Blackstone Water Treatment Facility - Executive Summary |
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Town of Blackstone Water Treatment Facility is located within the boundaries of Fort Pickett, which is a Virginia National Guard facility. The water treatment facility is owned and operated by the Town of Blackstone, Virginia. The facility is part of the potable water supply system for Blackstone and Fort Pickett. Raw water is pumped from the local reservoir to the treatment facility, where the water is treated before being pumped throughout the local water supply network. The water treatment facility contains many chemicals used in the laboratory and in the treatment of the raw water. Chlorine gas is the only chemical in large quantity that could be a danger to the surrounding community. The chlorine gas is stored in "ton" cylinders, and at any one time, the facility may have up to 8,000 pounds of chlorine. Chlorine, and also all small quantity chemicals at the facility, are handled in a very safe manner in order to prevent any accidental release. To maximize employee and publ ic safety, the Town of Blackstone is committed to very high standards of safety at the facility. The safety protocols are implemented at the facility through Town's chain-of-command (Town Manager-Superintendent of Water/Waste Utilities-Facility employees). These safety measures include daily inspections, employee training, monitoring devices, design features, etc. The Town, in accordance to the RMP requirements, has run a computer model (RMP*Comp) to determine worst case and alternative case releases of chlorine. The computer model has indicated that the endpoint of a chlorine release is 0.9 miles (worst case) and 0.1 miles (alternative case). Both cases would involve the release of chlorine from the facility and the likely pathway of the gas. Since chlorine is heavier than air, the gas should migrate down the local creek to Hurricane Branch. This pathway has no human receptors within the 0.9 mile radius. The water treatment facility is complying with the EPA RPM requirements and the OSHA PSM requirements. The Town of Blackstone believes it is very important to use both technological and procedural/manerial procedures in the safety protocol. The water facility has had no reportable accidental releases at the facility within the past five years. In case of a future release, the employees at the facility are trained to indentify the release, report the release, and take all necessary steps in protecting the public safety. The local Fire Departments and Emergency Response Teams will be contacted immediately upon a release. The Town of Blackstone will continually review and revise (as needed) the safety protocols at the facility in order to provide the best service to the community in a safe and efficient manner. |