Watonwan Farm Service Co. - Executive Summary |
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Watonwan Farm Service Company 823-1st Avenue South Box 26 St. James, Minnesota 56081 Mike Minnehan, Plant Manager RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. The Facility Policy The owners, management, and employees of Watonwan Farm Service Co. are committed to the prevention of any accidental release of anhydrous ammonia and propane. If an accidental release should occur, the facility is prepared to work with the local fire company, or other authorities, to mitigate any release and minimize the impact of the release to people and the environment. 2. Facility Information -The primary activity at the facility is the storage and sale of propane gas to farmers. - Anhydrous ammonia and propane gas is received, stored, and distributed for both direct application and for heating and crop drying for crop production nutrients. - The maximun quantity stored would be 610,000 pounds in our four-30,000 gallon and one-18,000 gallon anhydrous ammonia storage tan ks and 210,000 pounds in our one-30,000 gallon and one-26,000 gallon propane storage tanks. The maximum quantity of Ammonia handled would be the unloading of a railroad tank car holding 100,000 pounds. The maximum quantity of propane handled would be the unloading of a truck transport holding 40,000 pounds. 3. The worst-case release scenario and the alternative release scenario. a. The worst-case release scenario would be the release of the total contents of a storage tank released as gas over 10 minutes. The maximum quantity released would be 130,000 pounds, which represents the volume of the storage tank at 85 percent as limited by design standards. The distance to the endpoint is 1.12 miles with anhydrous ammonia. With propane, the worst-case scenario is failure of one-30,000 gallon storage tank when filled to the greatest allowed, resulting in a vapor cloud explosion causing a 1 PSI overpressure to a distance of .43 miles b. The alternative release scenario for ammonia would be a 2 minute release of a 3 inch pipe break, resulting in a distance to the endpoint of .78 miles. With propane, the alternative release is the failure of one 30,000 gallon storage tank when filled to the greatest allowed, resulting in a vapor cloud explosion causing a 1 PSI overpressure to a distance of (factor of .67 X .43 miles = .29 miles) .29 miles. 4. The accidental release prevention program. The facility has implemented the provisions of "Safety Requirements for the Storage and Handling of Anhydrous Ammonia, K-61.1, published by The American National Standards Institute, Inc. and the standards of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, CFR 1910.111 "Storage and handling of anhydrous ammonia". In addition, Minnesota Department of Agriculture Ammonia rules. For propane, NFPA-58 rules. 5. The Five-year Accident History. a. There have been no accidental releases of anhydrous ammonia or propane in the past five years t hat: - have caused any deaths, injuries, or significant property damage at the facility; nor - to our knowledge, have resulted in offsite deaths, injuries, evacuations, sheltering in place, property damage, or environmental damage. 6. The emergency response program: - The facility has: a. a written emergency action plan, in accordance with OSHA standard, 29 CFR 1910.38 b. provided state and local authorities the emergency planning and community right-to-know information as required under SARA Title III. c. Coordinated with local emergency responders. 7. Planned changes to improve safety Safety improvement is an on-going process at the facility. |