Mears Fertilizer, Inc. - Executive Summary |
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1. The Facility Policy: The owners, management, and employees of Mears Fertilizer, Inc., (MFI) are committed to the prevention of any accidental releases of anhydrous ammonia. If an accidental release should occur, the facility is prepared to work with the Butler County HazMat Team, or other authorities, to mitigate any release and minimize the impact of the release to people and the environment. 2. Facility Information: The primary activity at MFI is the storage and blending of fertilizers for sale to Cooperatives and Retail Agriculture Dealers. Anhydrous ammonia is received, stored, and used for blending into mixed-grade fertilizers for crop production nutrients. The maximum quantity stored would be 123,000 pounds in our 30,000 gallon storage tank. The maximum quantity handled would be the unloading of a rail tank car holding 150,000 pounds. 3. The worst-case release scenario and the alternative release scenario: a. The worst-case release scenario would be the rele ase of the total contents of a rail tank car released as a gas over 10 minutes. The maximum quantity released would be 150,000 pounds, which represents the volume of the largest storage tank at 85 percent capacity as limited by design standards. The distance to the endpoint (point of dispersion to 200 ppm) is 4.4 miles. b. The alternative release scenario based on the most likely potential incident is a release from a break in a transfer hose. The distance to the endpoint (point of dispersion to 200 ppm) is 0.41 miles. 4. The accidental release prevention program: MFI has implemented the provisions of "Safety Requirements for the Storage and Handling of Anhydrous Ammonia, K-61.1", published by The American National Standards Institute, Inc., and the standards of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 29 CFR 1910.111, "Storage and handling of anhydrous ammonia." For added safety in handling anhydrous ammonia, we use the following on our process equip ment: - two (2) external, remote air-activated emergency shutoff valves in series to control ammonia in the event a hose ruptures between the storage tank and the Mix Unit; and they are . inspected and tested prior to initial startup, then . tested every 24 hours of operation; - double-braid stainless steel metalflex tubing between the storage tank and the ammonia pump; - hydrostat-test stainless steel braid ammonia hose quarterly - preset internal pump bypass in the event ammonia pressure exceeds operating parameters; - automatic shutdown system in the event ammonia pressure exceeds predetermined operating parameters; - audible and visual alarms in the event a pump malfunctions during processing; - walk-around inspection of all process lines and in-line equipment every 30 minutes throughout operation of process equipment. In addition, we hydrostat-test the hard plumbing on our Mix Units annually to ens ure sound equipment. 5. The Five-year Accident History: There have been no accidental releases of anhydrous ammonia in the past five years that: - have caused any deaths, injuries, or significant property damage at the facility; nor - to our knowledge, have resulted in offsite deaths, injuries, evacuations, sheltering in place, property damage, or environmental damage. 6. The emergency response program: MFI has a written emergency action plan, in accordance with OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.38, and has provided state and local authorities the emergency planning and community right-to-know information as required under SARA Title III (EPCRA). 7. Planned changes to improve safety. Safety improvement is an on-going process at MFI. Periodic evaluations are performed to assess the maintenance of safe conditions. There are no additional specific anhydrous ammonia safety recommendations for implementation at this time. |