South Boston Water Treatment Facility - Executive Summary

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This document presents the Town of South Boston's Water Treatment Facility strategy to comply with the Clean Air Act requirements of Section 112(r)(7), Accidental Release Prevention Requirements: Risk Management Program.  It is the Town of South Boston's  intent to enforce the policies and procedures presented in this document to prevent accidental releases of regulated substances or reduce the severity of those releases that do occur. 
 
1.0  POLICIES IN PLACE  
 
The Town of South Boston Water Treatment Facility complies with Clean Air Act and Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) air emissions regulations and has policies in place to ensure continued compliance. 
 
2.0  SOURCE AND SUBSTANCES  
 
The facility is responsible for treating water for the Town of South Boston (SIC Code 4941, NAICS 22131). Chlorine (Chemical Abstracts Services, CAS Number 7782-50-5) is used to disinfect treated water prior to distribution. The Town of South Boston stores approximately four (4) 1-ton c 
ylinders on site.  
 
3.0  RELEASE SCENARIOS  
 
The worst case release scenario for a release of chlorine involves the failure of a one-ton container releasing approximately 2,000 lbs of chlorine.  In this scenario, the entire amount is released over a ten-minute period at a rate of 110 pounds per minute (lbs/min).  The distance to the toxic endpoint the chlorine would travel, before dispersing enough to no longer pose a health hazard, is 0.9 miles.  This distance was limited by considering the enclosed building as a passive mitigation measure. 
 
The alternate release scenario for the release of chlorine involves release through a 5/16 inch hole in the cylinder. The release rate is 15 lbs/min. The distance to the toxic endpoint is 0.1 miles.  The distance was limited by considering the enclosed building as a passive mitigation measure. 
    
4.0  ACCIDENTAL RELEASE PREVENTION PROGRAM  
The facility is in compliance with the OSHA Process Safety Management (PSM) rule and, with this document, the  
Clean Air Act Accidental Release Prevention Program regulations.  The Town of South Boston Water Treatment Facility relies on a system of equipment maintenance and periodic testing to prevent accidental releases.  
 
5.0  ACCIDENT HISTORY  
To date, the Town of South Boston Water Treatment Facility has had no accidental releases of chlorine. 
 
6.0  EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROGRAM  
 
The Town of South Boston Water Treatment Facility does not have an emergency response plan which has been coordinated with community emergency responders.  The facility relies entirely on local community emergency response teams to address releases. 
 
7.0  PLANNED CHANGES TO IMPROVE SAFETY  
 
The Town of South Boston Water Treatment Facility has an ongoing maintenance training and operational training program to continuously update operator knowledge of systems within their facility.
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