Thursday, August 9, 2018

MUTUAL AID: Australia and New Zealand Firefighters arriving in Redding, California to fight large fires

Australia and New Zealand Firefighters arriving in Redding, California have mobilized through a longstanding partnership with the USDA Forest Service to ensure adequate numbers of experienced fire managers are available to suppress large fires. #CarrFire #MendocinoComplexFires #MutualAid

A massive three-alarm fire burned 12 apartment units in three buildings, displaces 64 people, at the Royal Isle Apartments in Orlando, Florida

Massive fire guts 12 apartments in Orlando, displaces 64
Blaze burns buildings at Royal Isle Apartments
By Daniel Dahm - Digital Manager

August 08, 2018

ORLANDO, Fla. -

A three-alarm fire burned 12 units in three buildings at an Orlando apartment complex, but no one was injured in the blaze.

Officials said a child called 911 to report the massive fire at 8:05 a.m. Wednesday at the Royal Isle Apartments on Don Quixote Road, near State Road 436 and State Road 408.

Orlando Fire Department Assistant Chief Paul Plaugher said the blaze, which sent flames 30 feet into the air, destroyed several units. Officials from the Red Cross said they were working to assist 64 displaced individuals.

Plaugher said firefighters could see smoke from the large blaze from their fire station and found two apartments ablaze when they arrived at the complex. The flames quickly spread to the attic, prompting firefighters to battle the blaze in a defensive mode, Plaugher said.

"My neighbors had to go knock on the door and they had to come and climb out the window to get out," resident Kayla Oms said. "It looked like a big explosion. That's what it looked like, a big bomb. The whole thing was lit up into the air."

"It was just very scary," Ana Nunez said. "Just to see those big flames, and it was just scary. Then hearing the roof collapse, it's just very horrible and it's a nightmare."

No pets were harmed in the blaze, either.

"They self-rescued, just like humans," Plaugher said.

Plaugher said the fire shows the importance of being prepared.

"See something, say something. Like children do at school, we recommend all parents have an escape plan," he said. "Have two ways out in case one is blocked."

The age of the child who reported the fire is not known.

Officials from Royal Isles Apartments released a statement about the fire Wednesday evening.

“On behalf of Royal Isles Apartments, we express our deepest concern for those affected by this fire. The Orlando Fire Department has not yet determined the official cause, and we are cooperating with their ongoing investigation.

"The American Red Cross is providing immediate support for shelter and food for the impacted residents. In addition, the Salvation Army will provide food, clothing and other assistance for the families affected.

"Property management and ownership will also offer additional financial support for temporary housing and will closely work with each resident on accommodations based on their individual needs.

"The well-being of our residents is a top priority and we will continue to support them during this difficult time,” the statement read.

A large fire guts an apartment building in Orlando.

Orlando and Orange County firefighters battled the blaze.

FIRE SAFETY: Insurance adjusters and restoration contractors face significant health risks in structure fire settings, where they are exposed to the same toxic chemicals as firefighters and fire investigators.

Playing with fire: Avoiding toxic exposures in structure fires
Poor ventilation and a build-up of toxic substances pose risks for adjusters.

By Sean Scott | August 08, 2018

Even though the flames are out after a fire, a number of toxic substances remain that can be hazardous to an adjuster’s health. (Photo: Sean Scott)

When property claims adjusters are assigned a fire loss, they are often on scene within hours of the fire being extinguished. The claims process typically begins with the adjuster meeting with the insured, taking photos of the damage, sketching the building layout, writing a repair estimate, compiling an inventory of lost or damaged personal property, and other tasks. This requires adjusters to spend hours and sometimes days walking amongst the ash and fire debris. However, what insurance professionals may not realize is that entering a fire-damaged structure, especially one that has recently been boarded up, can pose a serious health risk.

Although the flames are out, the smoke has cleared, and the fire department has removed the yellow tape, the fire scene is not as safe as one might think. Toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) created by the vast array of materials and products, that burned are in a state of off-gassing, saturating the indoor air with poisonous gases and particulates.

Related: Additional Living Expenses: Just how much is covered?
Beware of toxic substances

The combination of the lack of ventilation after a board-up and the toxicity of the combustion byproducts, classifies this environment as immediately dangerous to life and health (IDLH). The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) states that a respiratory hazard exists when a toxic contaminant is present in the air at a sufficient concentration to cause harm when inhaled. The damage may occur immediately, or it may take days, weeks, months or years for effects to surface.

The types and quantities of materials and products that combust, their chemical reactions, heat, time and other factors make each post-fire environment unique. The vast array of toxic chemicals, VOCs and particulates are limitless, and exposure to them by inhalation, ingestion or absorption through the skin can have immediate or long-term health effects. Fire investigators know all too well the dangers of post-fire environments and many have been sickened or died from exposure to fire toxins.

One example of this occurred when a fire chief in California walked through a residential fire to assess the damage. A short time later, as he was returning to the fire station, he became ill and his aide transported him to a local hospital. The hazardous material response team was called to the scene and located several glass containers of a substance later identified as liquid sodium cyanide. The chief was transported to a medical facility equipped with a hyperbaric chamber for treatment and fully recovered. Physicians and investigators eventually determined that he had inhaled near-lethal doses of sodium cyanide from a jewelry refinishing business operating from the home.

