. Friday in the 100 block of Lightcap Road in Limerick.

Police say the 62-year-old owner/operator of the truck, who was from Texas, arrived at a business with the load of pipe before the business opened.

He apparently tried to unload some of the material himself, police say, when it shifted and fell on him.

Employees arrived and found the man under the pipes.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

OSHA and other officials are investigating.

1 killed, 3 injured in multi-vehicle crash in in Stratford Township, New Jersey

One person was killed and three others injured in a multi-vehicle crash in Camden County.

Friday, July 15, 2016 06:21AM
STRATFORD TWP., N.J. (WPVI) -- One person was killed and three others injured in a multi-vehicle crash in Camden County.

It happened around 9:30 p.m. Thursday in the unit block of South White Horse Pike in Stratford Township, New Jersey.

Police say one of the vehicles overturned in the crash involving four vehicles.

One person was pronounced dead at the scene.

Two victims were taken to Cooper University Hospital and a third was taken to Kennedy University Hospital.

Their conditions are unknown at this time.

The White Horse Pike is closed in both directions as police investigate. 

LPG tanker WAASMUNSTER loaded with 18000 tons of butane, breached in collision with fv GROS LOULOU, Le Havre

LPG tanker WAASMUNSTER breached in collision with fv GROS LOULOU, Le Havre

July 15, 2016 at 11:19 by Mikhail Voytenko


French fishing vessel GROS LOULOU collided with anchored on Le Havre anchorage LPG tanker WAASMUNSTER on the night July 15, MRCC Jobourg intercepted radio talks between vessels at about 0210 LT July 15.  

GROS LOULOU confirmed the collision with WAASMUNSTER , loaded with 18000 tons of butane. GROS LOULOU suffered bow damage, but there was no water ingress.  

WAASMUNSTER suffered hull breach below waterline with ensuing water ingress. Salvage teams including divers were delivered on board of tanker, by 0520 LT hole was sealed, holed compartment understood to be dried.  

GROS LOULOU reported to MRCC Jobourg water ingress at 0700, but not critical. GROS LOULOU safely reached port and docked at 0845 at Port-en-Bessin.
As of 1100 UTC July 15, WAASMUNSTER remained anchored on Le Havre anchorage.

Vietnamese product tanker TOAN THANG 68 ALCI explosion left 6 workers badly burnt

July 15, 2016 at 14:10 by Mikhail Voytenko


Product tanker TOAN THANG 68 ALCI, dry docked in Hai Phong, suffered an explosion on cargo deck at noon July 15, leaving 6 workers badly burnt. Workers were cleaning cargo tanks, while there were steel cutting works nearby. 

Product tanker TOAN THANG 68 ALCI, IMO 8669010, dwt 2794, built 2008, flag Vietnam, manager DONG NAM A PETROLEUM PSC.

 

Marina Srikandi tourist boat with 32 tourists from Netherlands, France and Australia sank in Bali waters, Indonesia

Tourist boat with 32 tourists from Netherlands, France and Australia sank in Bali waters, Indonesia

July 15, 2016 at 14:11 by Mikhail Voytenko

Tourist boat Marina Srikandi sank off Karangasem, east coast of Bali island, Indonesia, on July 15. Boat started to leak, 32 tourists on board had to stand up and reportedly, panicked, gathering portside. 

Boat capsized and sank, leaving tourists and three crew in water. Luckily, they’ve been rescued shortly after accident by a boat nearby. 

All tourists were foreigners, of Netherlands, France and Australia nationalities. Authorities claim all tourists are safe, they didn’t suffer any injures.

ATF Offers $10,000 Reward For Information About Six-Alarm Emeryville Fire at 'The Intersection'

 

NBC Bay Area

JULY 14, 2016

By Lisa Fernandez

 The ATF's San Francisco Division on Thursday said the federal agency was offering up to $10,000 that helps investigators figure out the cause of a six-alarm fire this month at an Emeryville building under construction.

ATF spokeswoman Lisa Meiman said that the Alameda County Fire Department, the Alameda County Fire Investigation Task Force and ATF’s National Response Team have been investigating the scene since the day after the July 6 fire broke out at what would have been a mixed-use development called "The Intersection." A total of 105 apartment units were destroyed.

But even after reviewing photos and videos, analyzing debris and reconstructing the scene, they have still not come up with how the blaze was set.

"We are awaiting laboratory results and other information, and we anticipate receiving a full report in the next 30 days,” San Francisco Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jill A. Snyder said in a statement.

