Midwest Grain Products of Illinois, Inc. - Executive Summary |
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This facility is committed to the safety of its employees and the community, and to the quality of the environment. We believe in being responsible neighbors in our communities. To ensure our commitment, we adhere with all applicable federal, state, and local laws. The facility has developed an emergency response plan and has coordinated response activities with the Pekin Fire Department and the Tazewell County Local Emergency Planning Committee. This facility produces gluten, starch, fuel alcohol, industrial alcohol, and beverage alcohol. Anhydrous ammonia is the only risk management program regulated substance processed at the facility in excess of threshold quantities. Ammonia is used as a nutrient and is also used for pH control. The system includes a storage tank and associated regulators, piping, and valves to control the flow of ammonia to the end use locations within the plant. Our worst-case release scenario for the ammonia system is a failure of the storage tank, resulting in a release of ammonia. The maximum quantity of ammonia in the tank is limited to 80 percent of capacity (approximately 130,000 pounds). The distance to endpoint for this scenario is 4.1 miles according to the equations provided in the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) guidance document for ammonia refrigeration systems. Public receptors identified within 4.1 miles of the facility include residences, schools, a hospital, a prison/correctional facility, recreational areas, and commercial/industrial areas. A fish and wildlife area and a conservation area were identified as environmental receptors within the distance to endpoint. An alternative release scenario was also analyzed. The alternative release scenario examined a release of approximately 18,000 pounds of ammonia resulting from a pipe failure. The distance to endpoint for the alternative release scenario is 0.3 miles. Public receptors identified within 0.3 miles of the facility include residences, commercial/industrial ar eas, and a recreational area. No environmental receptors were identified. This facility complies with the EPA's accident prevention rule and all applicable state and local codes and regulations. In addition, the facility complies with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) 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 not had an accident i nvolving ammonia that resulted in any on-site deaths, injuries, or significant property damage; or that resulted in any offsite deaths, injuries, property damage, environmental damage, evacuations, or shelterings in place. In the event of an emergency involving ammonia, we will implement our emergency response plan. If necessary, we will also notify the Pekin Fire Department and request that they respond to the emergency. Our emergency response plan has been coordinated with the fire department and they have inspected our facility. Although we do not have any current projects planned to further improve the safety of our systems, it is our policy to continuously work towards better and safer systems. |