Hundreds Evacuated in Chester County, PA; Hydrogen trailer catches fire

UPDATE: RESIDENTS ALLOWED TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMES

 

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (CBS) - Hundreds of West Chester (Chester County) residents were told to evacuate this morning because of a nearby chemical fire.

The fire started just after 10:30 AM at the Johnson Matthey specialty metals and chemical plant, on King Road.

Authorities say a trailer containing hydrogen cylinders (photo) caught fire.  It took crews more than two hours to get the blaze under control.

At least one person was hurt, and was taken to Crozer-Chester Medical Center.

County emergency officials say the company that owned the trailer asked them to evacuate homes near the plant along King and Ravine Roads, Glen Loch Way, and Lewis Lane.  About 330 residents were been asked to go to the East Whiteland fire station, on Planebrook Road in Frazer, where the American Red Cross was assisting them.

Authorities say the evacuations were being done as a precaution and there is no immediate danger. An emergency response team was headed to the chemical plant for clean-up and investigation.

It was not immediately clear when residents would be allowed to return to their homes.

Reported by Ian Bush, KYW Newsradio 1060

 NBC 10:

Some residents in West Whiteland Township, Pa. have been ordered to immediately evacuate Wednesday afternoon because of a fire at a nearby specialty chemicals company.

The fire began in a trailer full of hydrogen at the Johnson Matthey plant at about 10:30 a.m.

The trailer is still on fire, Patty Mains, a spokeswoman for Chester County Department of Emergency Services, told the Associated Press. She says the plant itself was evacuated, as well as some houses in the area.

The evacuated roads include King Road, Ravine Road, Glen Loch Way and Lewis Lane. Residents in the area are asked to evacuate to East Whiteland Fire company at 170 Planebrook Road, off Route 30.

Johnson Matthey is a chemicals company that focuses on catalysis, precious metals, fine chemicals and process technology, according to its website.

WEST WHITELAND, Pa. - August 3, 2011 (WPVI) -- A trailer filled with hydrogen caught fire on Wednesday morning in Chester County and some nearby homes were evacuated.

The fire was reported around 10:30 a.m. at 1401 King Road in West Whiteland, Pa. at a company called Johnson Matt

Patty Mains, a spokeswoman for Chester County Department of Emergency Services, says the trailer is still on fire at the Johnson Matthey plant. She says the plant itself was evacuated, as well as some houses in the area.

The view from Chopper 6 HD showed a number of people standing outside the building while firefighters worked to douse the flames.

One person was injured. The victim was taken to Crozer Chester Medical Center in an unknown condition.

King Road is shut down between Ravine and Phoenixville Pike.
 

Comet ELENIN, Earthquakes, And YOU.

Nov 9, 2011 the earth will supposedly cross the threshold of the debris tail of ELENIN on the same plain (assuming ELENIN is a real object that would be catastrophic).

This is a cool interactive NASA chart displaying the comets trajectory through the solar system:

http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=c%2F2010+X1&orb=1

ELENIN, according to some researchers stands for Extinction Level Event Notable Impact November — also encoded into the name is Elevin Nine (Nov. 9), and LEONID (a meteor shower that peaks in November).

So is NASA worried? Not on the surface. They did release  an internal video for their employees concerning emergency  preparedness, though - its posted up topp, the first thing you see in this story.

This also ties in with the massive gearing up of underground bases  recently built, specifically under the new Denver International Airport.

Denver Airport Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0gxlZCdyed4


This incoming object appears to be massive. The strange thing is that only a select few sources worldwide have seen the object a few of which we traced back to DARPA directly.

Big seems to be the appropriate word for we now have the first actual  astronomical calculations that puts the coma (the part they can see is 50,000 miles in diameter) Yes a big rock!