Earlier, the project's developer, Rick Holliday, told NBC Bay Area the ATF was exploring the possibility that “renegade fireworks” over the long July 4 weekend may have played a role. The ATF has not confirmed nor denied that assertion.

Holliday also has vowed to rebuild as soon as possible.

The $40 million project is called “The Intersection” and is intended for “creative entrepreneurs to work and network.”

Holliday said a studio might rent for $1,700 and a one-bedroom might rent for $2,200 a month.


If all goes well, Holliday said, his crews might build it even faster and tenants could begin renting on Labor Day 2017. “We’ve already done it once,” he half joked this month. “This is just a bump in the road.”



A rendering of what "The Intersection" will look like in Emeryville when it is expected to open in 2017.
Photo credit: Holliday Development
Published at 3:46 PM PDT on Jul 14, 2016

OSHA cites Macy's, The Finish Line for blocked exits, electrical shock hazards and other safety violations; retailers face more than $103K in fines

U.S. Department of Labor | July 15, 2016

OSHA cites Macy's, The Finish Line for blocked exits, electrical shock hazards
and other safety violations; retailers face more than $103K in fines
Macy's has been inspected 42 times since 2007

AVENTURA, Fla. - A federal workplace safety inspection of the Macy's department store in Aventura by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found employees at risk due to repeated and serious violations related to blocked exits, improper housekeeping and electric shock hazards.
Since 2007, OSHA has inspected Macy's Inc. locations 42 times and issued citations for blocked exits, obstructed access to electrical disconnect panels and using flexible cords instead of permanent wiring. With approximately 157,900 workers nationwide in about 870 stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam, Macy's is one of the nation's largest retailers and is based in Ohio.
OSHA initiated an inspection on Jan. 15, 2016, in Aventura after receiving a complaint concerning several workplace injuries and hazards. The agency's inspectors then cited Macy's and The Finish Line of Indiana, doing business as The Finish Line Inc., for 14 safety and health violations. An athletic footwear, apparel and accessories retailer, The Finish Line rents space in Macy's stores.
Combined, Macy's and The Finish Line face $103,220 in penalties.
"Macy's continues to ignore OSHA standards and previously cited violations that relate to blocked emergency exits and access to electrical disconnect panels that puts employees at risk of serious injury or death," said Condell Eastmond, OSHA's area director in Fort Lauderdale. "The retailer has a long inspection history and is aware that all of its facilities' exits must remain unobstructed so that employees can safely escape in the event of an emergency."
OSHA issued three repeated citations to Macy's for:

• Allowing access to electrical disconnect switches to be blocked with metal racks, boxes and a ladder.
• Exposing workers to electric shock hazards by using flexible cable instead of fixed wiring.
• Exposing employees to fire hazards due to exit routes not being clearly marked.

The serious citations relate to Macy's:

• Improper housekeeping in the receiving and storage areas.
• Allowing exit doors to be locked with a padlock.
• Not ensuring exit routes are kept free and unobstructed.
• Exposing workers to electric shock hazards due to unprotected wiring entering an outlet box and a missing ground pin on an electrical plug.

The agency also cited two serious violations to The Finish Line for failure to keep the storage area clean and free from clutter and blocking exit routes.
In addition, OSHA cited Macy's for three other-than-serious violations for a lack of exit route signs, not providing signs on doors that are not an exit and failing to mount and identify the location of fire extinguishers. The Finish Line was also issued one other-than-serious citation for failing to mount fire extinguishers.
The citations for the two companies can be viewed at: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/MacysandTheFinishLine111811_1134919.pdf
The companies have 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint or report amputations, eye loss, 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 Fort Lauderdale Area Office at 954-424-0242.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

# # #

OSHA issues 1 repeat, 10 serious citations to Evraz Inc. NA, a Colorado steel mill, after inspection in agency's effort to prevent amputations

July 15, 2016

OSHA issues 1 repeat, 10 serious citations to Evraz Inc. NA, a Colorado steel mill, after inspection in agency's effort to prevent amputations

Employer name: Evraz Inc. NA
Worksite: 1612 E. Abriendo Ave., Pueblo, Colorado 81004
Citations issued: July 15, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigated Evraz Inc. NA, a steel making facility in Pueblo on Feb. 16, 2016, in an inspection conducted under OSHA's National Emphasis Program for Amputations. The agency issued one repeat citation for not making repairs to overhead cranes promptly to ensure safe operations. The employer was cited for the same or similar citation on September 2013 at its facility in Claymont, Delaware.

