Pickering Creek East Treatment Plant - Executive Summary |
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Philadelphia Suburban Water Company owns and operates the Pickering Creek East Water Treatment Plant on Valley Forge Road in Phoenixville, PA. Philadelphia Suburban Water Company is dedicated to providing a safe and healthy work environment for all its employees. The Corporate Mission is to continue in a leadership role as a good corporate citizen and encourage employees' active participation in the communities served. The Pickering Creek East Water Treatment Plant conducts a safe, productive business, contributing to the community while minimizing risk to employees and neighbors. The plant uses chlorine and sulfur dioxide to disinfect water for public consumption. These chemicals are stored within a building in standard 1-ton containers. The following processes are covered by the Risk Management Program regulations (40 CFR 68): Chlorine - 20,000 pounds Sulfur Dioxide - 4,000 pounds The plant has developed and implemented an effective release prevention program that consist s of the following elements: Process Safety Information Process Hazard Analysis Operating Procedures Training Mechanical Integrity Management of Change Pre-Startup Safety Review Compliance Audits Incident Investigation Employee Participation Contractor Safety A Management Team, consisting of qualified management personnel located onsite and at Corporate Headquarters, is accountable for enforcement and oversight of the above elements of the release prevention program. Emergency Response to any potential incident at the plant is accomplished in accordance with the site's Integrated Contingency Plan. The Integrated Contingency Plan identifies response capabilities and qualification requirements of the onsite Emergency Response Team. The Plan complies with the emergency response requirements of OSHA, EPA and PADEP. The Plan is tested annually for effectiveness. In addition to the onsite Emergency Response Team, the plant maintains liaison with the following response agencies: Vall ey Forge Volunteer Fire Company Schuykill Township Police Department Phoenixville Hospital Chloramone Hazardous Response Team Philadelphia Suburban Water Company has performed hazard assessments to define the worst case release scenario and alternative release scenarios for the Pickering Creek East facility. The worst case scenario is defined as the release of the largest quantity of a substance from a process under defined atmospheric conditions. Catastrophic releases such as these are rare. The alternative release scenarios are defined as "more likely" events that are modeled under site-specific conditions with consideration of existing active safeguards. The worst case release scenarios have been modeled for the indoor release of one container of chlorine. The distance to the toxic endpoint of 3 PPM has been reported to USEPA as 0.90 miles. An alternative, more practical, release scenario for chlorine is the liquid release from a leaking chlorine pipe or fitting from the pro cess within the building. The distance to endpoint for this scenario has been reported as 0.20 miles. The distance to endpoint for a gas release from a leaking sulfur dioxide pipe was calculated to be 0.1 miles. To prevent the occurrence of chlorine or sulfur dioxide releases, the Pickering Creek East Water Treatment Plant uses the following state-of-the-art process controls: Chlorine detectors Sulfur dioxide detectors Alarms Isolation Valves Emergency Power Backup equipment Vacuum Process As an indication of the effectiveness of the above-mentioned programs, the site has experienced no accidental releases within the past five years. An accidental release is defined as any release that resulted in deaths, injuries, or significant property damage on site, or known offsite deaths, injuries, evacuations, sheltering in place, property damage, or environmental damage. Prevention Program improvements planned for the site in the near future will include increased training and equipment for emergency responders, and improved operating and emergency procedures. |