Insurance adjusters face similar health risks in structure fire settings, where they are exposed to the same toxic chemicals as firefighters and fire investigators. Here adjusters encounter residues, VOCs, and particulates from all sorts of solvents, acids, chemicals used to manufacture illicit drugs, pesticides, automotive fluids, sewage, bloodborne pathogens, mold, asbestos, lead dust and a host of other toxic materials.

Adjusters often come in direct skin contact with toxin-laden soot and ash when they cut carpet samples for value analysis or handle contents during the inventory process. However, the problem doesn’t end there. To make matters worse, smoke odor, particulates, soot and ash get on clothing, skin, hair and shoes, and are transferred to cars, offices and homes. This also exposes coworkers and family members to the same chemicals and associated health risks.
Smoke, toxic gasses and chemicals

Considering that cigarette smoke alone contains over 7,000 chemicals, with 70 identified as cancer-causing, the products and materials that burn in a structure fire produce innumerable toxins.

Currently, the EPA has over 85,000 chemicals registered in its inventory of substances that fall under the Toxic Substances Control Act and approximately 2,000 new chemicals are introduced each year. The Chemical Abstracts Service is the world’s authority on chemical information and it has over 100 million registered chemical substances in its registry. These chemicals are combined in more than 7,000,000 mixture formulations found in homes and buildings across the U.S. The majority of the chemicals currently in commercial use have not been evaluated.

Some of the most toxic chemicals and gasses found in smoke include: hydrogen cyanide, phosgene, dioxins, furans, sulfur dioxide, PCBs, hydrochloric and sulfuric acid, and arsenic. Other toxins may include benzene, lead, chromium, and other metals, toluene, acrolein, mercury, formaldehyde, phenol, styrene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

To illustrate how toxic some of these chemicals are, phosgene and hydrogen cyanide were used in World War I as chemical warfare agents, resulting in thousands of casualties. Structure fire smoke frequently contains both of these chemicals.

Dioxins are extremely toxic and can be formed when products such as plastic and carpeting burn. (Photo: Sean Scott)

Dioxins – the worst of the worst

Insurance adjusters are well aware of hazardous materials such as asbestos, lead and mold, but few realize how toxic smoke particulates and soot can be depending on what burned in the fire. Dioxins, especially 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) have been called the most toxic man-made compounds on Earth. Scientists say only radioactive waste exceeds it in toxicity. Dioxins form when products containing carbon and chlorine burn such as plastics containing PVC, electrical wire, carpeting, plastic containers, toys and thousands of everyday products.

Certain dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) with similar toxic properties are also included under the term dioxins. A characterization by the National Institute of Standards and Technology of cancer-causing potential evaluated dioxin as over 10,000 times more potent than the next highest chemical (diethanol amine), half a million times more than arsenic and a million or more times greater than all others. TCDD has also been extensively studied for health effects linked to its presence as an ingredient in Agent Orange, which was used as a defoliant during the Vietnam War.

Even in picograms (parts per trillion) dioxin is associated with severe health damage that can shorten the lives of people exposed to it, and potentially that of their offspring and future generations. The genetic effects may skip a generation and reappear in subsequent generations. Ingesting dioxins can also result in congenital malformations and a slow wasting syndrome followed by death similar to the AIDS syndrome. It is strongly suspected of contributing to the pathology of the urinary and hematological systems, growths in the colon, gall bladder complications, multiple myeloma, and lung, larynx and prostate cancer.

According to researcher Joe Thornton, “Dioxin’s health effects include endocrine disruption, reproductive impairment, infertility, birth defects, impaired neurological development, damage to the kidneys, and metabolic dysfunction…There is no evidence that there is a safe level of dioxin exposure below which none of these effects will occur…” Dioxins are tied to a large number of diseases because they intensify cancers, which other toxins initiate.

Particulate exposure

Particle exposure leads to around 20,000 premature deaths in America each year. Inhaled particles that are less than 5 microns travel to the lower lung where the gas exchange occurs in the alveoli. The particle size of soot is approximately 2.5 microns or less. To offer some perspective on the size of these particles, a red blood cell is approximately 7 microns in size.

The smallest ultrafine particles are so minute that they behave like gases, passing through the lungs and directly into the bloodstream. Ultrafine particles also travel up through the nose and, rather than passing down into the lungs, are delivered directly into the brain and central nervous system via the olfactory nerve, bypassing the body’s protective blood/brain barrier. Once in the bloodstream, these particles carry toxins around the body where they promote inflammation, disease and even death.

Adjusters entering a burned environment should wear PPE, ventilate enclosed areas and seek medical attention immediately if they experience any adverse health issues. (Photo: Sean Scott)

Safety considerations

The importance of wearing proper protective equipment when working in or around fire debris or a fire-damaged structure cannot be understated. Insurance adjusters should take proper measures to protect themselves and never underestimate the dangers of structure fire smoke, soot, ash or VOCs. Consider the following safety tips:

Wear the highest level of respiratory, eye, skin and body protection.
Get fit tested to ensure respirators function properly.
Conduct air and VOC sampling to determine what types and quantities of hazardous chemicals may be present. (See OSHA Regulation 1910.134(d)(1)(iii)
Ventilate enclosed areas unless doing so will expose others to health hazards.
If an adjuster experiences any adverse health symptoms from exposure to smoke odors or soot, immediately seek medical attention.

Claims adjusters encounter a wide variety of hazards in the course of their jobs, but being aware of them and taking steps to mitigate the risks can help keep everyone safer.

