City of Tyler - Golden Road Water Treatment Plant - Executive Summary |
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Golden Road Water Treatment Plant lies inside the city limits with boundaries delineated by a chain link fence. The site has appropriate buffers from residential areas. The Golden Road Water Treatment Plant remains an essential facility for the City of Tyler. The plant treats and pumps approximately 80% - 90% of the city's potable water. This treatment plant is the primary source of drinking water for the City of Tyler's estimated 83,000 residents. Water treatment is the regulated process at this facility. Chlorine gas disinfects the water making it safe for public consumption. The use of chlorine gas for disinfection in water treatment results in a cost-effective method for meeting state and federal disinfecting rules and regulations. The plant safely stores 33,000 pounds of chlorine. The Golden Road plant manger drafted the written operating procedures around safety. In addition, all operators must have an operator's license from the Texas Natural Resource an d Conservation Commission. All employees who handle chlorine know about the dangers of chlorine and how to safely handle the gas. The plant manager has safety meetings on a regular basis. At these meetings overall plant safety is discussed with employees. Employees can voice their opinions on how to improve plant and chemical safety. The worst case release scenario models the complete release of a one ton container in ten minutes. An urban environment best describes the surrounding area. The EPA's RMP Comp Ver. 1.06 models the distance to toxic endpoint. The release has offsite impacts. They include schools, residences, public recreational areas, and commercial areas. However, such a release is unlikely due to several reasons. One is that the containers are being protected from vehicle impact. Second, operators are trained in the use of the emergency repair kits for the one ton containers. Third, the one ton containers all have relief valves that open when the tempera ture exceeds a set level. The alternative release scenario models the failure of a 1 inch schedule 80 pipe which is connected to five one ton containers. The pressure in the pipe is 97.5 psi. The release rate of 72 lbs. per minute is limited by pipe dimensions and not by any valve or opening upstream of the release. This particular scenario most closely corresponds to the actual piping setup. The offsite impacts are residences and public recreational areas. The Golden Road Water Plant applies preventative maintenance and inspections to replace any deficient pipes or header components. The Golden Road Water Treatment Plant complies with the rules and regulations of the EPA RMP. The most important preventative measure for avoiding accidental release involves the chlorine gas feed system. The chlorine gas feeds via a gas vacuum created by running water through an injector. The gas will cease to flow when a chlorine gas piping breaks and vacuum is lost downstream of the vacuum regulator. This ensures that any any failure in the process equipment will cease gas flow which helps to eliminate the chances of chlorine release. The only potential for gas escaping is the piping from the vacuum regulator to the ton containers. A building with proper ventilation and fire resistant walls encloses the process area. In addition, gas detectors in the process area will alarm personnel that a leak has occurred. All operators are trained in the written operating procedures. Preventative maintenance procedures aid in changing out wearable parts before they fail. For example, pigtails are changed out annually or at any sign of deterioration and all gaskets are replaced after any servicing. Inspections of the storage area and process area help to ensure that all valves and components are quite capable of proper shut down to isolate and stop leaks. Any valve that turns with difficulty gets replaced. In addition the SCBA's are tested on a routine basis for proper functioning. The City of Tyler Golden Road Water Treatment Plant has not had any accidental releases within the last five years that resulted in personal injury or property damage offsite or onsite. Under the City of Tyler Emergency Management Plan, response procedures exist where by emergency evacuation measures will be implemented as required. Any incidence of toxic or hazardous chemical leak or spill subject to off-site contamination will result in a 911 call by Department personnel requesting Tyler's HAZMAT Team respond to the emergency. Tyler Water Utilities complies with Federal and State HAZCOM reporting requirements, thus all chemical quantities and storage locations are on file with the Tyler Fire Department and Local Emergency Preparedness Committee (LEPC). Tyler's HAZMAT possesses mobile communication capabilities enabling them to access the LEPC's CAMEO software (located at the County Fire Marshall's Office in the Smith county Office Building). Thus, the evacuation area is clearly defined and City of Tyler Emergency Response personnel will implement evacuation procedures in accordance with the Emergency Management Plan. The State Emergency Response Commission has approved the emergency management Plan. The Golden Road Water Treatment Plant is planning to improve safety and offsite impacts with improved mitigation. The facility has plans to contain the storage area of chlorine by completely enclosing the one ton containers in a building. This reduces the gas exposure to the outside atmosphere. In addition, the chief operator and water superintendent plan on filming some training procedures at the plant so that new operators can have visual instructional material that is site specific. |