BRAGG CREEK, Alta. — Alberta’s Energy Regulator says a pipeline has leaked crude oil in southwestern Alberta.
AER spokeswoman Monica Hermary says Husky Energy of Calgary reported the spill at Cox Hill Creek on Thursday around 3 p.m.
Cox Hill Creek is about 22 kilometres west of Bragg Creek, an area popular for hiking, camping and other outdoor recreation.
Hermary says it’s not known how much crude has leaked, but adds the oil has affected the creek.
She says the pipeline was shut in and depressurized on Thursday and no more oil is flowing through that section of the pipeline.
Husky said it has a response team at the site and cleanup efforts are underway, but the company did not say how much oil was spilled.
“As a precaution, water samples are being taken at a nearby culvert,” Kim Guttormson, a Husky spokesman, wrote in an email.
“We are undertaking a thorough investigation of the incident.”
Hermary said the regulator is working with the company to ensure all safety and environmental requirements are met.
“There are no reported impacts to the public or wildlife at this time,” she said.
A Husky pipeline rupture last July resulted in 225,000 litres of heavy oil mixed with diluent to spill onto the bank of the North Saskatchewan River in Saskatchewan, with about 40 per cent or 90,000 litres reaching the river.
The spill forced the cities of North Battleford, Prince Albert and Melfort to shut their intakes from the river and find other water sources for almost two months, resulting in costs that Husky pledged to cover.
The company said last month it cost $107 million for the clean up.
The lone survivor in a fiery crash in Bethlehem Township that killed three others in the car has balked at a plea agreement calling for him to serve 15 to 30 years in state prison.
Friday marked the deadline for Terrell Barclay to accept a plea bargain to vehicular homicide charges, but his public defender, Timothy Prendergast, said his client opted against it.
Barclay — whose face, arms and the rest of his body were badly burned in the wreck last year — has claimed in court that he has no memory of it. The 28-year-old Orange, N.J., man is scheduled to go to trial in May.
Police said Barclay had a blood-alcohol content of more than twice the legal limit to drive when he slammed into several parked cars on Willow Park Road, causing a fireball that left him ablaze.
Before the early May 6 crash, Barclay was driving at least 80 mph when he sped past a Freemansburg police officer near the town line, police said. Though the officer started to follow Barclay's car, he arrived seconds after the wreck, which caught several vehicles on fire, police said.
Three people are dead and a fourth is severely burned after a car speeding along a Bethlehem Township roadway crashed and burst into flames early Friday morning, May 6, 2016.
The others in the car — Joshua Edwards, 28, of Easton; Amanda Martin, 26, of Schuylkill County; and Ashlee Mosher, 29, of Phillipsburg, N.J. — died at the scene.
Barclay spent two months in a medically induced coma at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest before he was transferred to an Easton rehabilitation center, police said. He left the center before police filed charges, but later surrendered to authorities. He is being held in Northampton County Prison.
Three people are dead and a fourth is severely burned after a car speeding along a Bethlehem Township roadway crashed and burst into flames early Friday morning.
HUNTING PARK (WPVI) --
A woman is dead after a collision in the Hunting Park section of Philadelphia.
It happened around 12:45 a.m. Sunday on Old York Road near Luzerne Street.
Police say the driver of a silver Nissan Altima crossed the center line and hit a Dodge Durango and an unoccupied parked car. The parked car then crashed into another parked vehicle.
Investigators say the 43-year-old driver of the Nissan tried to walk away, but the 28-year-old driver of the Dodge held him at the scene until officers arrived.
A female passenger in the Nissan, described to be in her late 20s, was rushed to Temple University Hospital where she died from her injuries.
The driver of the Nissan was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
Though earlier reports stated the driver had been charged with DUI, authorities now say no charges have been filed as of yet.
An investigation is ongoing.
Most drunk or drugged driver deaths or injuries are caused in the early a.m. hours. This is another such case.