Multiple people were treated for chemical exposure when a chemical bonding agent got into the building's HVAC system when the Citadel building in Orlando, Florida was undergoing some roofing work

ORLANDO, Fla. -

A six-story office building near Orlando International Airport was evacuated Wednesday afternoon after roofing chemicals got into the building's ventilation system, according to Orlando Fire Department officials.

Fire officials said the Citadel building at 5850 T G Lee Blvd. was undergoing some roofing work when a chemical bonding agent got into the building's HVAC system.

Firefighters said the building was evacuated and there were multiple people treated. Two patients were taken to an area hospital, officials said. Orlando police were directing traffic around T G Lee Boulevard while the evacuation was ongoing

A Cal Fire-Butte County heavy equipment mechanic assigned to the Carr Fire died in a fiery crash on Highway 99 in Tehama County after he was speeding, failed to negotiate the left turn and hit a tree

Cal Fire-Butte County employee assigned to Carr Fire dies in traffic accident

By Staff Reports
August 9, 2018

LOS MOLINOS, CA — A Cal Fire-Butte County employee assigned to the Carr Fire died on Thursday morning in a traffic accident on Highway 99 in Tehama County.

The employee was a heavy equipment mechanic. According to the California Highway Patrol, the driver was approaching a gradual left-hand curve when he or she drifted off to the right, ran off the road and hit a tree. At that point, the car became engulfed in flames.

It was a single-vehicle accident, CHP officer Ken Reineman confirmed. Reineman said the driver was headed northbound on Highway 99 and that the crash occurred “at or near” Tehama Vina Road near Los Molinos.

Cal Fire will not release any more information about the incident until next of kin are notified.

This story will be updated as more details become available.

According to the Redding Record Searchlight, it’s the eighth fatality associated with the Carr Fire. Five civilians died, along with a 37-year-old Redding firefighter and an 81-year-old bulldozer operator. The Carr Fire started July 23 near the Carr Powerhouse on Whiskeytown Lake. As of Thursday morning, it had burned 177,450 acres and was 48 percent contained. Cal Fire says 1,077 residential structures and 22 commercial structures have been destroyed and 191 residences damaged

Product Quest Manufacturing LLC Issues Voluntary Nationwide Recall of CVS Health 12 Hour Sinus Relief Nasal Mist Due to Microbiological Contamination by Pseudomonas aeruginosa

CVS Health 12 Hour Sinus Relief Nasal Mist .5 oz bottle has been recalled after the product was found to have had microbiological contamination identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

The product is used as a nasal decongestant and is packaged in a 0.5 fluid ounce bottle that is placed in an individual folding carton.
16,896 units were released nationwide with UPC code 50428432365.

The affected CVS Health 12-Hour Sinus Relief Nasal Mist lot is Lot # 173089J, EXP 09/19. The lot number can be found on the side panel of the carton.

According to the recall release, "Repetitive use of a nasal spray containing a gram-negative pathogen can potentially lead to colonization and subsequent infection which can be life-threatening in certain patient populations, such as those with cystic fibrosis or immuno-compromised. To the best of Product Quest's knowledge, the company has not received any reports of adverse events related to this recall."
Product Quest is notifying its customers via oral and written communication and is arranging for the return or replacement of all recalled products.

Anyone that has the affected spray is being asked to stop using the product and return it to the place of purchase or throw it away.

Consumers with questions regarding this recall can contact Product Quest Manufacturing LLC at (386) 239-8787, Monday through Friday from 8 am to 4 pm, EST. Consumers should contact their physician or healthcare provider if they have experienced any problems that may be related to taking or using this drug product.

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Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Healthcare Settings

What is a Pseudomonas infection?

Pseudomonas infection is caused by strains of bacteria found widely in the environment; the most common type causing infections in humans is called Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa

What types of infections does Pseudomonas aeruginosa cause?

Serious Pseudomonas infections usually occur in people in the hospital and/or with weakened immune systems. Infections of the blood, pneumonia, and infections following surgery can lead to severe illness and death in these people.
However, healthy people can also develop mild illnesses with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, especially after exposure to water. Ear infections, especially in children, and more generalized skin rashes may occur after exposure to inadequately chlorinated hot tubs or swimming pools. Eye infections have occasionally been reported in persons using extended-wear contact lenses.

Who is at risk for infection?

Patients in hospitals, especially those on breathing machines, those with devices such as catheters, and patients with wounds from surgery or from burns are potentially at risk for serious, life-threatening infections.

How is Pseudomonas aeruginosa spread?

In hospitals, where the most serious infections occur, Pseudomonas can be spread on the hands of healthcare workers or by equipment that gets contaminated and is not properly cleaned.

How can Pseudomonas infections be prevented?

In the hospital, careful attention to routine infection control practices, especially hand hygiene and environmental cleaning, can substantially lower the risk of infection.
Outside the hospital, avoid hot tubs or pools that may be poorly maintained, and keep contact lenses, equipment, and solutions from becoming contaminated.

How are Pseudomonas infections treated?

