SOD RUN WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT - Executive Summary |
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Harford County Government's Department of Public Works owns and operates the Sod Run Wastewater Treatment Plant located at 1212 Chelsea Road in Perryman, MD. This facility is designed to treat up to twenty million gallons of wastewater per day as well as liquid waste generated from septic tank pumping, water treatment plant residuals, landfill and rubble fill leachates and sludges from other wastewater treatment facilities located in Harford County Maryland. This facility utilizes chorine and sulfur dioxide which is transported to the facility in, stored and fed from one ton containers. Chlorine is used for disinfection of the wastewater after treatment in physical and biological treatment units. Sulfur dioxide is used to de-chorinate the wastewater prior to discharge into the receiving stream, the Bush River. An accidental release prevention and emergency response policy designed to prevent the release of toxic substances and respond in a rapid manner to mitigate any and all relea ses of toxic materials has been in place for many years. Harford County trains all operators in safe handling procedures tailored to the specific chemcials and equipemnt used at each location. Minimum Personal Protective Euqipment standards have been established and are enforced by all levels of management. The County's aggressive training and strict adherance to established safety procedures have allowed all facilities owned or operated by Harford County DPW's Water and sewer Operations Section to have no federally or state reportable incidents. The County is currently evaluating the retention of a hazardous materials contractor to provide additional remediation services. EPA has established specific criteria for Worst case and Alternate Release scenarios to be submitted under this plan. The Criteria for Worst Case release documents a release of the contents of the largest single vessel containing the regulated substance over a ten minute period with specific wind speed and atmos pheric stability. Based on this direction the WORST CASE SCENARIO is the release of two thousand pounds of chlorine over a ten minute period resulting in a distance to endpoint (point where substance is no longer a hazard to the public) of 1.3 miles from the point of release. The ALTERNATE RELEASE SCENARIO presented involves a release of Chlorine and Sulfur Dioxide (one scenario for each) resulting from incident or equipment failure whcih could conceivably happen. For the purposes of this document, Harford County chose a flexible connector which is used to connect the one-ton containers to the chemical feed and equipment. Alternate Release Scenario (Chlorine) resulting from a flexible connector break causing a Liquid Spill and Vaporization with a release rate of 84 pounds per minute with a ten minute duration would have a distance to endpoint of 1.2 miles. Alternate Release Scenarion (Sulfur Dioxide) resulting from a flexible connector break causing a Liquid Spill and Vaporization with a release rate of 19 pounds per minute with a ten minute duration would have a distance to endpoint of 0.62 miles. No facility owned or operated by Harford County Department of Public Works has had any incident which involved the release of toxic materials which resulted in impact to any neighboring or adjacent property or resulted in injury or hazard to the general public. Harford County has worked closely with Harford County HAZMAT Team, equipment suppliers and private contractors to assure policies, planning and training meet or exceed regulatory mandates. Harford County's commitment to employee and public safety is a continuous endeavor. The County is constantly seeking ways to limit employee and public exposure to toxic substances from their facilities and will continue to evaluate any and all recommendations as well as innovations in safety and technology which will further enhance this already highly successful safety program. |