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I, RYAN, DID FURTHER RESEARCH INTO THIS NEWS REPORT, AND CAME UP WITH MY OWN ANSWERS:

       Doing the math, according to NASA, it was 401 million miles away on 12/10/2010 when discovered and was 170 million miles away on 05/04/2011, so its speed of travel is 231 million miles in 246 days (5904 hours). To our speed limits, that thing is going 3,9126.0162601626 miles per hour (mph). So at that speed/date rate, it will arrive at Earth 181  Days after May 4th, 2011, which comes to 91 Days from today (08/02/2011) which will be: October 1st, 2011
          HOWEVER, On July 31st it was 4,554,838.49 miles from one of our satellites - STEREO-B - This was said to be the closest it will get. In October, when it becomes more visible before sunrise, it is expected to be 21,379,854.2 miles from that same satellite getting further away. From the man himself who discovered it, who found the comet, he was asked, Does there exist any danger for the Earth with the comet?  He answered: "No, my comet will pass at distance of 34,400,000 km (21 375 169 miles) from the Earth. For example, minimal distance to another planet of Solar System – Venus is 38,000,000 km (23,612,105.3 miles). This distance is completely safe for us. Earth may pass through the comet tail, but this event is not dangerous also. In 1910 Earth passed through the Halley’s comet tail and nothing happened."

According to NASA,
"Comet Elenin will not encounter any dark bodies that could perturb its orbit, nor will it influence us in any way here on Earth...It will get no closer to Earth than 35 million kilometers [about 22 million miles]...Comet Elenin will not only be far away, it is also on the small side for comets...And comets are not the most densely-packed objects out there. They usually have the density of something akin to loosely packed icy dirt...So you've got a modest-sized icy dirtball that is getting no closer than 35 million kilometers...It will have an immeasurably miniscule influence on our planet. By comparison, my subcompact automobile exerts a greater influence on the ocean's tides than comet Elenin ever will."


Resources:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-135
http://spaceobs.org/en/asteroids-comets/faq/
http://www.cometelenin.com/
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-640370

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords makes a dramatic appearance on House floor for the first time since the Tucson shooting, as the House approves Debt-Ceiling Bill

BIG STORY

Debt-ceiling deal puts off major changes to the future

 

 

 

BREAKING NEWS: House Passes Bill That Raises Nation's Debt Limit

   

Party leaders lined up support for their newly drafted debt deal, charging toward a vote as early as Monday evening despite grumbling from liberals and conservatives who stretched the bounds of rhetoric to express their distaste for it. 

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, emerging briefly Monday afternoon to speak with reporters, said he was not ready "declare victory yet." But he and his GOP counterpart, Sen. Mitch McConnell, expressed confidence they could push the bill through "quickly." 

"We need to send this to President Obama as soon as we can," Reid said. 

Congress has until the end of the day Tuesday to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling in order for the Treasury to be able to continue paying all its bills come Wednesday. 

The House is expected to act first and could get to a final vote by late afternoon or early evening. The House plans to cram the bill into the shell of an unrelated Senate "education sciences" bill -- in doing so, the package will have certain privileges and be able to skip to the front of the line in the Senate if it clears the House. 

House Speaker John Boehner may have to rely on a blend of Republicans and Democrats to push it through his chamber, with some conservatives unhappy about key provisions in the compromise. 

House Democrats don't want to carry Republicans' water, though. Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., said every Democrat who votes for the bill takes a Republican off the hook -- he urged colleagues to wait until Republicans put at least 200 votes on the board "before we give them cover." 

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said she was still consulting with her caucus -- a day earlier, she could not say whether any Democrat would support the package. 

Liberal Democrats are unhappy in part because the first phase of the plan relies solely on spending cuts -- $900 billion worth of them. 

The second phase of the plan relies on a special committee to come up with roughly $1.5 trillion in additional deficit reduction. Both sides are wary about what that process could produce, in terms of entitlement reform and tax reform.

And conservatives are particularly agitated about a provision that would enact sweeping defense cuts if the committee's recommendations are not approved by the end of the year. Plus some are peeved that, while the package would call for a vote on a balanced-budget amendment, it would not require its approval in order for the debt ceiling to be increased. 

Still, a number of big-name lawmakers were getting in line behind the bill. 

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who said he is "very concerned" about the defense spending provision, nevertheless said he will "strongly support" this package. 

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., echoed that sentiment. 

"We're very optimistic we're going to do well," McConnell said. 

In the second phase of the plan, the debt ceiling will be raised by $1.5 trillion if the committee recommendations are approved by the end of the year. The size of the increase could be smaller if the approved cuts are smaller. 

Each of the GOP and Democratic leaders in the chambers will nominate lawmakers to the 12-member committee to report back in the fall. The vote, to take place by Dec. 23, would be an up-or-down vote with no amendments allowed. 

President Obama said everything will be on the table and both parties will find some of the cuts objectionable.

