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http://www.wbbm780.com/pages/292234.php?contentType=4&contentId=365904

Posted: Thursday, 08 March 2007 9:40AM

"Fire Chief Wants Answers: Why Didn't Chemical Company Notify Dept. About Spill?"
Steve Miller Reporting

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "(WBBM) -- A fire chief in the southwest suburbs has some questions for a neighboring chemical company: Specifically, why wasn't anybody notified sooner about a chemical spill which sent at least a number of people to the hospital last night.

As WBBM Steve Miller reports, some smell from the chemical lingered in the air - almost 12 hours after the spill.

That leak sent at least six workers to the hospital from a UPS facility in Hodgkins.

The chemical was ethyl acrylate, which is used in making plastics.

The fire chief in the area, Dan Hermes, says he has some concerns.

Specifically - that Ashland Chemical - the apparent source of the spill - waited - or perhaps didn't notify anyone at all - that a spill had taken place.

"There was some sort of time delay. The spill had taken place and nobody at Ashland Chemical contacted Willow Springs or UPS or the Pleasantview Fire Department that a spill had taken place."

Chief Hermes says a quick notification should have been made.

A spokesman for Ashland chemical, James Vitak, says the company regrets that the incident occurred and he apologized.

Vitak says a fork lift punctured a 55-gallon drum of ethyl acrylate."

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http://www.dailysouthtown.com/news/288879,dst_chemleak_308.article

"7 UPS workers hospitalized after chemical spill"

March 8, 2007
The Associated Press

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Seven employees at the UPS center in Hodgkins were taken to hospitals last night after a chemical spill emitted a cloud of fumes, officials said.
The employees were taken to area hospitals after being exposed to fumes from a spill from a 55-gallon chemical drum in Willow Springs, Pleasantview Fire Battalion Chief Kevin Doyle said

Officials said the spill happened in the 8500 block of South Willow Springs Road, which is the listed address of Ashland Chemical."

Note: The following news brief is a quote:

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070308/NEWS01/70308043/1002

Evacuees find overnight lodging

As night fell, a stream of evacuees trickled into the Church of the Nazarene on Broadway Drive, giving up hope they’d be able to return to their homes Thursday night.

Dozens of Forrest County residents were displaced by a Thursday morning chemical spill caused by a train derailment along U.S. 98 near Ralston Road.

Two southbound Kansas City Southern rail cars ruptured, releasing unknown quantities of hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. Both chemicals are toxic; exposure can cause moderate to serious injuries like burns, ulceration and scarring. Thursday night, first responders still were working to contain the spill and neutralize chemicals released into the environment.

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The Church of the Nazarene served as the Red Cross’ temporary shelter but wasn’t equipped to house evacuees overnight. The organization placed more than 45 families in area hotel rooms Thursday night, said Red Cross volunteer Mary Newsome – on Kansas City Southern’s dime.