Mark Howard Bowers, the captain of a Washington fishing vessel called the Emerald Sea, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in federal court to failing to report discharge of oil from the boat last summer.
On Aug. 29, the Emerald Sea spilled about 150 gallons of diesel fuel into the Sipanon River in Warrenton, near the Columbia River, while moored and transferring fuel between two tanks, according to a federal indictment.
Crew members of the Emerald Sea told Bowers about the spill when he arrived at the dock between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. that day, but Bowers didn't disclose or report the spill to federal authorities until confronted by U.S. Coast Guard investigators about three hours after the Emerald Sea had left the dock, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan W. Bounds wrote in an indictment.
The Clean Water Act requires that anyone in charge of a vessel, as soon as he or she learns of any discharge of oil or hazardous substance in amounts that may be harmful to public health, welfare or environment, immediately notify the appropriate federal agency.
Coast Guard officials tracked down the vessel in nearby Ilwaco and asked its captain to go back to the marina to clean up the spill. The officials also asked the captain to report the spill to the Coast Guard's National Response Center.
Harbormasters and Emerald Sea crew members used absorbent pads for the cleanup. The vessel's home port is in Aberdeen, Washington.
Bowers, represented by assistant federal public defender Thomas Price, will remain out of custody as the charge is pending in U.S. District Court in Portland.
A two-day trial was tentatively set for May 16.
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WARRENTON, Ore. (KOIN) – The captain of a fishing vessel is accused of failing to report an oil spill.
Records show that on August 29, 2016, the Emerald Sea was moored and transferring fuel between two tanks when about 150 gallons of diesel fuel spilled into the Skipanon River. The spill left an “expansive and visible sheen” on the water’s surface, according to the federal grand jury indictment.
Federal prosecutors allege that Captain Mark H. Bowes was briefed, by his crew, about the spill between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. on the day the spill occurred.
“Bowers did not disclose or report the spill to federal authorities…until confronted by United States Coast Guard investigators approximately three hours after the Emerald Sea left the dock,” the indictment states.
Records show the Emerald Sea was moored on the east bank of the river near Northeast Heron Avenue.
The Skipanon River is a navigable tributary of the Columbia River, which then flows into the Pacific Ocean.
Under federal law, the person in charge of a vessel must report, as soon as they have knowledge of a spill, the incident to federal and local authorities.
A court date for Bowers has not been set.
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WARRENTON, Ore. — Coast Guard personnel responded Monday to a roughly 250-gallon diesel spill that left a 1-mile by 500-yard sheen at Skipanon Marina on the Columbia River.
The crew of the fishing vessel Emerald Sea, the responsible party, worked with harbormasters to clean the spill using absorbent pads, said the U.S. Coast Guard.
Coast Guard responders reported the sheen was dissipating by 1 p.m.
The master of Emerald Sea, an 86-foot fishing vessel homeported in Aberdeen, Washington, said they spilled the oil while conducting an internal fuel transfer at the marina Monday morning.
Watchstanders at Sector Columbia River received a report of a small sheen that IMD personnel launched to investigate around 9 a.m. They discovered a much larger sheen.
Emerald Sea had since transited to Ilwaco, Wash., where IMD located the crew and requested the master to self-report the spill to Coast Guard National Response Center and return to Skipanon Marina to clean the spill.
A veteran of the Watertown fire department died today during a two-alarm blaze while helping rescue an elderly man, the man's niece and their dogs as flames shot out an upstairs window, city officials and a neighbor said.
Joseph A. Toscano, 54, a firefighter with the department since Sept. 26, 1996 and a married father of five children, succumbed to injuries after rushing into the single-family home on Merrifield Avenue, the city's deputy fire chief said. He had been taken to Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge where he died.
"I saw them carry that poor fireman out. They all went in with flames shooting out of the house," Bob Petrillo, 81, told the Herald. "I don't know how they do it. He went right into the flames."
