Geren Island Treatment Facility - Executive Summary |
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The Geren Island Treatment Facility is the primary water treatment facility for the City of Salem, Oregon. Chlorine gas is used at the facility to disinfect treated water before it enters the distribution system. The purpose of disinfection is to destroy or remove harmful or objectionable organisms from the water. Disinfection destroys disease producing organisms. Chlorine gas is used at the treatment facility because of its low cost, good disinfecting power, ease of handling, and excellent safety record. There has never been an accidental release of chlorine of any amount at the Geren Island Treatment Facility. The City has accidental release prevention and emergency response policies in place to minimize the probability of an accidental release and to protect the public if an accidental release occurs. As part of the City's Emergency Response Plan, the City has coordinated these policies and procedures with local emergency responders. The City has instituted safet y procedures and training policies to protect both City employees and the public from an accidental release of chlorine. An off-site consequence analysis has been performed to assist emergency responders. Two release scenarios have been performed as part of the analysis, a catastrophic release scenario and an minor release scenario. The catastrophic release scenario represents the complete release of a container of chlorine gas due to a catastrophic event at the facility. The minor release scenario represents the release of a part of the container's contents due to a leak in the container. |