Pseudomonas infections are generally treated with antibiotics. Unfortunately, in hospitalized patients, Pseudomonas infections, like those caused by many other hospital bacteria, are becoming more difficult to treat because of increasing antibiotic resistance. Selecting the right antibiotic usually requires that a specimen from a patient be sent to a laboratory to test to see which antibiotics might still be effective for treating the infection.
Multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas can be deadly for patients in critical care. An estimated 51,000 healthcare-associated P. aeruginosa infections occur in the United States each year. More than 6,000 (13%) of these are multidrug-resistant, with roughly 400 deaths per year attributed to these infections. Multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas was given a threat level of serious threat in the CDC AR Threat report.

What is the CDC doing to monitor, prevent, and/or help treat infections?

The CDC conducts surveillance, prevention, and outreach activities to help prevent infections and to ensure that serious infections stay susceptible to commonly-used antibiotics and do not become resistant and hard to treat. CDC employees work closely with state and local health departments, Federal agencies, healthcare providers, and consumers of healthcare to help educate people about Pseudomonas infections, and antibiotic resistance, and to encourage prevention activities and healthy behaviors to prevent antibiotic resistance.
In early 2014, CDC made a request to states to send relevant isolates so that CDC microbiologists could further characterize carbapenem resistance mechanisms in Pseudomonas. As part of this, CDC was able to confirm several plasmid-mediated carbapenemases among Pseudomonas.

A Union Pacific locomotive derailed on a railroad bridge spanning the Mississippi River in St. Paul, MN, spilling some 3,200 gallons of diesel fuel into the water.

A Union Pacific locomotive derailed on a railroad bridge spanning the Mississippi River in St. Paul early Wednesday, spilling some 3,200 gallons of diesel fuel into the water.

Absorbent booms to collect the spilled diesel were placed shortly after it was reported just south of the St. Paul Downtown Airport, according to Walker Smith, a spokesman with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

The derailment occurred around 2 a.m. on the Hoffman Swing Bridge between St. Paul and South St. Paul when one of the two Union Pacific Railroad locomotives jumped the tracks, Smith said.

“When that happened it punctured one of the (locomotive) fuel tanks,” he said.

The locomotives were moving a tank car from one St. Paul rail yard to another. The tank car also slipped the tracks, but Union Pacific workers put it back on the rails and moved it from the bridge.

Union Pacific workers put four pieces of absorbent boom into the river, the farthest of which was eight miles downriver.

“We have not seen any evidence of diesel beyond that point,” said Kristen South, Union Pacific’s director of media relations. She added that the company also had boats in the river vacuuming the diesel from the surface.

An absorbent boom floats downstream from the Hoffman Swing Bridge in St. Paul, where a train derailment caused the spill of 3,200 gallons of diesel fuel into the Mississippi River on Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2018. (Kelly Busche / Pioneer Press)

“There is no timeline yet for completion of cleanup,” South said.

Smith said there’s been no sign yet indicating an impact on wildlife. The diesel floats on the water surface and shouldn’t be a significant threat to fish, Smith said.

Boaters may want to avoid the area because of the absorbent booms placed in the area, he said.

The cleanup is being monitored by the MPCA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The swing bridge was closed, as was river barge traffic around the low-slung span.

The derailed locomotive was being placed back on the tracks Wednesday evening. The bridge was expected to undergo a final inspection before being reopened Thursday morning, allowing normal river traffic to resume.

The cause of the derailment remained under investigation Wednesday evening, South said.

No one was injured in the incident.

Construction worker Sonny Rogers, 31, who suffered a severe head injury in July 2015 when metal scaffolding fell on him at new Atlanta Falcons stadium site, died July 18 at a hospital in Chattanooga, Tenn.

A worker who was injured during construction of Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta has died, a family member said.

Sonny Rogers, who suffered a severe head injury in July 2015 when scaffolding fell on him, died July 18 at a hospital in Chattanooga, Tenn., brother Abie Rogers told AJC.com on Wednesday.

Rogers, who was 31, had been in a care facility in northwest Georgia before he was moved to the hospital in Tennessee due to complications, his brother said.

The construction incident happened near the intersection of Mangum and Mitchell streets, under a concrete structure on the east side of the new stadium site, AJC.com previously reported.

Sonny Rogers was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment, according to his brother, and later underwent treatment at Shepherd Spinal Center.

He later was transferred to Safehaven, a facility in Rock Spring in northwest Georgia that specializes in caring for victims of brain injuries.

Abie Rogers said he had worked in construction at the new stadium for about a year when he helped his brother, who was working in the food industry, join the building crew.

“He was a Falcons fan,” Abie Rogers said of his brother. “It was an opportunity to help build the stadium.”

However, Abie Rogers remembers getting a call from a friend, who told him, “‘Hey, man, I think a scaffold fell on your brother.’”

By the time Abie Rogers got to the scene, the scaffold had been removed.

“(Sonny Rogers) was laying right there on ground level,” he recalled.

Soon after, project director Pete Pemantell released a statement on behalf of the Holder, Hunt, HJ Russell and CD Moody construction companies, who worked on the stadium. He said Rogers was injured during “scaffold removal.”

Ground was broken in 2015 for the stadium, which opened for the 2017 football season.

