Excel Corporation - Executive Summary |
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This facility is committed to the safety of its employees and the community, and the quality of the environment. Our mission includes a commitment to act as responsible neighbors in our communities. We will accomplish our mission by adhering with all applicable federal, state, and local laws. The facility has developed an emergency response plan and has coordinated response activities with the Fort Morgan Fire Department. This facility produces beef products for market distribution and ultimately for public consumption. Ammonia refrigeration is used throughout the plant for all areas that require cooling. The system includes receiving tanks, compressors, chillers, freezers, condensers, and associated piping, valves, and other equipment. The facility also processes methane from biogas generated in the wastewater treatment plant. Our worst-case scenario for the ammonia refrigeration system is a failure of the low-side accumulator, resulting in a release of ammonia. Written operating p rocedures limit the maximum quantity of ammonia in the tank to 80% of its capacity (75,000 pounds). The accumulator would rarely contain this quantity of ammonia. During normal operations, the accumulator is only 33 percent full (31,000 pounds). The distance to endpoint for this scenario is 3.2 miles according to look-up tables in EPA's guidance document for Ammonia Refrigeration Systems. Residences, schools, a hospital, recreational areas, and commercial/industrial areas were identified within this distance to endpoint. A wildlife area was also identified within the distance to endpoint. An alternative release scenario was also analyzed. The alternative scenario examined a release of 20,000 pounds of ammonia in approximately one hour. This scenario is based on a previous incident at the facility. The distance to endpoint for the alternative scenario is 0.1 miles. No public or environmental receptors were identified within 0.1 miles of the facility. Our worst-case scenario for the met hane biogas system is a vapor cloud explosion of 15,000 pounds of methane. The distance to endpoint for this scenario is 0.2 miles. A residence and a commercial/industrial area were the only identified public or environmental receptors within a 0.2-mile radius of the facility. An alternative release scenario was also analyzed for the methane biogas system. The scenario assumed a release of 15,000 pounds of methane over a ten minute time period. The endpoint for this analysis is the lower flammable limit of methane, and the resulting distance to endpoint is 0.1 miles. No public or environmental receptors were identified within 0.1 miles of the facility. This facility complies with EPA's accident prevention rule and all applicable state and local codes and regulations. In addition, the facility complies with OSHA's Process Safety Management regulation. Our prevention program includes written operating and mechanical integrity procedures, safe work practices, a contractor safety program, management of change, and pre-startup safety reviews. In addition, we have implemented a training program to ensure that our employees are knowledgeable in the hazards of the processes and in their specific job functions. If an incident does occur, it is thoroughly investigated and the findings of the investigation are communicated to all affected employees. We believe our prevention program is key to minimizing the risk to our employees, the public, and the environment. In the past five years, we have had a single accident involving ammonia. The accident resulted in several on-site injuries but no offsite impacts. An incident investigation was conducted and the facility revised the employee training program and also revised operating procedures as a result of the investigation. In the event of an emergency involving ammonia or methane, we will implement our emergency response plan. If necessary, we will also notify the Fort Morgan Fire Department and request that they respond to t he emergency. Our emergency response plan has been coordinated with the fire department and they have inspected our facility. Although we do not have any active projects to further improve the safety of our systems, it is our policy to continuously work towards better and safer systems. |