Petrillo, who lives right next door, said the two-alarm blaze on Merrifield Avenue was the worst he's ever seen.
"It's devastating," said Town Councilor Angie Kounelis of Toscano's death. "We are grieving, we grieve as a community. It's a sad day for Watertown."
Toscano was the right-hand man to Watertown Deputy Chief Bob Quinn -- his “eyes and ears” from inside burning structures -- and drove today to the scene. They arrived at 10:22, and Quinn said he “struck a second alarm immediately.” Toscano went in the home to assist.
“I got a call shortly thereafter that there was a firefighter down,” he said. “The firefighter was inside working inside the fire area, extinguishing and overhauling, when he collapsed.”
Quinn said the last firefighter death in Watertown was in the late 1950s. Flowers were laid at a fallen firefighter memorial outside the Watertown Fire Department Headquarters -- a shirt depicting the “Watertown Strong” slogan rested next to them.
Firefighters lowered black bunting from the roof of the station. A man driving a backhoe down Main Street stopped in front of the station, pointed at the bunting, and handed a firefighter cash before continuing down the road.
“It’s just such a traumatic event,” Quinn said.
Quinn and Toscano were at an automobile accident on School Street when word of the fire came through, the deputy chief said. They rushed to the scene, listening to the radio, “and there wasn’t much conversation,” Quinn said.
Earlier in the day, before the fire, the two old friends talked about what was for dinner. Toscano was one of the department’s best cooks, Quinn said, and he was already planning the evening meal.
“Shrimp and chorizo over pasta,” Quinn said. “That was the planned meal.”
Kounelis, who visited the scene and whose district contains the site of the fire, said battling any blaze carries stress from heat and smoke, and those hazards can be overwhelming.
"The individual's body is subjected to elements a layperson's would not be, firefighters are putting themselves at risk no matter the size of the fire," Kounelis said. "If you're going in you're going into danger and that was obvious today, he died in the line of duty."
A call came in for a fire at 29 Merrifield Avenue at 10:16 a.m., according to the Watertown Police Department.
Petrillo said he first smelled smoke and then stepped outside to see his neighbor's house on fire and the fire department trucks all pulling up and the firefighters rushing out.
"Their heroics were unbelievable. One firefighter was walking on the roof as the flames were shooting out (to vent the fire). He was just walking on the roof like it was the ground," the retired auto parts manager said. "The smoke was black and heavy and the flames were pouring out the bedroom window.
"I saw them bring out the elderly man, his niece and their dog. The man walked with a cane and needed help," he added.
His wife, Pauline Petrillo, said she was playing BINGO at the local senior center when she heard of the fire on her street.
"My heart was pounding," she said, adding she wasn't able to reach her husband right away. "I thought it was my house at first."
Officials said they do not believe the fire to be suspicious in nature and an investigation is ongoing.
This is the first firefighter to die in the line of duty in the Bay State since Lt. Edward J. Walsh, 43, and Firefighter Michael Kennedy, 33, of the Boston Fire Department died in a raging Beacon Street blaze in the Back Bay on March 26, 2014.
Social media has filled up today with support for Watertown from all over.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Watertown Fire Department and family pic.twitter.com/TnDz0tNu0R— Weymouth Fire (@WEYMOUTHFIRE) March 17, 2017
Brother Toscano from #WatertownFire - your job is now done. May St. Florian guide you on to paradise!— Walpole Firefighters (@WFDLocal2464) March 17, 2017
Keep Joseph Toscano's family and the Watertown Fire Department in your prayers. Rest in Peace Brother. pic.twitter.com/BjMoIKRaoU— Charlton Fire Dept. (@CFD24) March 17, 2017
Overweight firefighters should not work the fires. The stress is too much, the adrenaline is rushing, the smoke is heavy, the temperatures are high and the poor heart cannot always take it. In our view, these overweight firefighters are asking for trouble. Stay away and let the more fit people do the heavy lifting. RIP.
