Bercen, Inc. - Executive Summary |
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The following is a summary of Bercen, Inc.'s Risk Management Program and issues involved with chemical safety and release prevention at our facility. Safety of our employees and our surrounding community is a top priority at Bercen. We can proudly say that we have not had an accidental releases in the past five years and plan on continuing this excellent record in the future. Bercen, Inc. is a manufacturer of specialty chemicals for the paper industry. We have very good work safety and accidental release histories. The regulated substance that requires us to submit an RMP is formaldehyde. Our formaldehyde is stored inside one of our buildings within a diked area, which reduces the likeliness of exposure to the public to a minimum. We have an emergency response plan in place and all employees are aware of this plan. We are also part of an emergency community response plan and the local fire department is aware of what substances we have on-site and has the capability of respondi ng. The tank that we use to store the material is inside a sealed containment wall which will hold up to 9,000 gallons. This will be sufficient to contain any leak or rupture of a tank. The area has a sprinkler system with a 1 inch feeder line in case of a fire. The area is heated so that the material will not freeze. There is a level indicator on the tank to help prevent overfilling. Also, the tank is equipped with an atmospheric vent to prevent pressure build up and a ventilation fan to reduce airborne levels. We periodically inspect all tanks, lines, pumps and hoses for mechanical integrity, leaks and defects. This will help to prevent catastrophic releases of the material at Bercen. In the worst-case scenario (liquid spill or vaporization) for a release occurrence we would affect a 0.8 mile radius of the community and environment surrounding our facility. Although, the chance of this occurring is highly unlikely. There are 2 reasons for this being highly unlikely: 1) t he storage tank for the substance is surrounded by a dike (secondary containment for the liquid) and 2) the diked tank is inside one of our buildings (secondary containment for the vapors). The chance of a release escaping our building and effecting the community before any actions can be taken has very little chance of ever happening at Bercen. In the case of an alternative release (pipe leak), which is more likely to happen than the worst-case scenario, we would have approximately325 pounds of the chemical released. This would have a release rate of approximately 21.7 lbs/minute for a total of 60 minutes. This amount would not effect the surrounding area due to the fact that it is in an enclosed building. A dike around the tank would contain the liquid and the vapors would be contained by the building until our clean-up contractor was contacted and clean-up had been completed. Here at Bercen we have additional plans in place to assist with preventing and handling any releases t hat might occur. We are in compliance with the OSHA PSM rule for our processes involved with formaldehyde. We also have a written Emergency Action plan and all employees handling the material are trained and aware of the hazards of the material. We do not train our employees in emergency response. We contain the spill and let the proper authorities know of the emergency and evacuate the building. In the event of a spill occurring the following procedures take place: 1) the Plant Superintendent and the Plant Manager are notified 2) we do not train our employees in emergency response for this material, so they make sure the spill is contained and then evacuate the building with the rest of the employees. 3) The plant superintendent or the plant manager notifies the following authorities after notifying the receptionist to make an announcement to evacuate the building: a) Cranston Fire Department (401) 461-5000 b) Clean Harbors (spill clean-up contractors) (401) 461-1300 c) Other Departments in our complex(401)942-3000 d) Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (401) 222-6680 e) Duty officer, National Response Center 1-800-424-8802 f) U.S. EPA Oil and Hazardous Material Section (617) 861-6700 g) Local Television and Radio stations Annually we have an evacuation drill with our employees, as well as having the Cranston Fire Department come do a walk through of our plant, so that they remain familiar with our facility. All employees receive training regarding the Emergency Action Plan. The following is a list of items that will assist us to further improve safety at our facility in the future: 1) Installation of an air horn in the formaldehyde storage area so that if a spill does ever occur we can notify everyone in the facility immediately. 2) Annual safety inspections by the local Fire Department to assure that we are operating in a safe manner. 3) Continuing routine maintenance of all equipment to eliminate failure of said equipment. 4) Continue annual training of Emergency Action Plan for all employees. 5) Continue to follow our standard operating procedures for any processes involved with this material. |