Perdue Farms Inc. Robbins, NC Processing Plant - Executive Summary |
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Description of the facility and the regulated substance: Perdue Farms Incorporated, founded in 1920, is the largest poultry producer in the Northeast and the third largest in the United States. Headquartered in Salisbury, Maryland, the family-owned, privately held company has operations in 14 states. Twenty processing facilities produce about 50 million pounds of poultry products each week. Perdue Farms also has grain storage and merchandising operations and is ranked among the top 20 largest U.S. grain companies. Perdue also manufactures edible oils, specialty feeds, livestock feed ingredients and premium pet food ingredients. The Perdue Farms Robbins Processing Plant is a poultry-processing plant located on Highway 705 in Robbins, North Carolina. The facility employs approximately 375 associates. The facility normally operates 24 hours per day, five days per week. The regulated substance at the Robbins facility, covered by 40 CFR Part 68, is anhydrous ammonia (R-717). The f acility utilizes anhydrous ammonia as an integral part of its refrigeration system. The refrigeration system consists of several storage vessels, compressors, condensers, piping and air handling units located throughout the facility, in order to maintain proper food safety temperatures. The total quantity of anhydrous ammonia on-site is approximately 17,000 pounds distributed throughout the refrigeration components. Accidental release prevention and emergency response policies: As a concerned member of the community, the company takes its role as a responsible corporate citizen very seriously. All Perdue facilities are operated to protect employees, contractors and the public from injury and illness, and to minimize environmental impact. A company-wide safety and wellness program stresses safe working conditions and safe work practices. Perdue's policy is to inspect, maintain and operate equipment and facilities to prevent accidents, including the release of hazardous materials; and to train employees in prevention, as well as to prepare them to respond rapidly and effectively should an accident occur. Perdue Farms has developed and implemented a Spill Prevention and Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) and a Process Safety Management (PSM) plan as part of an overall chemical management program. The program involves local managers and a wide range of senior management personnel, including the Director of Environmental Services and the Director of Safety and Security. Additionally, Perdue conducts regular safety meetings and provides a wide variety of environmental, health and safety training to its staff. General accidental release prevention program: The Perdue Farms Robbins facility maintains a Process Safety Management plan in accordance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulation 29 CFR 1910.119. The maintenance personnel at the facility utilize a preventative maintenance program for all system components. As part of the prog ram, trained refrigeration personnel routinely inspect the refrigeration system operating parameters and conduct routine maintenance, as needed. Worst-case release scenario The predicted worst-case scenario for the refrigeration system is the catastrophic failure of the High Pressure Receiver (HPR) located outside the engine room at ground level. The vessel has a maximum storage capacity of 16,170 pounds of anhydrous ammonia. Using EPA's RMP* Comp Ver 1.06 modeling software, the calculated distance to the toxic endpoint is 2.2 miles. The estimated population within the 2.2-mile radius is 2,351 based on U.S. Census Bureau information contained in the LandView III mapping software. Alternative release scenario: The predicted alternative release scenario for the refrigeration system is the release of ammonia from a breakage of a high pressure liquid line/pipe on the roof of the plant. The quantity of ammonia released in this scenario is 4,043 pounds. This type of release would oc cur in 3.3 minutes. Using the SLAB dispersion model, the calculated distance to the toxic endpoint is 0.84 miles. The estimated population within the 0.84-mile radius is 170 based on U.S. Census information contained in the LandView III mapping software. Five-year accident history There have been no accidents involving the release of regulated substances that have resulted in death, injuries, property damages, evacuation, environmental damage or sheltering in place. Emergency response program In the event of an emergency involving the refrigeration system, Perdue's Robbins facility has a well defined incident command system. The written Emergency Response program includes procedures to safely evacuate the facility, minimize and/or contain the release and notify the appropriate local fire department and LEPC officials. Perdue continues to train its associates on hazardous responses and awareness. Perdue officials have discussed the company's response program with local the LEPC and fir department representatives. As part of its Risk Management Plan (RMP), Perdue Farms has developed an RMP Communications Plan. The goals of the plan are to: (1) educate the public on the potential risks of regulated substances used by Perdue; (2) respond to any concerns that RMP disclosures may cause with honest, fact-based communications; and (3) be fully prepared to effectively respond to any accidental release scenario. Proactive materials about disclosure information, how the company is prepared to deal with an incident, and how the community should respond; and a process for announcing that an incident has occurred are being prepared. In addition, training and information materials for Perdue managers and employees, community officials, civic groups, media, environmental groups, emergency response personnel and the public in general will be available. Planned changes to improve safety: As part of Perdue's continual improvement philosophy, all Perdue facilities continu e to identify and update system components and techniques to ensure safety. |