"Despite what some Republicans have argued, I believe that we have to ask the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share by giving up tax breaks and special deductions. Despite what some in my own party have argued, I believe that we need to make some modest adjustments to programs like Medicare to ensure that they're still around for future generations. That's why the second part of this agreement is so important," Obama said from the White House briefing room. 

Party leaders in both chambers were presenting the agreement to their rank-and-file Monday ahead of the votes.

Several objections are expected, including from Republican defense hawks who don't want the military gutted and from the Congressional Black Caucus, which called the deal a "sugar-coated Satan sandwich." 

Boehner told his Republican caucus on a Sunday night conference call that the deal isn't done yet. But Boehner said it does not violate GOP principles. 

"We got 98 percent of what we wanted," he said adding that the framework cuts more spending than it raises the debt limit. It also caps future spending to limits in the growth of government. 

"It would also guarantee the American people the vote they have been denied in both chambers on a balanced budget amendment, while creating, I think, some new incentives for past opponents of a BBA to support it," Boehner said. 

A "trigger" in the plan would enact across-the-board cuts if the joint committee doesn't reach at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction. If that happens, Obama would be allowed to request a $1.2 trillion debt increase and Congress would have to disapprove it subject to a presidential veto. 

According to a Power Point presentation presented by Boehner to the caucus, roughly half of the proposal's automatic cuts would come from defense and half from Medicare. 

While the trigger is supposed to hurt as incentive to get Congress to act, other programs like Social Security, Medicaid, veterans benefits and military pay would be off-limits. 

House Republicans spent nearly an hour on the conference call with Boehner. 

But one House GOP lawmaker who told Fox News he intends to vote against the plan emerged from the call saying he doubted it was 98 percent in the GOP's favor. 

"The minority leader's on board," said the lawmaker who requested anonymity in order to speak freely. "Really? Nancy's cool with only 2 percent? She's that stupid?" 

The lawmaker added that Obama's health care law was protected while "the military got screwed," saying the across-the-board trigger between defense and Medicare left Medicaid off the table. The theory was advanced that the health care law will be achieved by pushing greater numbers of recipients of government health care benefits onto Medicaid. 

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a fierce critic of the entire process, did not outright oppose the legislation but also expressed his disappointment in the chain of events that led to the 11th-hour deal. He said he had wanted seven days to review the bill. 

"Republicans offered budgets and bills with trillions more in spending cuts than contained in the current legislation," said Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee. 

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., also faulted the 11th hour negotiating but said, "We have settled on a reasonable compromise that all sides should immediately support and which I intend to vote for." 

House begins voting on bill to raise government's debt ceiling

House begins voting on bill to raise government's debt ceiling. 

Watch live:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

AIRPORT GROUND STOPS:

Flights to #BOS, #BWI, #DCA, #EWR, #HPN, #IAD, #JFK, #LGA, #PHL being held at their origin until at least 7pm ET

Message in bottle makes it to sender's daughter after 50 years

 A message in a bottle has travelled thousands of miles over 50 years - and has finally found its way back to the sender's daughter.

The father of Paula Pierce, from New Hampshire, put a message into a Coca Cola bottle and threw it into the ocean in the hope that it would find its way back to his wife Tina, Paula's mother.

It is unclear exactly when the message was written, but it is thought it could possibly date back to 1960.

It read: 'Return to 419 Ocean Boulevard and receive a reward of $150 from Tina, owner of the Beachcomber.'




Ms Pierce took over the family's business after her parents passed away.

She said that when she received the message, she was moved to tears: 'It was like being contacted from the past. It like jumped up off the page at me. And I was like that's my father's writing. That is my father's writing!'

She told CBS she thinks her dad wrote the message to tease his business-savvy wife.

The bottle made it 2,000 miles all the way to the island of Turks and Caicos where message-in-a-bottle-collector Clint Buffington found it - and returned it to sender.

Mr Buffington, who runs the website messageinabottlehunter.wordpress.com, told CBS News: 'A message from the past like this carries special weight. And I'm just really glad to be part of that I guess.

'Personally, the biggest motivation for me is meeting these people who are total strangers and finding out their stories.'

Ms Pierce learned of the message when a reporter from Seacoast online contacted her.

When asked what her mother would have done if someone had come knocking looking for their $150, Paula said: 'She would stand there with hands on her hip and say "now wait a minute". She would get a laugh out of it, but she would certainly not pay them any money.'