Wastewater Treatment Plant (TCPA ID No. 1903) - Executive Summary |
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Executive Summary for the Linden Roselle Sewerage Authority Wastewater Treatment Plant The extremely hazardous substance (EHS) facility that this Risk Management Plan (RMP) has been developed for is the Chlorination Facility of the LRSA's Wastewater Treatment Plant at 5005 South Wood Avenue, Linden, New Jersey 07036. The operation at the plant that is the subject of this RMP is the chlorine storage/chlorination system portion of the wastewater treatment process at LRSA. The facility has TCPA I.D. No. 1610. The plant currently recieves an average daily flow of approximately 17.5 million gallons per day (MGD). Chlorine is used by the plant to disinfect the treated wasterwater prior to its' discharge to the Arthur Kill River (to the east of the plant) that is a non-potable body of water. The chlorination system at the LRSA relies on the liquid withdrawal of chlorine from one (1) ton containers to a heated evaporator with subsequent application by a vacuum operated chlorinator. N ormal operation of the facility provides for the storage of two one-ton containers in the chlorination building, on standby. Two additional one-ton containers in the chlorination building are connected and on-line. The two one-ton containers are connected to the evapoators via a manifold piping. All on-line and stand-by ton containers at the plant are equipped with State-of-Art remote operated shut-off valves. At the time of the submittal of this report, it is anticipated by the LRSA that their existing chlorination system will be replaced by a Ultraviolet light disinfection system by August 2000. Construction for the new disinfection system will commence June of 1999. The facility will not have onsite anymore then 4 containers of chlorine as of Spring 1999, a departure from the previous practice of storing up to 16 one ton containers of chlorine at the site at any one time. The discharge point for a chlorine release is the vent from the Chlorine Building. All four one ton con tainers of chlorine at the facility are stored inside the Chlorine Building. The distance from the site boundry to the point of release for the chlorine is approximately 3 meters. The closest human occupancy/residental location is approximately 850 meters from the potential release point. However, the location of the New Jersey Turnpike, which is approximately 550 meters from the release point, is considered the nearest public right-of-way (highway) that could be affected by a chlorine release. A worst case chlorine release scenario for the facility would be a rupture or gross puncture of a chlorine container ( one ton container) resulting in a 2000 pound release in approximately 10 minutes outside the chlorination building during the delievery of full chlorine containers to the facility. The toxic end point of this release under atmospheric conditions level F and with a 1.5 meter per second wind speed would be approximately 2100 meters, or past the New Jersey Turnpike (west of the facility). The nearest residences are approximately 850 meters from the release point at the facility, or within the toxic end point limit as calculated by RMP Comp. Ver. 1.06 An alternate release scenario would be the failure of a fusible plug on a full one ton container. Such a scenario could occur when the ton containers are inside the chlorine building, thereby mitigating the overall off site impact. The release of 2000 pounds of chlorine would be over 33 minutes at a peak rate of 59.3 pounds per minute and would result in a toxic endpoint being approximately 200 meters from the chlorination building and of no consequence to nearby populations. The LRSA wastewater treatment plant has developed extensive hazard analysis protocols to address the "what-ifs" with regard to delievery, hook up, operation and storage of the one ton containers of chlorine. These scenarios are discussed and addressed in the treatment plant's Hazard Analysis Report and the Extraordinarily Hazard ous Substance (EHS) Risk Assessment report that is part of the LRSA's annual submittal to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:31-3.9. Overall facility responsiblity for the RMP and it's effectiveness is under the direction of Mr. Gary Fare, Executive Director of the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The LRSA has prepared for its' operations personnel a detailed manual titled "Standard Operating Procedures For The Chlorination Process". The intent of the document is to provide a guide for safe work practices for the personnel assigned to operate and maintain the chlorination process. The document also presents Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's) for the chlorination process. The procedures are maintained and enforced according to the provisions of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection regulations stated in N.J.A.C. 7:31-3.5. The facility's use of throughly developed and documented SOP's, along with the formal Operator Training Program, has been vital in promoting safe working practices for the prevention of personel injuries and chemical releases. All procedures presented in the SOP's stress the use of general normal operating practices as outlined by the Chlorine Institute, AWWA, WPFC, and by the manufacturers and suppliers of the specific chlorine storage and process equipment. Additionally, all procedures address material safety, process hazards, critical safety steps maintenance and personnel safety for all involved. On site emergency response to chlorine incidents at the LRSA facility is by in plant personnel. The facility maintains and trains an emergency response team comprised of the members of the staff on duty at any time. The plant has emergency response drills twice are of various potential release situations. The LRSA facility has reduced the risk of an exterior release from standby one ton containers that were formerly stored in an open shed along side the chlorination building by reducing the quanity of containers at the site from formerly up to 16 containers, to only two standby containers. Additionally, the standby containers have been moved inside the chlorination building. Any chlorine release that would occur is partially mitigated and captured by the building. Chlorine releases in the building would be vented by the chlorine vent at a controlled release rate. Off site emergency response for the facility is coordinated with the City of Linden Mutual Aid Council and the City of Linden's Emergency Coordinator from the City's Office of Emergency Management. An evacuation plan has been prepared by the Linden Industrial Mutual Aid Council. |