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Love Peace is

feeling blessed.
July 25, 2017 ·

thinkin about alot its crazy how ppl just forget about ppl my brother sonny worked for the Georgia Dome back in 2015 is crazy the Dome , about to be open for games and stuff and they just forgot about a black man who worked out there and got hurt out there not to be racist but if it was a white man who got hurt he would have been updates and updates from the time that he got hurt to now my brother been in the shepherd center for 2 years not once anybody came to see how he was doing.not even the manger he work for reached out to the family and see how we was doing m*********** just don't understand the pain and suffering that we going through out here being black and young see what they fail to realize they think we going to just throw this s*** under the rug which we ain't cuz we smarter than that we doing an update again so the

🌎 would know this young black man had survived his injury he have a catastrophic injury spinal injuries and more and he still living to this day by the grace of God and the family that he got around him they actually gave my brother 3 months to live by the higher power God say no he going to live some more that's crazy how the hell the dr going to prevent on how somebody going live it is a higher power before it was doctor the moral of my story is they trying to cover up things things that should be shown and out there so the world can know that this black man Sonny Rogers has Survivor injury that I don't think anyone can ever survived but by the grace of God 12 scaffolds came down one hitting my brother and ahead and he survived and still survive and by the grace of God i want everyone to go on my page my brothers page and look at the link n share the link please we aint giving up until justice has been served #teamrogersforever we love u sonny. Tykema Rogers Abie Rogers C.b. Rogers Lanie Hall we all we got=======================

Scaffolding falls on worker at new Atlanta Falcons stadium site

Updated July 01, 2015

By
Tyler Estep, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A construction worker was being treated for a severe head injury Wednesday after metal scaffolding fell on him at the site of the new Atlanta Falcons stadium, officials said.

The incident occurred at about 9:15 a.m. near the intersection of Mangum and Mitchell streets, under a concrete structure on the east side of the new stadium site.

Atlanta police spokeswoman Officer Kim Jones said the worker suffered a severe head injury, but further details were not available. Jennifer LeMaster, spokeswoman for the Georgia World Congress Center, whose police force is now the lead agency investigating the scaffolding accident, said she had no additional information.

On Wednesday afternoon, project director Pete Pemantell released a statement on behalf of the Holder, Hunt, HJ Russell and CD Moody construction companies, who are working on the stadium. He said the worker was injured during “scaffold removal” and was “taken to medical facilities where he is currently being treated.”

“The area of the accident has been secured and we are conducting a thorough investigation into the cause of the accident,” the statement said. “Our primary concern is for the safety and well-being of our workers, and our thoughts and prayers are with the injured worker and his family.”

Officials with the Atlanta Falcons did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ground was broken last May on the Falcons’ new stadium, which is going up on a site just south of the current Georgia Dome. Construction is expected to be completed in time for the 2017 football season.

Bouchard Transportation has sued in federal court to rein in a U.S. Coast Guard investigation into the cause of a 2017 explosion of a loaded oil barge off the coast of Texas that killed two seamen, Zachariah Jackson, 28, of Salt Lake City, and Du’jour Vanterpool, 26, of Houston

A Corpus Christi Fire Department vessel attempts to extinguish a fire onboard a barge approximately three miles from the Port Aransas, Texas, jetties Oct. 20, 2017. A Coast Guard Corpus Christi MH-65 Dolphin and HC-144 Ocean Sentry are searching for two missing crewmembers. U.S. Coast Guard photo.

Bouchard Transportation Lawsuit: Safety Record Not Relevant in Deadly Barge Explosion Investigation

August 8, 2018 by Editorial

Bouchard Transportation of Melville, New York, wants the Coast Guard’s investigation limited to the loaded oil barge which exploded in 2017 off the coast of Texas, killing two deckhands. But the Coast Guard took testimony about the recent history of maintenance and safety issues of the company’s fleet, calling the evidence relevant to its analysis of the fatal explosion. Coverage of the Coast Guard’s hearing on the incident can be found here.

By Barbara Liston (Clearview Post) –

A New York-based shipping company has sued in federal court to rein in a U.S. Coast Guard investigation into the cause of a 2017 explosion of a loaded oil barge off the coast of Texas that killed two seamen.

Bouchard Transportation claimed in a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Houston that its shipping customers were monitoring a Coast Guard public hearing in July into the cause of the explosion.

The company said that its reputation was being irreparably harmed by the testimony, which was live streamed over the internet, according to the complaint filed midway through the hearing by company lawyer David James of Clark Hill Strasburger in Beaumont.

The company cited testimony from current and former employees concerning safety being a “middle” priority for Bouchard, a stressful and intimidating work atmosphere, high employee turnover rate and general “unsafe” conditions on Bouchard vessels.

The company also said testimony by current and former employees about Bouchard’s safety culture amounted to a “character attack.”

Bouchard sought an emergency order to temporarily shut down the hearing. Although Judge Gray Miller refused to stop the proceedings, the lawsuit remains pending over the scope of the evidence to be considered in the Coast Guard’s final report.

Zachariah Jackson, 28, of Salt Lake City, and Du’jour Vanterpool, 26, of Houston, died after Bouchard’s Barge No. 255 caught fire and exploded as it was getting underway to a refinery in Corpus Christi.

Bouchard argued that the Coast Guard exceeded its authority by eliciting testimony about the company’s fleet and operations in general over the past two decades rather than limiting the inquiry to the single oil barge and explosion.

“Since it is being broadcast live over the internet, Bouchard’s customers are observing Bouchard being accused of virtually every form of wrongdoing and safety violation in its entire history; all under the guise and purported authority of a single marine accident, aboard a single vessel, in October 2017 which is getting very little attention,” the motion for a temporary restraining order stated.

Along with current and former Bouchard employees, professional ship inspectors testified during the two-week-long hearing in Houston, and thousands of documents were compiled.