Additionally, OSHA issued 10 serious citations to Evraz for failing to:

• Provide standard guardrails on open-sided floors and platforms 4 feet or more above a lower level.
• Keep portable fire extinguishers in their designated location when not in use.
• Provide bumper stops to stop rail cars from potentially rolling in a crosswalk or vehicular traffic.
• Fasten fixed ladders securely on overhead cranes.
• Ensure to fasten guards on overhead cranes' moving equipment securely in their designed place.
• Properly inspect the operation of overhead cranes.
• Inspect overhead cranes periodically.
• Ensure a properly sized safety latch on a link chain nest-hook.
• Clearly mark the functions on the pendent controller used to operate overhead cranes.
• Prohibit use of overhead cranes for side pulls.
• Put guards on sprocket wheels and chains.

The agency also identified and cited the Evraz for several electrical violations.

Proposed Penalties: $103,820

Quote: "Evraz needs involve their workers in identifying and correcting hazardous conditions to ensure more effective safety and health management systems," said David Nelson, OSHA's Area Director in Englewood, Colorado. "Evraz needs to fix these hazards before someone is injured or worse."

Links to the citations: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/EvrazInc.pdf
Information: Evraz North America is a wholly owned subsidiary of Evraz plc, one of the largest vertically integrated steel and mining businesses in the world. The company has 15 business days from receipt of their citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's Area Director, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint or report amputations, eye loss, 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 Englewood Area Office at 303-843-4500. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

# # #

Partially replacing lead water service lines with copper increases lead in household drinking water

All or nothing is a better strategy for keeping drinking water lead levels low
Partially replacing lead water service lines with copper increases lead in household drinking water
By Melissae Fellet




A Halifax Water employee replaces a stretch of lead pipe with copper.
Credit: Halifax Water


Getting rid of lead pipes in drinking water systems seems like a logical way to combat concerns over lead in household water. But in some cases doing something may be worse than doing nothing at all. A study including 61 Canadian homes where only portions of lead pipes were replaced found that lead levels in the water more than doubled immediately following this change (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2016, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b01912). Lead levels remained elevated for six months, indicating that partial replacement does not reduce household lead exposure, the researchers say.

Once commonly used in North America, lead water pipes were banned in the United States and Canada in the mid-1970s and 1980s. Today, an estimated 7% of people in the U.S. have at least some lead pipe in the system that carries water from the main distribution line to where it enters the house. Water lead levels correlate with lead in residents’ blood and are linked to learning difficulties, slowed growth, and other health and behavioral problems in young children.


To reduce lead exposure, municipal water utilities replace the lead pipe with copper pipe, but in many places they are only allowed to carry out a partial replacement, removing the lead pipe between the main water line and a homeowner’s property boundary. After such a partial service line replacement, new copper pipe connects to lead pipe that crosses the property to where it enters the house.


Partial replacement may not be good for public health, says Graham A. Gagnon of Dalhousie University, because connecting copper pipes to lead ones can prompt electrochemical reactions that release lead ions into the water flowing through them. To study this question, he and colleagues partnered with the water utility in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as the utility replaced service line around the city between 2011 and 2015. The team measured lead levels coming out of the households’ taps before and after the replacement.

More than 100 homeowners undergoing a partial or full lead service line replacement in Halifax collected several 1 L samples of water in the days leading up to and following the replacement and at one, three, and six months after replacement. The researchers analyzed the samples for lead, copper, aluminum, and iron using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.


In homes with partial line replacement, lead levels more than doubled in the first two water samples collected immediately after replacement. Six months after the partial replacements, water samples from 27% of these homes had lead levels that exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s action level (15 μg/L). Before replacement only 13% of those homes topped that threshold.


In homes with full service line replacement, lead levels in every liter of drinking water significantly decreased within a month after replacement. However, lead levels in these homes did not drop to zero, and a few samples still exceeded the threshold. This could be because lead tends to deposit in old galvanized iron plumbing and accumulate in faucet aerators, Gagnon says.


“This is probably the most extensive field data set yet collected that shows half-replacements are not beneficial, and are in fact harmful,” says Marc A. Edwards, at Virginia Tech, who was not involved in the current study. His research team investigated high lead levels in drinking water in Flint, Michigan in 2015. The results confirm field work done in the 1970s and recent laboratory experiments from his group under controlled conditions, Edwards adds.


When it comes to service line replacement, Edwards recommends doing nothing or replacing the entire pipe. If a utility is going to do a partial replacement, he encourages them to tell homeowners that lead levels in the water could potentially increase.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering revising the rules governing lead in drinking water, and an advisory board recommended only doing full service line replacement. In Halifax, the water utility has stopped doing partial replacements and is only fully replacing lead service lines.

