Northern States Beef - 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. Some refrigeration employees and some supervisors are trained in the 40 HAZMAT course to respond to accidental releases on a volunteer basis. 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. 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 Northern States Beef plant in Omaha, NE is a beef slaughter and processing facility. The plant is defined by the EPA as a "Complex Slaughter" facility. Final products produced include: meat products, inedible tallow and meat and bone meal. 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 meat and meat products. The worse case scenario for this facility is a rupture in the RVS Accumulator outside the plant refrigeration equipment room resulting in a loss of the entire contents of 17,000 pounds of ammonia. This loss will occur within 10 minutes and the spilled liquid will vaporize at room temperature releasing gas 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 effects or symptoms which could impair an individual's ability to take protective action for anhydrous ammonia is 200 parts per million (PPM). Under the worse-case weather conditions wi th dispersion into an urban area, the toxic cloud formed by the evaporating ammonia would reach offsite endpoints and nearby public receptors. The Northern States Beef 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 no releases at this facility in the past five years that have resulted in death, injuries, or property damage on site or in death, injuries, evacuations, sheltering in place, property damage, or environmental damage offsite. The Northern States Beef 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. The policies for reporting spills and releases is documented in the "Policies and Procedures" manual updated b y the Corporate Environmental Operations office. The ammonia compressor rooms of this facility are not protected by monitoring systems. The facility will continue with HAZMAT training for plant personnel as deterrent to toxic release danger. |