Hendersonville Utility Dist. Water Treatment Plant - Executive Summary |
|
Hendersonville Utility District owns and operates a water treatment plant in Hendersonville, Tennessee. The plant uses chlorine for disinfection, which is classified as an extremely hazardous substance. Two release scenarios (worst-case and alternate-case) were modeled using the Areal Location of Hazardous Atmospheres, ALOHA(R), computer program. The worst-case for chlorine (i.e., catastrophic failure due to corrosion, impact, or construction defects causing a direct release of 2,000 pounds of chlorine over a 10-minute period) resulted in an endpoint of 2.6 miles. The estimated number of persons residing in the 2.6-mile radius is 22,200. The alternate-case scenario (i.e., a gaseous release through a short pipe or valve) resulted in an endpoint of 0.6 mile. The estimated number of persons residing in the 0.6-mile radius is 1,720. Since the plant uses and stores chlorine in excess of 2,500 pounds, it is subject to federal requirements including preparation of PSM and RMP program s. Stingent RMP requirements (known as "Program 3 Level") apply to the Hendersonville Utility District because of Tennessee's OSHA jurisdiction. The Hendersonville Utility District has developed an emergency plan to provide employees with specific details for emergency operations. Additionally, in-house procedures are in place for training personnel on the chlorine system, mechanical inspection of equipment, incident investigation, compliance audits, and emergency response and action plan. There has never been an accident involving chlorine that caused deaths, injuries, property or environmental damage, or sheltering in place in the past 5 years. |