After evaluating the evidence, the Coast Guard will issue a final report on the cause of the accident and deaths, recommendations to prevent a recurrence and evidence, if any, of violations of the law.

Bouchard also objected in its lawsuit to the Coast Guard granting interested party status to victims of the explosion, including the families of the dead seamen, who are suing the company. Interested parties are given access to collected evidence.

Jackson’s parents are suing Bouchard for more than $1 million. The family alleges the vessels were “improperly maintained, dangerous, unseaworthy, and otherwise unfit for the purpose they were being used,” according to the complaint filed in state court in Corpus Christi by Kurt Arnold of Arnold & Itkin in Houston.

Vanterpool’s survivors also have sued in state court in Houston.

Bouchard is trying to block the families’ lawsuits by seeking protection in federal court under a 167-year-old law written in the era of wooden Clipper ships to protect commercial ship owners from paying the full cost of damages in an accident.

The Limitation of Liability Act of 1851 limits the potential damage payout to the post-accident value of a ship plus the value of the ship’s freight – but only if the ship owner lacked knowledge of the problem or conduct leading to the accident.

In response to Bouchard’s petition for protection under the law in the U.S. District Court in Corpus Christi, Jackson’s attorneys say Jackson informed company management of multiple problems on the B255 barge in the weeks before the explosion, and asked multiple times for repairs to be made.

Bouchard has a “documented history of failing to operate their barges in a safe manner and putting the crew of their barges at grave risk,” Arnold wrote.

Bouchard also wants the court to prohibit the Jackson family from seeking damages for the pain and suffering that the family says Jackson endured before his death. The company suggests the he likely died instantly from shrapnel from the explosion.

However, the families are fighting back with a report by Kendall Von Crowns, deputy medical examiner in Houston. Crowns concluded that Jackson likely was engulfed in fire long enough for his shoes to burn and melt before being hit by shrapnel and blown into the Gulf of Mexico where he likely died from a combination of drowning and bleeding to death. His body was never found.

Bouchard is seeking to limit its total damage payout from the explosion under the limitation law to $5,952,151. The figure is based on an appraisal obtained by the company of the 39-year-old tugboat Buster Bouchard, which was pinned to barge B255 at the time of the explosion, which estimated its value at $5.7 million, plus the cargo valued at $252,151.

The most famous application of the limitation law occurred in 1912 after the sinking of the Titanic when damages were limited to $92,000 – or $41 for each living or dead passenger – based on the value of a few salvaged life boats and earnings from the voyage.

A bench trial is set for Jan. 14, 2019 at which Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos will decide whether the limitation law applies in the Bouchard barge explosion and whether to grant partial summary judgment on pain and suffering damages.
Links to articles covering last month’s Coast Guard hearing:

Part 1: ‘I Was Hearing Blasts Every Second

Part 2: ‘He Slipped Out of His Life Jacket and Sank to the Bottom’

Part 3: Conflicting Testimony and Disputed Phone Calls

Part 4: Former Bouchard VP ‘Shocked’ at Condition of Barge 255

Part 5: ‘No one could say they didn’t know about the problems’

Part 6: Final Day – ‘Sitting On a Big Powder Keg’

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Two Missing After Explosion on Crude Oil Barge Off Port Aransas, Texas

October 20, 2017 by Mike Schuler

A barge on fire approximately three miles from Port Aransas, Texas, jetties Oct. 20, 2017. U.S. Coast Guard Photo

Update 2: The Coast Guard said Sunday that it has suspended its search for the missing two crew members, contradicting an earlier report one crew member had died.

Update: The U.S. Coast Guard has confirmed that one person has died and another person was still missing after a fire on barge operated by Bouchard Transportation.

The company issued the following statement about the accident.

Bouchard Transportation reports that a fire occurred today aboard one of their barges at approximately 4:30 am local time near Aransas Pass, Texas.

For privacy purposes, we are not releasing any information about our crew and trust you respect this decision.

We have no information regarding pollution or the cause of the fire at this time.

Our tug which, was pushing the barge, had 6 crew members on board and we are working closely with the Coast Guard to ensure their safety.

All proper emergency notifications have been made and response resources have responded.

The incident is under investigation and Bouchard Transportation, as operator of the tug and barge, is working closely with the appropriate authorities.

The Company will provide further information on this incident as it becomes available.

The tug involved is the Buster Bouchard.

Earlier: The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for two missing crew members following an explosion and fire onboard a barge loaded with crude oil off Port Aransas, Texas on Friday.

A vessel with the Corpus Christi Fire Department was fighting to extinguish the fire.

The barge is located approximately three miles from the Port Aransas, Texas, jetties, according to the Coast Guard.

Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis: The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that employment contracts containing class-action waivers are enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)

Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States on how two federal laws, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), relate to whether employment contracts can legally bar employees from collective arbitration. The Supreme Court had consolidated three cases, Epic Systems Corp. v Lewis (Docket 16-285), Ernst & Young LLP v. Morris (16-300), and National Labor Relations Board v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc. (16-307). In a 5-4 decision issued in May 2018, the Court ruled that arbitration agreements requiring individual arbitration are enforceable under the FAA, regardless of allowances set out within the NLRA.

