VISTA METALS CORP. - Executive Summary |
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a. Vista Metals Corp. is committed to the safety and well-being of its employees and the public. Vista's policy is to implement reasonable measures to prevent a release of hazardous material from occurring, to provide early detection of a release in the unlikely event that one would occur, and to have in place a contingency plan to respond promptly yet safely to such a release. b. The RMP has been prepared to address the receipt, handling and use of chlorine in an upgraded chlorine system at the Vista facility at 13425 Whittram, Ave., Fontana, CA 92335. Chlorine is used to remove magnesium from molten aluminum as part of aluminum resmelting operations. c. The worst case release which was modeled was the release of the entire contents of a bulk storage vessel over a period of ten minutes. The alternate release scenario was the continuous release of chlorine from a piping leak. Both scenarios have offsite impacts. No credit for measures to prevent and/or mitigate such a release were ta ken. d. Vista has a comprehensive release prevention program meeting RMP Prevention Program and OSHA Process Safety Management (PSM) requirements. Physical safeguards to prevent a release of chlorine including best industry practices for the design and construction of the chlorine storage vessel, equipment, piping and instrumentation, the use of expansion bottles and/or rupture disks and pressure switches to safeguard against hydrostatic overpressure of equipment and piping, and various procedural safeguards. e. There have been no accidents involving chlorine within the five (5) years prior to submission of this RMP f. Vista has a chlorine detection and alarm system which includes audible and visible warning and danger alarms to alert onsite personnel. In the case of a warning condition the Shift Supervisor and a trained, designated "buddy" will equip themselves with SCBA and evaluate the situation. If it is determined that the situation is one that can be safely rectified by respon se other than emergency response under Cal-OSHA Regulations Title 8, Section 5192, Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response, they will take appropriate action. Otherwise the San Bernardino County Fire Department (SBCFD) will be summoned, neighbors will be notified and the facility will be promptly and safely evacuated. g. Vista undertook a comprehensive Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) as part of replacement of the bulk chlorine system in March 1999. The following changes to improve safety were made:- - Installation of a chlorine detection system - Installation of process safety and alarm devices - Installation of an air motor system to shut the angle valve on the bulk tank automatically in an emergency. Outfitting of each chlorine delivery tank trailer with an emergency shutdown system comparable to that installed on the fixed storage vessel is planned by the chlorine supplier. |