Sealed Air MADERA - Executive Summary

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Sealed Air Corporation 
Madera, California 
 
RMP*SUBMIT 
 
Executive Summary  
               -- Sealed Air Corporation -- Madera California 
 
The accidental release prevention and emergency response policies at your facility 
 
SEALED AIR CORPORATION 
Environment, Health & Safety Policy 
Policy 
 
It is Sealed Air's policy to conduct its business in compliance with applicable health, safety, and environmental laws. The health and safety of our employees, customers, and communities and prevention of pollution are among Sealed Air's primary concerns. Sealed Air is committed to providing safe working conditions for our employees, to promoting the safe design, use and handling of Sealed Air products and to complying with laws relating to the protection of the environment. Each employee is expected to promote these goals in his or her tasks. We also work toward safety and environmental excellence as an integral part of our World Class Manufacturing program.  
 
Each Division President has ultimate res 
ponsibility for the administration of EHS programs and regulatory compliance; however, compliance with this Policy is the responsibility of every Sealed Air employee. 
 
The plant has a multi-faceted safety programs that support public health, safety and environmental issues. These programs include employee education and training combined with physical prevention. One of the cornerstone programs for flammable materials is the Process Safety Management program. 
 
Your facility and the regulated substances handled  
 
Overview of Process 
 
The Sealed Air Corporation Madera facility manufactures polyethylene foam products used as packaging or recreational material. The foam is polyethylene material with bubbles encased within sheets, or blocks. These bubbles within the foam are called cells. 
 
Polyethylene foam sheets, planks, rounds, etc. are produced using an extruder. The extruder performs three distinct functions: melts and plasticizes the polyethylene (polymer), disperses and mixes the blow 
ing agent with the polyethylene, and cools the mixture sufficiently to prevent cell collapse when the material is extruded through the die. 
 
Polyethylene resin pellets are melted in the extruder. The blowing agent is pumped into the extruder under pressure. Once the polyethylene / blowing agent mixture leaves the die, and the mixture is no longer under pressure, the blowing agent vaporizes and begins to expand the material into foam.  
 
 
Overview of Blowing Agent System 
 
The blowing agents are stored in approved pressure vessels as non-odorized liquid petroleum under pressure (under 150 psi). The liquid is pumped at low pressure to the plant's high pressure.   Metering station regulates and controls the flow of the blowing agent into the injection port of the extruder.  
 
The facility has three blowing agent tanks rated for 250 psi (14,000-gallons, 10,000-gallons, and 3,000-gallons). 
 
 
The worst-case release scenario(s) and the alternative release scenario(s) 
 
A flammable worst case scen 
ario assumes a butane vapor cloud explosion using EPA's RMP guidance for propane storage facilities reference tables or equations. The calculated endpoint distance with the release of the full storage vessel (66,700 lbs.) with an 1 PSI endpoint is 0.33 miles (1750 ft.). The estimated residential population within the distance to endpoint is zero. 
 
The likelihood of a vapor cloud explosion with a full storage vessel release is possible but highly unlikely. The more possible scenario would be the leak of the piping to or from the storage vessels. As an alternate scenario, we have considered the repute of a pipe with a release rate of 10 pounds per minute for 10 minutes creating a vapor cloud explosion. The estimated distance to 1 psi over-pressure would be 0.02 miles (110 ft.). The consequence would most likely not exceed the property lines of Sealed Air.  
 
The environmental, health and safety programs that are used at this facility make the chances for a reportable material release very 
remote. 
 
The general accidental release prevention program and chemical-specific prevention steps 
 
The plant has a multi-faceted safety program that supports health, safety, and environmental issues. One of the more in-depth programs is Process Safety Management of highly hazardous chemicals that was promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the United States Department of Labor (29 CFR 1910.119). The purpose of this requirement is to prevent or minimize the consequences of catastrophic releases of toxic, reactive, flammable, or explosive chemicals.  
 
The general accidental release prevention program and chemical-specific prevention steps include mitigation, prevention and abatement procedures. These include:  
 
A. Employee education and training: 
a) all employees receive initial and yearly refresher training in our Hazardous Commutation program, and spill and emergency spill response plans, 
b) the production and maintenance personnel are trained to operate t 
he blowing agent systems  under safety procedures outlined in the plant's Process Safety Management program 
 
B. Physical Prevention: 
a) an initial process hazard analysis (hazard evaluation) of the equipment and process was performed for the facility,  
b) a Management of Change procedure is used to assure that only authorized changes are made to the process,  
c) incident investigation procedures are followed to address areas of concern, 
d) an Emergency Action Plan is used to document and train employees to handle non-routine situations,  
e) daily inventory reconciliations of the blowing agent tanks are conducted,  
f) maintenance personnel physically inspect the blowing agent systems each shift (3-times per day) and inspect the hazardous materials storage areas,  
g) the blowing agent tanks and equipment are equipped with electronic sensors which are monitored 24-hours per day by plant personnel and a private security firm  ,  
h) the blowing agent tanks are coated with 2-hour rated fire  
protective material,  
i) the blowing agent equipment and tanks are protected by an assortment of physical barriers, 
j) the blowing agent equipment and tanks are installed under the recommendations of the National Fire Protection Association Codes #58 and #70       
 
 
The five-year accident history 
 
We have had no accidental releases of blowing agents in the past five years. An accidental release is a spill of 500 pounds or more. 
 
 
The emergency response program 
 
Sealed Air - Madera has developed this Emergency Action Plan to ensure employee safety from fire and other emergencies. It provides a written document for detailing actions and procedures to be followed in an emergency. These plans have been developed with, and to meet, regulation 1910.38(a). 
 
At the time of an emergency, employees have been trained to know what type of evacuation is necessary and what their role is in carrying out the plan. In some cases when the emergency is very grave, total and immediate evacuation of all em 
ployees is necessary. In other emergencies, a partial evacuation of nonessential employees, with a delayed evacuation of others, may be necessary for continuation of  plant procedures.  
 
 
Planned changes to improve safety 
 
Sealed Air Madera has very robust environmental, health and safety programs that are driven by active employee participation. These weekly and monthly inspections and training programs are ongoing events that contribute to our commitment to creating a safe and healthy work environment.
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