AES Deepwater Cogeneration Plant - Executive Summary |
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Accidental Release Prevention and Response Policies AES Deepwater has a long-standing commitment to worker and public safety. This commitment is demonstrated by the resources invested in accident prevention, such as personnel training, considering safety in design, installation, operation, and maintenance of our processes. Description of the Stationary Sources and Regulated Substances AES Deepwater, located in Pasadena, Texas, operates a petroleum coke-fired boiler for the generation of electric power. The plant uses ammonia in the flue gas scrubbing system to reduce the emissions of sulfur oxides. The plant also has chlorine canisters on site but the storage amount that could be release in a single accident is less than the threshold quantity. Hazard Assessment Results The worst case scenario is the release from a 62,500 gallon pressurized bullet tank. However, the tank will only be filled to 80% capacity (50,000 gallons). The density of ammonia is 5.0 lb/gal at 150 psig and am bient temperatures. Since, no passive mitigation system (enclosure) is in place, the total release amount is 250,000 lbs released over a 10 minute period. Based on the appropriate EPA's RMP Guidance, the maximum offsite impact is 5.6 miles. General Accidental Release Prevention Program/Chemical Specific Prevention Steps AES Deepwater provides for and encourages employees to participate in all facets of process safety management and acident prevention. AES also provides a variety of technical documents that are used to help maintain safe operation of the processes and chemical handling instructions. Five Year Accident History Ammonia has not been located on site until January 1999 and there have not been any RMP release since this time. AES has an excellent record of accident prevention over the past five years. There have been no deaths or injuries reported on or offsite in the past five years. Every incident is investigated very carefully to determine ways to prevent similar i ncidents from recurring. Emergency Response Program AES Deepwater works very closely with the Pasadena LEPC to protect worker and public safety as well as the environment. The coordination include periodic meetings with the LEPC as well as communicating the RMP information with the public. AES Deepwater has continuous access to the Pasadena LEPC to provide a means of notifying the public and facilitating quick response. |