S & C Beef Processors - 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. All refrigeration employees and numerous supervisors are trained in the 40 HAZMAT course to respond to accidental releases. 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. All refrigeration maintenance personnel are currently scheduled to go through ammonia refrigeration school to teach them the operations and safety. The school is located in Montgomery, Alabama and is part of the local community college. 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. The Fresh Meats plant in Montgomery, Alabama, is a beef processing facility. The plant is defined by the EPA as a "Meat Cutter" facility. Final products produced include: meat products and ground beef. The regulated substance used at this facility that meets threshold quantities is anhydrous ammonia. Ammonia is used as a manufacturing aid in the refrigeration process. Refrigeration is used in processing and storing of the meat and meat products. The worst-case scenario for this facility is a rupture in the intermediate accumulator vessel resulting in a loss of the entire contents of 16,177 pounds of ammonia. This loss will occur within 10 minutes and the spilled liquid will vaporize at room temperature releasing gas to the building envelope and 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 effect s or symptoms which could impair an individual's ability to take protective action for anhydrous ammonia is 200 parts per million (ppm). Under the worst-case weather conditions with dispersion into an urban area, the toxic cloud formed by the evaporating ammonia would reach offsite endpoints and nearby public receptors. A release of this type if very unlikely because of the PSM and equipment safety processes at this facility. A more likely scenario is the release of 119 pounds of ammonia within a 60 minute period. This scenario would result in the release just reaching the property line at the 200 ppm threshold and not affecting any populations offsite. The Fresh Meats 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 one releases at this facility in the pa st five years that resulted in injuries on site, however there were no deaths, injuries, evacuations, sheltering in place, property damage, or environmental damage offsite. The Fresh Meats 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 and the local fire department 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 room of this facility is not protected by monitoring systems at this time. The facility will continue with HAZMAT training between plant personnel and the local fire department as a deterrent to toxic release danger. |