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Firefighter dies after collapsing at scene of house fire Posted: Mar 17, 2017 3:14 PM EST Updated: Mar 17, 2017 3:14 PM EST
By: The Associated Press
news@abc6.com
Twitter: @ABC6
WATERTOWN, M.A. - A firefighter who collapsed while responding to a house fire in Watertown has died.
Police Chief Michael Lawn said Friday that the firefighter appears to have suffered a heart attack.
He had collapsed at the scene of the morning blaze and was rushed to Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, where he later died.
Lawn said the incident is under investigation. Officials haven't yet released the name of the firefighter.
Fire officials are also still investigating the cause of the fire.
Lawn said two people were evacuated from the single family house.
A witness said a woman in the home came outside in a robe with black soot all over her face and tried to go back inside to put out the fire with a fire extinguisher.
=======
WATERTOWN, Mass. (AP) — A firefighter who collapsed and died after
responding to a house fire Friday morning was a 21-year veteran of the
department and a married father of five children, colleagues said.
Town and fire officials in Watertown say 54-year-old Joseph Toscano, of
Randolph, suffered a medical emergency as he and others battled the
morning blaze at a residence in the Boston suburb.
He was
rushed to a nearby hospital, where he later died. The cause of death is
still under investigation, but officials say it might have been a heart
attack.
Deputy Fire Chief Robert Quinn said Toscano was an
experienced and trusted 21-year veteran of the department who served as
his "eyes and ears" inside fire scenes. He said Toscano was stationed at
the fire department headquarters for most of his career and had served
as his driver. He should have stayed as a driver and doing office work. This is not a job for an overweight person.
"We never expect this day to happen, but it
happened," Quinn said. "It's a tough job. It really gives you a punch in
the face to see this happen."
Toscano is the first
Massachusetts firefighter to die in the line of duty since 2014, when
two Boston firefighters were killed battling a fast-moving blaze in Back
Bay, according to the state fire marshal's office.
WINTHROP, MASSACHUSETTS
An early morning, two-alarm fire that scorched a Winthrop home has left one man dead, officials say — the third life claimed by a fire in the Bay State in less than 24 hours.
Firefighters responding to a reported blaze on Winthrop Shore Drive about 2 a.m. were met with fire and heavy smoke and immediately called for a second alarm.
Although the passing motorists who called in the fire banged on a first-floor door to alert residents, Winthrop Fire Chief Paul Flanagan said the first firefighters on scene were told that the occupant’s father was still on the second floor.
“There was heavy fire conditions on the second floor upon arrival, Winthrop firefighters stretched lines to the second floor and dragged out the occupant out of the second floor,” Flanagan said. The man, whose name and age were no released today, later succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.
The death comes after Watertown firefighter Joseph Toscano died yesterday after responding to a fire, and a woman died in a blaze in Bourne yesterday afternoon.
“Considering the loss that the fire service family suffered yesterday in Watertown and to have a fatal fire in your own town the following morning, it was difficult for the firefighters,” Flanagan said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Flanagan said.
==========
WINTHROP, Mass. —
One person died early Saturday morning after being critically injured in a two-alarm fire in Winthrop.
The building at 162 Winthrop Shore Drive caught fire around 1 a.m. while two people were inside. One of them was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, but did not survive. The victim was identified as 68-year-old attorney Charles Balliro.
"This brings the total number of MA fire deaths in 2017 to 23 civilians and one firefighter," said Jennifer Mieth, Public Information Officer for the Department of Fire Services.
Information about the cause of the fire was not immediately released.
Richard Bull
Telegraph Reporters 18 March 2017 • 1:59am
A coroner is to warn Apple that iPhone chargers can be potentially lethal after a man was electrocuted in the bath.
Richard Bull, 32, was charging his phone next to the tub when it accidentally fell into the water.