OSHA cites Recyc-Mattress Corp.,, an East Hartford mattress recycler for uncorrected, new and recurring hazards for workers

U.S. Department of Labor | July 15, 2016 BOS 2016-114

OSHA cites Recyc-Mattress Corp.,, an East Hartford mattress recycler
for uncorrected, new and recurring hazards for workers
Recyc-Mattress Corp. faces $74K in penalties

Employer name: Recyc-Mattress Corp., 12 Eastern Park Road
East Hartford, Connecticut, a mattress recycler.
After Recyc-Mattress Corp, a mattress recycling company, failed to provide the Hartford Area Office of the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration with information that it had remedied all the hazards cited in a 2015 inspection, OSHA began an inspection on Jan. 12, 2016, to verify correction of the hazards.
Investigation's findings: OSHA found several instances of uncorrected, recurring and new hazards at the facility. The agency found the company:

• Did not develop and implement a written hazard communication program to inform employees about hazardous chemical and materials in the workplace, such as battery acid. [Uncorrected]
• Failed to provide respirator training to employees. [Uncorrected]
• Allowed mattresses and box springs to obstruct emergency exit access. [Recurring]
• Blocked access to the circuit breaker that provided power to machines in the shop with metal bushings, cardboard and plastic wrap. [Recurring]
• Permitted an emergency exit door to have its handle removed.
• Allowed employees to routinely unjam a shredder without first locking out its power source; the lockout procedures were not clear and specific to the shredder.
• Created electric shock hazards for employees with open junction box.

These conditions led OSHA to cite Recyc-Mattress for failing to abate two hazards and for two repeat and three violations of workplace safety standards.
Proposed penalties: $74,520
QUOTE: "Employers have a responsibility to maintain safe and healthful working conditions for their employees and to promptly and effectively correct hazards so they don't recur. They should be aware that OSHA can and does follow up to verify corrective action," said Warren Simpson, OSHA's area director in Hartford. "In this instance, employees were exposed to the risk of electric shock, being caught in a shredder, chemical hazards and being unable to exit the workplace swiftly in the event of a fire or other emergency. Recyc-Mattress Corp. must correct these hazards immediately."
Link to citations and failure to abate notice: http://go.usa.gov/xxAtV and http://go.usa.gov/xxAzk.
Recyc-Mattress Corp. has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, meet with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report amputations, eye loss, 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 OSHA's Hartford Area Office at 860-240-3152.

# # #

2 PILOTS MISSING: The Coast Guard and Navy are responding to a report of a downed aircraft off Kona

A typical Piper Apache plane similar to the one that was downed off Kona Island

Kailua man one of the passengers aboard missing plane off Kona Posted: Jul 15, 2016 2:29 AM EST Updated: Jul 15, 2016 4:55 AM EST




The Coast Guard and Navy are responding to a report of a downed aircraft off Kona on Thursday.

At 3:15 p.m. watchstanders at the Joint Rescue Coordonation Center in Honolulu received notification from Honolulu control facility personnel that the pilot of a dual engine aircraft with two people aboard radioed them reporting and in air emergency.

One of them is David McMahon, 26, of Kailua. McMahon is a commercial pilot for Mokulele Airlines. However, it is unknown at this time if he was the pilot of the missing plane.

David and his friend are not in a Mokulele aircraft. They were flying a rented plane.

David's family is hoping aviators, boaters, and people who know him will assist in the search. The identity of the second passenger is unknown at this time, but his name and photo will be released as soon as they become available.

After David and his friend radioed an in-air emergency, the tower confirmed that's when they lost contact and the plane no longer appeared on radar.

The plane was reportedly traveling to Kona from Maui, with the last known position approximately 25 miles northwest of Kona.

On scene conditions at the aircraft's last known position are reportedly 12 mph winds from the northeast with waves 2 feet or less and an east swell of 4 feet. Visibility is limited with haze, isolated showers and darkness.

Date:

	14-JUL-2016
Time:
Type:	Piper Apache
Owner/operator:	Private
Registration:
C/n / msn:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: / Occupants: 2
Airplane damage:	Aircraft missing
Location:	between Maui to Kona -   United States of America
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Maui
Destination airport:	Kona

Narrative:
The plane is missing. Search operations are being conducted.
Sources: http://www.kitv.com/story/32451621/coast-guard-searching-for-missing-plane-off-kona

METROPOLITAN'S INVESTIGATORS RECOGNIZED FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE ABOVE METROPOLITAN'S FACT FINDERS AND CLAIM INVESTIGATORS FOR SERVING AT THE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY AND RED CROSS VOLUNTEER POSITIONS