Scott Specialty Gases - Executive Summary |
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Scott Specialty Gases is committed to operating its facilities in a manner, which is safe for our employees, the public and our community in which we live. This focus is evident by the manner in which we have organized our business. We have an entire staff at the corporate level whose main focus is to ensure our operations are operating in a safe and responsible manner. They accomplish this by their comprehensive development program, which cover such areas as design, installation, procedures and process safety reviews. Scott is committed to accident prevention and preparedness. This can be seen through our Emergency Response Programs. Each Scott location has an emergency response team who is trained to respond to any onsite or offsite accidental release of our products. Scott is also a member of the Compressed Gas Associations COMPGEAP (Compressed Gas Association Emergency Action Plan) program. This program is voluntary alliance with all the major gas manufacturers in the countr y. This alliance is a joint agreement to aid and assist any gas related accidental release within our area. This program allows Scott to react quickly to any offsite difficulties we may encounter. It also allows Scott to draw from the vast knowledge gained from other companies' experience. Our Durham facility's primary activity is the repackaging of high quality specially gases. The regulated substances on our facility are Dimethylether (DME) [ Methyl ether] and Difluoroethane (DFE) [Ethane, 1,1 difluoro-]. These products are repackaged from 32,000 lb. storage trailers into one and one half-ton containers and resold. Our total on hand quantity can be up to 60,000-62,000lbs. of each regulated substance. The worst case release scenario for the DME process was modeled using the OCA Guidance. The scenario assumed a sudden release of one tanker trailer. The trailer holds 32,000 lbs. of product. The product was said to have released at a rate of 3,200 lbs./min over a ten-minute peri od and completely vaporize. Conditions were such taken such that the entire vapor cloud exploded after the contents emptied. This yielded a distance to endpoint of one psi of 0.22 miles. Within this distance are several light industrial buildings that could be affected. For this scenario to take place a rupture of the tank trailer would have to take place. These trailers are well constructed for over the road use and the likelihood of a complete failure of the trailer is highly unlikely. The OCA Guidance was also used for the alternate release scenario to determine the estimated distance to a one-psi over-pressurization for a flammable vapor cloud explosion. The alternate release scenario modeled a sudden failure of the outlet hose on the process pump. The pump has a flow rate of 60lbs/min. A release time of ten minutes at this rate was used in the calculations. The supply trailer holds approximately 32,000 lbs. of product and can be considered an infinite supply for this model. The gas release was assumed to completely vaporize and conditions were such that the entire vapor cloud exploded after the ten-minute period. This yielded an over-pressurization distance of 0.058 miles. There is one light industrial building within this distance and fifteen personnel that could be effected during normal business hours. The presence of safety shutoff vales and pump cutoff switches makes this scenario very unlikely. The Worst case release and the alternate release modeling for the DFE process are similar in setup but yield the following results. The worst case release yields an over-pressurization distance of 0.16 miles to endpoint with several light industrial buildings that may be effected and up to one hundred personnel that could be affected during normal business hours. The alternate results to a one psi over-pressurization is 0.04 miles with one light industrial building within that radius and fifteen personnel that could be effected during normal business hours. Scott Specialty Gases, Inc. prevention program provides an extensive training syllabus which includes supervised training as well as practical testing. Normal safe operating procedures as well as emergency shut down procedures are followed and are available whenever the process is being operated. These procedures ensure that the process is performed in a consistent manner in accordance with all safety guidelines. All preventative and unscheduled maintenance is recorded and tracked for trends and proper operation. Properly trained and qualified technicians carry out these maintenance tasks to ensure completeness and mechanical integrity. Scott's safety record is outstanding. There has not been an accidental release at this facility for any of the covered process. All Emergency response personnel are thoroughly trained in the proper procedures to respond to hazardous materials incidents. Quarterly training is conducted at this location with all emergency response personnel. Thi s training includes emergency evacuation procedures and drills, tabletop exercises, what if scenarios, etc. All ER personnel are required to undergo a forty-hour hazard materials training class and a sixteen-hour refresher each subsequent year to be considered an active member of the team. The training includes incident command procedures, emergency remediation of the hazards, joint communications with local authorities and site & personnel decontamination. At this time there are no significant changes resulting from any findings of our process. Scott is committed to continuous improvement and will be auditing our process on a continual basis for improvements. |