Van De Kamp's Frozen Foods - Executive Summary |
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Accidental Release Prevention and Emergency Response Policy : VDK maintains a well trained and equipted force of nine Refrigeration Mechanics. At least two are on site at all times. Refrigeration Mechanics are all certified "Hazardous Materials Responders" with annual re-certification. Management has two certified "Hazardous Materials Incident Commanders" on site. Class "A" suits and SCBA's are on site for response to ammonia incidents. Response team members all have between three and twenty-two years experiance in ammonia system. The Senior Refrigeration Engineer has over twenty-eight years experiance in ammonia systems, and is the primary Incident Commander on site. VDK is commited to maintaining a well trained and prepared response team. Our Facility and Regulated Substances Handled : VDK's Jackson Tennessee facility has over 300,000 square feet under roof, on a 102 acre site. We produce and freeze : waffles, french toast, pancakes, pizzas and fish. Our product and storage freeze rs use ammonia as the refrigerant. Total ammonia capacity for all freezers and related systems is 110,000 pounds. We have a single 30,000 gallon propane tank for use as alternate fuel in the case of natural gas curtailment. Worst-Case Release Senario(s) : Ammonia System "Toxic Release" Worst Case Scenario. Loss of entire contents of V-21. A 20,000 pound capacity refrigerated liquid ammonia vessel, due to catastrophic pump failure. Entire inventory loss at the rate of 2,000 pounds per minute for 10 minutes. Total loss, 20,000 pounds. This vessel is contained in a 2,000 square foot room. Based on RMP*COMP calculations, we have a toxic endpoint distance of 0.10 miles. No residential population within this endpoint distance. Propane System "Flammables" Worst Case Scenario. Loss of entire 115,000 pounds of propane from storage tank, due to catastrophic piping failure. Entire inventory loss with resulting fireball. RMP* COMP calculations place "1 PSI Overpressure Endpoint" at 0.40 mile s. Estimated residential population within this distance is 300. Alternative Release Scenario(s) : Ammona "Toxic Release" Alternative Scenario. Loss of 10,000 pound of ammonia caused by a truck transfer hose failure during an ammonia shipment being offloaded into our system. RMP*COMP calculations based on a 10,000 pounds of ammonia being released at the rate of 1000 pound per minute for 10 minutes, places a toxic endpoint distance of 0.20 miles. No residential population within this endpoint distance. Propane "Flammables" Alternative Release Scenario. Loss of 10,000 pound of propane due to a transfer hose failure during a propane shipment being off loaded into our system. RMP*COMP calculations place "1 PSI Overpressure Endpoint" at 0.10 miles. no residential population lives within this endpoint distance. General Accidential Release Prevention Program: VDK complies with the OSHA Process Safety Management and EPA's RMP for Ammonia and Propane use and storage. We have computerize d ammonia compressor control systems and twenty-four a day operator attention to our systems. Five Year Accident History: VDK has never had an accident with the Ammonia system. Quaker Oats, the former plant owner, had a small release on 11/01/94. They lost 700 pounds of ammonia due to a pipe strainer failure. The failure was determined by an outside Comsulting Lab to have been caused by excessive torque applied to the strainer bolts, at the factory. Quaker Oats was not responsible for the bolt failures. Management changed the specifications for new equipment installation to prevent this type of failure from reoccuring. No offsite injuries or property damage occured as the result of this incident. The LEPC and Jackson Fire department responded to the incident. Emergency Response Program : VDK has an Emergency Response Program that covers our Ammonia and Propane systems. Notification of Refrigeration Mechanice (responders) is by radio. In the event of an incident, they respond with SCBA's to investigate the situation. If the situation warrants, they will respond in class "A" suits, after non-essential personnel are evacuated to designated staging areas. Back up is provided by the Jackson City Fire Department, if requested. Madison County LEPC is also on call if needed. The Fire Department, and Police will handle public notification, under the control of the LEPC. We have system shut down plans in the event of severe weather or fires. Evacuation drills are held several times a year. Refrigeration Mechanics are "Responder" certified and have a physical each year. Planned Changes to Improve Safety : During the year 2000, the ammonia system computerized control programs will be updated to a more powerfull version of Wonderware. This will allow more comprehensive monitoring and better control of existing ammonia systems. One major drill, with LEPC and Fire department involvement is planned for 2000. One or more smaller drills for inhouse response training wi ll be scheduled during the same year. |