He was found by his wife Tanya, who thought her husband had been attacked because his burns were so severe.
She made a distraught call to the police, who found that Mr Bull had used an extension lead from the hallway of his Ealing home so he could use the phone in the bath.
He was getting ready to go out to meet family members to exchange Christmas presents when the tragedy happened on December 11.
Coroner Dr Sean Cummings said: "This was a tragic accident and I have no reason to believe at all that there was anything other than it being completely accidental.
"These seem like innocuous devices, but they can be as dangerous as a hairdryer in a bathroom. They should attach warnings.
"I intend to write a report later to the makers of the phone."
Richard's mother Carole said: "I have worried that so many people and especially teenagers, that can't be separated from their phones, don't know how dangerous it is."
His brother Andrew said: "When you are younger you are taught about electricity and the bath, but you don't think about this.
"I still find it hard to believe that between the charger plug and the phone would be enough electricity to kill someone."
A keen rugby player, Richard captained amateur side Old Actonians RFC as well as playing for Ealing Exiles.
PC Craig Pattison told the inquest at West London Coroner's Court how he found the extension lead running from the hallway outside into the bathroom.
"We found an iPhone plugged into the extension cable and then the charger element in the bath," he explained.
========
iPhone electric shock reportedly kills Chinese bride-to-be
China Southern Airlines air hostess Ma Ailun, died at her home in China after answering a call on her iPhone 5 as it charged.
Ma Ailun is believed to have died from an electrical shock received when she answered her charging iPhone 5 Photo: http://www.whatsontianjin.com/
By Rhiannon Williams
4:07PM BST 15 Jul 2013
The 23-year-old collapsed after picking up her phone and was rushed to a hospital in Xinjian, but medics were unable to revive her. She had been planning to wed on August 8.
A doctor who attended Ma following her death told the Wall Street Journal that her neck had obvious signs of electrical injury.
Her brother, Yuelun, told Apple Daily that the family believe she died from a large electric shock during a phone call, and that the family has handed the phone and its accessories to the Chinese authorities.
Ma's sister insisted the iPhone had been purchased from an official Apple store at the end of last year, and that the charger was also produced by Apple.
She also posted a message on Chinese equivalent of Twitter, Weibo, saying: "I want to warn everyone else not to make phone calls when your mobile phone is recharging".
Apple China has launched an urgent and thorough safety investigation into the handset following the incident, adding: "We are deeply saddened to learn of this tragic incident and offer our condolences to the family.
"We will fully investigate and co-operate with authorities in this matter."
It takes 35 volts for a person to feel an electric shock, and the average mobile phone's electrical output is between three and five volts. However, a break in the circuit or faulty components could create a shock of 220 volts.
A man in northeast China was killed by an electric shock whilst speaking on a handset that was being charged by an unauthorised charger in 2010, according to the China Consumers Association.
HOLLISTER, CALIFORNIA — A worker at the John Smith Road Landfill in Hollister was killed Thursday when a semi-truck backed over him, authorities said.
The San Benito County Sheriff’s Office identified the worker as Alfredo Prado Canella, 65, of Hollister.
The collision was reported at 8 a.m. at the landfill at 2650 John Smith Road. The Sheriff’s Office and the Hollister-Gilroy California Highway Patrol area office responded to the scene.
Canella was directing traffic on the premises when he was hit by vehicle, according to Frank Polizzi, a spokesman for the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal-OSHA, which is investigating the collision. The CHP described the vehicle as a semi-truck that was hauling refuse.
The CHP reported that Canella suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
A check of a federal database did not turn up other similar incidents at the landfill, Polizzi said.
There is no timetable for Cal-OSHA to complete its investigation, but they typically take two to three months, Polizzi said.
Back-over deaths are fairly common. This worker did not know what he was doing, as traffic workers must be very cognizant of all the traffic around them- not this poor fellow. RIP.
