Saginaw Water Treatment Plant - Executive Summary |
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This document is the Executive Summary of the Saginaw Water Treatment Plant Risk Management Program. The Saginaw Water Treatment Plant has chlorine gas on site in the form of one ton containers. We work as a combined response team with the Saginaw Fire Department to react appropriately to an accidental release of chlorine gas. We have written procedures for the handling of chlorine, and periodic employee training on the hazards of chlorine and the safe handling of chlorine. Our alarm system constantly monitors our chlorine ton containers to detect any leakage. We are committed to the safety of our employees and our community. The Water Treatment Plant provides top quality drinking water to the residents of Saginaw County and surrounding areas. We use chlorine gas to disinfect the water to prevent water borne diseases from reaching the homes and businesses in our community. We typically store eight or nine chlorine ton containers on site, of which we have four connec ted and available for use at any time. There are two chlorine gas accidental release scenarios which we have computer modeled with EPA software. These scenarios are called "alternative" and "worst case". The "alternative" scenario assumes that the ton container has released its entire contents over a 40 minute period through a small hole in the fusible plug on the tank. This release would spread to a radius of 528 feet away from the tank, almost entirely contained on the plant grounds. The "worst case" scenario assumes that all safety measures we have in place are not available, and that the ton container has released it's entire contents in ten minutes. This release would possibly affect the community up to 1.3 miles away from the Water Treatment Plant, the direction depending on the wind direction at the time. We prevent accidents from happening in many ways. Our employees are trained in the safe handling of chlorine ton containers. We have on site SCBA ( Self Contained Breathing Apparatus ) equipment and a repair kit for leaks we may encounter. Chlorine alarm sensors are located at each area that we have chlorine, both inside and outside of our plant. Each chlorine container that is in use has an automatic shut off device that will shut the flow of chlorine from all containers in use, in the event of chlorine gas being detected by the alarm system. This alarm system is checked weekly. Our piping system is designed for use with chlorine gas, and is inspected daily. Our reports require listing the five-year accident history of our plant. We have had no reportable accidents in the last five years. The Saginaw Fire Department has been trained to respond to a chlorine emergency at the Water Treatment Plant. We work in conjunction with the Saginaw County LEPC ( Local Emergency Planning Committee ) which aids in community awareness of chemicals in the community. We continu ally strive to improve the safety of our chlorine system. The latest innovation is improved chlorine valves installed on the ton chlorine containers we receive, starting April 1, 1999. We have ordered this improved valve for retrofitting our existing equipment. |