City of Asheboro Wastewater Treatment Plant - Executive Summary |
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City of Asheboro Asheboro, NC Executive Summary The City of Asheboro has implemented a comprehensive program to safely manage chlorine at its Water and Wastewater Plants. The W.L. Brown, Jr. Water Plant treats water for the City of Asheboro and the surrounding community. It is located at 1462 Winslow Avenue. The Wastewater Treatment Plant treats both residential and industrial wastewater from the City of Asheboro and the surrounding community. It is located at 1032 Bonkemeyer Drive. The chlorine safety record at these two sites has been excellent. There have been no accidents in the most recent Five-Year history period. In 1995, Process Safety Management (PSM) was implemented at the Water and Wastewater Plants with the assistance of Operations Excellence, Inc., a consulting firm. The following steps were taken: -Training on PSM and its key components including Management of Change, Mechanical Integrity and Incident Investigation. -Conducting a Process Hazards An alysis at each site -Developing Standard Operating Procedures for Chlorine Management -Developing an Emergency Response Plan for both sites -Training and certification of operators To maintain compliance with PSM regulations, the following responsibilities were assigned in 1995: -Water Plant Implementation- Don Bostick, Water Plant Manager -Wastewater Plant Implementation- Arnold Allred, Wastewater Plant Manager -PSM Program Coordination- Michelle Dawes, Technical Services Manager This group meets several times per year to review and update procedures and to maintain compliance with all aspects of the PSM regulation In addition to PSM compliance, the plants have implemented a number of programs to improve the safe handling of chlorine. -In 1996, the chlorine delivery system at each plant was changed from a pressure process to a vacuum process. This step greatly reduced the amount of equipment that is exposed to p ressurized chlorine. -In 1995, the chlorine alarms at each plant were changed to digital readout. Each system allows the operation to assess the level of emergency when the chlorine alarm sounds. The department's Emergency Response Plan has been significantly upgraded over the past five years. In 1995, a HAZMAT team was formed between members of the fire services and utility department. This team received Technician Level HAZWOPER Training and was properly equipped with Level A suits and other equipment. Chlorine Response Drills have been routinely conducted. The last drill was conducted on 4/22/99. To further understand chlorine risks, Operations Excellence, Inc., a consulting firm was contracted to conduct "Offsite Consequence" Modeling Analysis, as required by EPA's Risk Management Program. Both a "Worst Case" and an "Alternative Case" release scenarios were studied. The results are being used to further improve Emergency Response and to consider the replacement of chlor ine with sodium hypochlorite at the water plant. Report by: Melvin Allen Director of Water Resources |