The case had been of significant interest as tens of millions of Americans are employed under contracts that require individual arbitration over collective actions. The inability for employees to take collective action had been said to potentially allow employers to be less accountable to employees, and would deter employees from taking the time, cost, and effort needed to resolve individual arbitration, effectively silencing their concerns.
Following the decision, analysts suggests that Congress needed to take action to restore employee rights. Justice Ginsburg's dissenting opinion stated that "Congressional correction" of the majority decision was "urgently in order" to protect employees. The AFL-CIO also stated that Congress should "immediately enact" legislation to override the ruling. Some reporters opined that the decision would impact how sex discrimination in the workplace would be handled as otherwise protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,and how that would affect efforts like the Me Too movement, since enforced individual arbitration allows employers to quietly handle such complaints.

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U.S. Supreme Court rules class-action waivers in employment agreements are enforceable
By Ryan J. Kohler , Michael B. McDonald

Thousands of businesses across the nation breathed a sigh of relief on May 21, 2018, as the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that employment contracts containing class-action waivers are enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA).

The ruling in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis not only helps protect thousands of businesses across the nation from costly and time-consuming employment class actions, but also changes the way that claims managers should approach these claims when they first arrive.

Bilateral arbitration benefits both employees and employers because it offers speed, efficiency, and informality. The court has consistently recognized the advantages of bilateral arbitration, especially in the employment context, and many employers now use arbitration agreements.

There are many minor employment law violations that employees truly care about, and the related actions provide fairly small recoveries of just a few hundred or few thousand dollars each. However, if an aggrieved employee or recently terminated employee brings these claims on a class-wide basis, it can mean millions of dollars in damages for systemic violations of employment laws, not to mention hefty attorney costs. To avoid one employee turning a minor issue into a massive class-wide exposure, employers began incorporating class-action waivers into their arbitration agreements.

Although the specific language may vary, class-action waivers provide that the employee and the employer agree to resolve all employment disputes on an individual basis. By agreeing to the waiver provision, the employee gives up the potential opportunity to participate in a class-action lawsuit against the employer or to act as a class representative in bringing a class action. One of the waivers at issue in Epic Systems Corp., for example, stated that all employment disputes would be resolved through individualized arbitration, with claims “pertaining to different employees to be heard in separate proceedings.”

As a sound business practice, class waivers should be included within the employee-employer arbitration agreement due to the deference courts give to arbitration agreements under the FAA. With the court’s ruling, it is expected that the popularity of class-action waivers will rise as businesses continue to seek ways to mitigate risk and reduce litigation costs.

History in the Courts

The Supreme Court asserted in 1991 that employment disputes could be subject to an employer-employee arbitration agreement, and, in 2011, the Supreme Court affirmed a class-action waiver related to consumer class actions in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion. In affirming the enforceability of these provisions, courts have traditionally enforced waiver provisions under the FAA. The FAA expresses a “liberal policy of favoring arbitration agreements” that essentially directs the courts to enforce arbitration agreements according to their terms. The FAA also has been held to at least partially preempt competing state laws regarding the enforceability of arbitration provisions.

Fast forward to the present, and although the Supreme Court has affirmed the enforceability of class waivers in consumer and merchant actions, the court’s Epic Systems Corp. decision in favor of employers was not a foregone conclusion. In 2012, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that an arbitration agreement where the employee agrees to waive the right to bring or participate in a class action violates the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

In 2016, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Ernst & Young LLP v. Morris, threw the matter further into doubt when it ruled that class waivers were unenforceable under the NLRA. In its ruling, the Ninth Circuit held that class-action waivers infringed upon the employee’s right to engage in collective action, a right protected under the NLRA that could not be waived by the employee, especially since there is generally an unequal bargaining power between employees and employers.

The Ninth Circuit’s ruling clashed with a contemporaneous Seventh Circuit decision that held that waiver provisions are enforceable. The split amongst the federal circuits set the stage for the Supreme Court’s review of this issue.

Supreme Court Review

The Supreme Court framed the competing considerations as: “Should employees and employers be allowed to agree that any disputes between them will be resolved through one-on-one arbitration? Or should employees always be permitted to bring their claims in class or collective actions, no matter what they agreed to with their employers?” In other words, does the FAA or the NLRA control the enforceability of class waivers in connection with employment disputes?

The FAA generally protects the rights of parties to privately contract for arbitration to resolve disputes, and to set the parameters of how such an arbitration hearing shall proceed. The dissent argued that class-action waivers infringe upon the employee’s right to organize unions and collectively bargain under the NLRA. The majority opinion, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, noted that the NLRA does not mention an employee’s right to participate in a class-action lawsuit; it protects the employee’s right to bargaining collectively and to participate in collective action through union-related activities.

Congress passed the NLRA after it passed the FAA, and since there is no mention of class actions or arbitrations in the NLRA, the majority held that the NLRA does not protect a worker’s right to participate in a class-action lawsuit or otherwise preempt arbitration agreements.

The employees in Epic Systems Corp. next argued that the FAA contains a “savings clause” that permits courts to refuse the enforcement of arbitration provisions “upon such grounds as exist at law or in equity for the revocation of any contract.” The employees argued that the savings clause applied because the NLRA prohibits any agreement that infringes upon the employee’s right to participate in collective action.

In response, the majority reasoned that the savings clause only concerns traditional contract defenses such as illegality; there is nothing illegal about an agreement to resolve employment claims on an individual basis.

