Chef America East, Inc. - Executive Summary |
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.0 FACILITY AND THE REGULATED SUBSTANCES HANDLED Chef America East is a food processing facility manufacturing frozen sandwiches. The facility operates an ammonia refrigeration system to provide cooling and freezing capabilities. Approximately 100,000 pounds of ammonia are contained within the refrigeration system at any one time. Chef America utilizes a process of mechanical refrigeration similar to that in a home freezer but on a much larger scale. Liquid ammonia is evaporated into a gas within the sealed refrigeration system, then compressed and condensed back into its liquid form to provide cooling of the processing and storage areas. When Chef America developed their Mt. Sterling manufacturing facility in 1993, they elected to utilize ammonia (instead of chlorofluorocarbons, such as Freon) as their refrigerant due to its many advantages in manufacturing. Ammonia is naturally-occurring compound with minimal environmental impacts, and is more efficient than its chlorofluorocarbon counterparts. In addition, it is significantly less expensive than other refrigerants, allowing Chef America to provide the consumer which the most affordable product possible. 2.0 ACCIDENTAL RELEASE PREVENTION AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE POLICIES While there are few long-term environmental consequences to ammonia use, it can present health hazards if handled improperly. Chef America has developed a comprehensive safety program in compliance with OSHA and EPA requirements to ensure the responsible management of the ammonia onsite (the Process Safety Management and Risk Management Program, respectively). All refrigeration employees are trained in this program on an annual basis and weekly safety meetings are conducted to further protect Chef America workers and the community as a whole. Chef America works very closely with local emergency management organizations such as the Montgomery County Fire Department and the Montgomery County Local Emergency Pla nning Commission. Members of these organizations are provided ammonia response training by Chef America to further enhance the ability of these responders to assist in any emergency involving the ammonia refrigeration system. 3.0 WORST-CASE AND ALTERNATIVE RELEASE SCENARIOS The worst-case release scenario analysis conducted for the RMP assumed loss of all ammonia contained in the largest pressurized vessel over a 10-minute period. These circumstances are dictated by the RMP regulation and are not realistically expected to occur. The largest pressurized vessel onsite is capable of holding approximately 67,000 pounds of liquid ammonia. Based on analysis using ALOHA software, the unlikely release of the complete contents of the vessel in an absolute worst case could potentially affect persons located up to 2.9 miles downwind of the release. The tank is located within a building which would provide significant containment in the event of a release, but the building could not be c onsidered a mitigating factor when conducting this analysis due to the presence of exhaust fans and other openings. These would, in fact, be sealed in the event of a catastrophic release and Chef America fully expects offsite consequences to be much less than those predicted in this analysis. The alternative release scenario was developed to assess a more likely release condition, but one that would still be highly unlikely given the safety measures currently in place. For this scenario, it was assumed that the fill line for the high pressure receiver was broken off just after loading had been completed (this could be caused by the truck driving away prior to disconnecting from the fill valve). Modeling of this scenario release using ALOHA software showed that such an accident would result in a release rate of approximately 68 pounds per minute. Under these circumstances, the release could potentially affect persons within a 347-yard radius of the site. 4.0 FIVE-YEAR ACCIDENT HISTORY Chef America has had one accidental release of ammonia in the past five years, occurring in August of 1996. A total of 400 pounds of ammonia was released. There were no onsite or offsite injuries, but employees from several nearby industries were evacuated as a precautionary measure. 5.0 EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROGRAM All refrigeration employees at Chef America East are trained to respond to and control ammonia releases. These individuals receive specific training to mitigate any accidental releases as quickly and safely as possible. Chef America East maintains all emergency response equipment (such as respirators and protective clothing) onsite to minimize the amount of ammonia escaping from the system. 6.0 CERTIFICATION STATEMENT To the best of the undersigned's knowledge, information, and belief formed after reasonable inquiry, the information submitted in the Chef America East RMP is true, accurate, and complete. Signature Print Name Title Date |