Platte River By-Products - Executive Summary |
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The accidental release prevention and emergency response policies at the plant consist of all regulations that are regulated by OSHA and the PSM program at the facility. Some refrigeration employees and some supervisors are trained in the 40 HAZMAT course to respond to accidental releases on a volunteer basis. All refrigeration maintenance personnel go through training on all the SOP's from the PSM program. These procedures are reviewed yearly to help insure that all problems are corrected. The preventative maintenance program is periodically reviewed and updated as the monitoring and repair on equipment is performed. This process has been of great benefit to the plant in finding problems in a timely manner. Platte River By-Products plant in Grand Island, NE is a animal by-product processing facility. The plant is defined by the EPA as a "Animal By-Products" facility. Final products produced include: meat by-products. The regulated substance used at this facility that meets t hreshold quantities is anhydrous ammonia. Ammonia is used as a manufacturing aid in the refrigeration process. Refrigeration is used in processing and storing of meat and meat by-products. The worse case scenario for this facility is a rupture in the A-1 Accumulator resulting in a loss of the entire contents of 14,785 pounds of ammonia. This loss will occur within 10 minutes and the spilled liquid will vaporize at room temperature releasing gas to the atmosphere. The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) has determined that the maximum airborne concentration below which it is believed that nearly all individuals can be exposed for up to one hour without experiencing or developing irreversible or other serious health effects or symptoms which could impair an individual's ability to take protective action for anhydrous ammonia is 200 parts per million (PPM). Under the worse-case weather conditions with dispersion into a rural area, the toxic cloud formed by the evaporating ammonia would reach offsite endpoints and nearby public receptors. An occurance of this type is very unlikely because of the PSM and safety measures in place at the facility. The alternate or more likely scenario is the release of 2,000 pounds of ammonia withing a 60 minute period of time in which the threshold level of 200 ppm would be reached at the property line and would not affect any public receptors. The release of this type has a low likelyhood because of the PSM and safety measures at the facility. The Platte River By-Products facility is in compliance with all OSHA PSM rules and this RMP rule requirements. The procedural and managerial steps that are in place are a preventative measure to accidental release prevention as well as maintenance and training programs that are in place. There have been no releases at this facility in the past five years that have resulted in death, injuries, or property damage on site or in death, injuries, evacuations, sheltering in place, property damage, or environmental damage offsite. The Platte River By-Products facility has an emergency response plan on file with the local emergency planning committee (LEPC). The facilities HAZMAT team conducts regular drills and training of specialized personnel. The policies for reporting spills and releases is documented in the "Policies and Procedures" manual updated by the Corporate Environmental Operations office. The ammonia compressor rooms of this facility are not protected by monitoring systems. The facility will continue with HAZMAT training for plant personnel as deterrent to toxic release danger. |