Big Island Water Works - Executive Summary |
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR THE CITY OF SANDUSKY'S BIG ISLAND WATER WORKS RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN GENERAL The Sandusky Big Island Water Works is a municipally-owned and operated water purification facility. Chlorine is used in the potable water treatment process for disinfection. The existing chlorination system utilizes gaseous chlorine and is comprised of equipment in the Chlorine Building. The City routinely maintains 8,000 to 16,000 pounds of chlorine on site and is required to comply with RMP regulations. Chlorine is delivered to the Big Island Water Works in one ton steel containers or cylinders. A loading area is provided just north of the Chlorine Building to unload full cylinders from a delivery truck into storage. Full cylinders are removed from the delivery truck using a fork lift and are set below a monorail and hoist for transporting into the Chlorine Building. Empty c ylinders are loaded onto the truck for return to the chlorine supplier in a similar manner. Outdoor storage of full or empty chlorine containers is prohibited by current plant operating practices. Chlorine gas is supplied under pressure to both a dual pre- chlorination unit and a dual post-chlorination unit and is mixed with water to produce a chlorine solution. Chlorine solution is supplied under pressure to the filter effluent piping and to a rapid mix chamber for disinfection purposes. Typical chlorine feed rates are 150 lbs/day for pre-chlorination and 50 lbs/day for post-chlorination. ACCIDENTAL RELEASE PREVENTION AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE POLICIES The Sandusky Big Island Water Work's approach to chemical safety focuses on training and safety awareness. Plant operators are annually trained on operational and safety practices associated with chlorine and chlorine feed equipment. The training program currently utilizes presentations by lo cal chlorine supply professionals to routinely refresh operators' understanding and knowledge base on the safe handling procedures and accident prevention procedures for chlorine. The Sandusky Water Plant is a secure facility and only authorized plant personnel maintain and handle the chlorine containers and feed equipment. Because of the City's commitment to safety and implementation of safe procedures for the chlorine facilities, new policies, procedures and instructional programs have been developed in conjunction with completion of this Risk Management Plan. A new, updated Emergency Response Plan has been prepared. The City will continue to coordinate with the City of Sandusky Fire Department in this regard and will have better defined procedures in conjunction with its participation. A new management program, training program and Operations and Maintenance Manual have also been developed and will be utilized by the Water Plant staff to safely manage and operate the chlorine facilities in the near future. WORST-CASE RELEASE SCENARIO The worst case scenario assumes the complete release of a one ton chlorine cylinder within the prescribed 10 minute period. The model used for this scenario is USEPA's RMP Comp. The distance to the worst case scenario endpoint would be 1.65 miles. Passive mitigation factors were used in the RMP Comp model as all chlorine is stored indoors. ALTERNATIVE RELEASE SCENARIO The alternative release scenario assumes a feed line leak from a one ton cylinder in service. For this scenario, a total of 1,845 pounds of chlorine would be released over a 15 minute period. The distance to the endpoint would be 0.5 miles. ACCIDENTAL RELEASE PREVENTION PROGRAM AND CHEMICAL SPECIFIC PREVENTION STEPS The Sandusky Big Island Water Works complies with the OSHA Rules and Regulations with respect to the Accidental Release Prevention Program. Chemical specific preventio n steps include compliance with all Ohio EPA requirements , Recommended Standards for Water Works, 1997 (Ten State Standards) and Chlorine Institute Standards and Regulations Concerning Chlorination Equipment and Facilities for Public Water Supplies. FIVE-YEAR ACCIDENT HISTORY The Sandusky Big Island Water Works has had no accidental releases of chlorine in the past five years. There have been no accidental chlorine releases in the known history of the plant which resulted in injury to off-site personnel or evacuations. EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROGRAM The key element of the Emergency Response Program is the written Emergency Response Plan on file at the Water Treatment Plant and at offices of the City in downtown Sandusky. The written Plan includes a Quick Reference Guide which allows an operator to immediately and positively act in case of an observed or detected chlorine leak. The Erie County Local Emergency Planning Committee is the overall coordinator of emergency response services. The City will maintain its current approach to first contact the City of Sandusky Fire Department in case of an emergency as part of the County's current program. Additional notification procedures are also defined. The Emergency Response Plan includes first aid procedures, medical management of chlorine exposure information, emergency response training and pre-emergency coordination guidelines. A summary of emergency chlorine leak response procedures is also included. PLANNED CHANGES TO IMPROVE SAFETY The City of Sandusky has committed to review and follow the guidelines presented in the Emergency Response Plan, Training Program and Management Program. |