Though the Supreme Court noted that the underlying policies surrounding this issue are debatable, it ultimately determined that the FAA’s plain language requires the enforcement of arbitration agreements according to their terms, including those terms that require individual proceedings. In short, the Supreme Court held that the NLRA does not protect an employee’s right to participate in a class-action lawsuit and that employment agreements that require employment disputes to be resolved via one-on-one arbitration are enforceable under the FAA.

What Does It Mean for Risk and Claims Managers?

This long-awaited decision reduces the possibility of costly and time-consuming class-action employment lawsuits. Risk managers should assess their current employment practices and include arbitration provisions with class waivers. They should also make sure that the arbitration agreements are actually enforceable. Plaintiffs routinely challenge the enforceability of arbitration agreements with class waivers.

An employee should specifically sign an arbitration agreement—it is not enough to simply have a clause in an employee handbook calling for arbitration. Additionally, intake policies that use electronic signatures for the acknowledgement of arbitration forms should have adequate steps to authenticate an employee’s signature.

Claims managers should promptly review any class claims for potential arbitration agreements and work with counsel to immediately move to compel arbitration of any class disputes to ensure that the client has not waived its rights to enforce the agreement. Knowing when and where to look for a potential class-action waiver or employee-employer arbitration provision is an important part of handling any employment claim. As noted earlier, plaintiffs often attempt to challenge the authenticity of arbitration agreements, so it is important to work closely with a client’s human resources department to ensure the company is ready to support a petition to compel arbitration with declarations that can adequately authenticate the arbitration agreement and class waivers to the courts.

What Does This Mean for Employers?

Employment class actions are a source of significant financial and organizational risk for employers. In California, one mistake on a weekly pay stub could result in dozens of labor code violations per year for every employee. Likewise, an error in scheduling rest breaks could mean violations for every employee for every day of work.

If one employee (or, more typically, a recently terminated employee) files a claim for even a minor California Labor Code or Federal Fair Labor Standards Act violation, a class-action lawsuit has the potential to put every one of these violations at issue. The ability to contractually resolve employment disputes on an individual basis, where claims are typically much smaller and less complex, provides a considerable benefit to employers.

Although the decision in Epic Systems Corp. does provide some relief for employers, it does not preempt certain state laws, including claims based on the California Private Attorneys General Act, (PAGA). Although PAGA claims are based on the employee’s allegations against the employer, the claim is technically brought on behalf of the State of California, with the employee and her attorney acting as a deputized private attorney general of the state.

Since the claim is technically brought on behalf of the State of California, it is not considered a class action and, hence, not subject to a wavier in an arbitration agreement. That said, an arbitration agreement that states all claims must be brought on an individual basis can limit the types of damages recoverable in a PAGA action to the types of civil penalties that the state can assess against employers for violations of the labor code.

The ruling, however, does not mean that all class-action waivers are automatically enforceable. Arbitration and class-waiver agreements must still comport with state and federal laws. Courts, for example, still require that the arbitration and/or class-waiver provision be an enforceable agreement under normal contract law; defenses such as unconscionability still apply and the provision must, of course, encompass the underlying claim.

In some jurisdictions, employment offers that are contingent upon an employee’s agreement to a waiver provision without any opt-out procedure may not be enforceable. For these reasons, businesses that use, or are considering, class-action waiver provisions in their employment agreements should consult with an experienced employment attorney to help ensure that the provisions are enforceable under state and federal laws.

At least 45 workers were injured, two critically, on Wednesday after a major fire broke out at Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd’s refinery in Chembur, India

45 injured in massive fire at Bharat Petroleum plant near Mumbai, locals feel tremors
The Mumbai Fire Brigade rushed seven fire engines, two foam tenders and two jumbo tankers to the Bharat Petroleum plant in Chembur.

Updated: August 09, 2018

By HT Correspondent

Boiler blast at BPCL mahul unit in which 43 works injured. (Vijayanand Gupta/HT Photo )

At least 45 workers were injured, two critically, on Wednesday after a major fire broke out at Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd’s refinery in Chembur, an eastern suburb of Mumbai in Maharashtra, officials said.

“After a preliminary treatment at BPCL’s first aid centre, 22 were allowed to go home and 21 were shifted to Inlaks Hospital in Chembur. They have fractures and lacerated wounds. One is being treated in ICU (intensive care unit),” deputy commissioner of police (zone VI) Shahji Umap said.

BPCL had earlier said in a statement that two people had sustained minor injuries and were attended at the refinery’s medical centre before being taken to a hospital for further treatment.

“The fire is still on but is under control,” the company said.

Officials also said 20 workers have been evacuated from the plant.

The Mumbai Fire Brigade, which rushed seven fire engines, two foam tenders and two jumbo tankers to the spot, said the fire was confined to the hydrocracker plant and that a cooling operation was in progress.

“Due to the tremendous heat and build up pressure, firefighting is being carried out from a safe distance using fixed monitors,” chief fire officer PS Rahangdale said.

Seven monitors of fixed firefighting installations and four hose lines of fire engines were being used to contain the level 3 fire that requires immediate evacuation.

Locals reported earthquake-like vibrations from as far as 4km from the plant. Residents from Deonar, which is north of Chembur, also reported vibrations from the blast.

Residents from 72 Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) buildings, who have been rehabilitated close to the refinery, raised slogans against the government outside the plant.

The locals said they are grappling with several health issues due to the pollution caused by the refinery.

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