EXXON BATON ROUGE RESIN FINISHING PLANT - Executive Summary |
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The Exxon Baton Rouge Resin Fiishing Plant is a quality producer of hydrcarbon resins. Our products are used throughout the adhesives industry to provide " tack " to such familar products as bandaids, tape, glue sticks, and diaper tabs. Located at 12480 Scenic Highway, Baton Rouge, La., the plant has been in business at the same location since 1968. A physical separation of resin from solvent occurs at the Exxon Resin Finishing Plant. All process chemistry occcurs at the Exxon Baton Rouge Chemical Plant. A brief description of the physical separation is as follows: 1) Resin concentrate ( feed ) is shipped via pipeline from the Baton Rouge Chemical Plant and received in the Finishing Plant storage tanks. 2) From the storage tanks the feed is fed to stripping towers where solvent and light molecular weight resins are taken overhead and returned to the chemical plant. 3) The molten re sin product is taken off the bottom of the towers and pumped to molten resin storage tanks. 4) From the molten resin storage tanks the molten resin is then processed into one of various finished package forms. Pentane, a colorless liquid with a " gasoline " odor, is the sole chemical on site that exceeds the threshold limits for a flammable chemical as set by the federal government. It is used as a raw material component in resin production and exists on site as a recovered overhead from the stripping process.Total loss of containment of tank 502 ( which contains as much as 3,600,000 lbs. of a flammable mixture with pentane in it ), under the worst possible weather conditions, and an ensuing vapor cloud explosion of this mixture, would be the worst case scenario for a flammable at the Resin Finishing Plant. Offsite impact for this scenario as determined by the EPA Offsite Consequence Analysis Guidelines would extend for 1.2 miles. The alternative release s cenario for the Resin Finishing plant would be a tank or piping leak witin tank 502 dike wall and a subsequent pool fire. Distance of concern for this scenario would be 0.14 miles. The amount of flammable mixture available would be 68,000 lbs. There are no toxic chemicals on site that exceed threshold limits. The Exxon Resin Finishing Plant complies with the OSHA Process Safety Management rule. Compliance is achieved via twenty-one corporate requirements called the Operations Integrity Management Practices ( OIMP ). The OIMPs were developed by subject matter experts and have undergone extensive reviews and several improvement cycles. They are currently in the continuous improvement cycle. Subject matter for these OIMPs are as follows: (1) Management Leadership, Commitment and Accountability (2) Risk Analysis, Assessment and Follow-up (3) Facilities Design and Construction (4) Process and Facilities Information and Documentation (5) Personnel Safety (6) He alth (7) Personnel (8) Training (9) Operations and MaintenanceProcedures (10) Work Permits (11) Inspection and Maintenance (12) Reliability and Control of Defeat (13) Pollution Prevention (14) Regulatory Compliance (15) Management of Change (16) Third Party Services (17) Incident Reporting, Analysis and Follow-up (18) Emergency Preparedness (19) Community Awareness (20) Assessment and Improvement (21) Product Stewardship The Emergency Response Program at the Baton Rouge Resin Finishin Plant is an integral part of the safety system. Comprehensive emergency response procedures coordinate on site responders with local E.R. personnel, industry, and public agencies. Mobile and fixed fire protection equipment (including a fire truck and an in-ground firewater system ) are maintained on site. Emergency response personnel ( including fire fighters and first responders ) train on an annual basis to maintain certification. Unit personnel conduct year rou nd simulated emergencies to maintain their proficiency. A plant wide simulated emergency coordinated with area E.R. groups is conducted a minimum of once per year. The end result of the release prevention and emergency response facilities is no RMP releases for the Exxon Resin Finishing Plant over the last five years. Continued adherence to and improvement of the systems now in place will ensure that safety within the facility and the surrounding area will continue at the high level that currently exists. |