Pottstown Precision Casting, Inc. - Executive Summary |
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A Risk Management Program (RMP) has been prepared for Pottstown Precision Casting, Inc. in accordance with Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act. One chemical, Chlorine, is stored at the facility above the threshold quantity. Chlorine is stored in five 2,000 pound cylinders, and is piped to two locations within the building where it is used in an aluminum melting process. Chlorine is also covered by OSHA's Process Safety Management (PSM) standard, and a PSM Program has been in place for the facility since September of 1994. This PSM Program covers many of the same elements that the RMP does, including hazard analysis, chemical safety, employee training and emergency response procedures. Annual health and safety training is conducted at the facility to ensure that those employees that are involved in the chlorine process are properly trained to perform maintenance on the process, and to conduct necessary emergency actions. The main element included in the RMP that is not a part of t he PSM is the Offsite Consequence Analysis (OCA). The OCA that was conducted included two scenarios - a worst case scenario and an alternative scenario. The worst case scenario is an unlikely scenario that assumes 1) very low wind speed, 2) the entire contents of a chlorine cylinder (2,000 lb.) are released, and 3) the automatic control device (scrubber) does not operate. The more likely alternative scenario considers 1) more common atmospheric conditions, and 2) a release of chlorine is controlled by the facility's scrubber system, which has a 95% control efficiency. The distance to the endpoint for the worst case scenario is 0.9 mile. The distance to the endpoint for the alternative scenario is 0.1 mile. No residential population exists within this radius, and only one commercial facility is located within this radius. In the five year period ending on June 14, 1999, no accidents involving the chlorine process were recorded at the facility. A copy of the facility's Risk Manag ement Program is being submitted to the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Preparedness, to be included in its Community Emergency Response Program. |