FARMERS COOPERATIVE ELEVATOR - Executive Summary |
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The Farmers Cooperative Elevator is dedicated to the prevention of any accidental release of anhydrous ammonia. We are very aware of our responsiblities to our employees, customers and the community we serve. Our dedication to safety is demonstrated in many ways however, our safety record speaks for itself. Over the past five years we have had no on sight or off sight releases that have caused: evacuations, sheltering in place or injury or death. Our primary function at our ammonia facility is the recieving of anhydrous ammonia from trucks, transfering the product into our storage tanks which hold 153,000 pounds. From our storage tanks, we transfer anhydrous ammonia into nurse tanks which are then taken to the country and used by our farmer owners has an excellent source for nitrogen. The worst case scenario for our facility would be a release of our largest tank (15,000 gallon) into the atmosphere as a gas in 10 minutes. This distance to the endpoint when 66,000 pounds of anhydro us ammonia is released is 1.76 miles according to our modeling. The alternative spill scenario would be a broken hose that caused a spill for 2 minutes producing enough gas to give us an endpoint of .83 miles.This is according to our modeling and industry spill records. Our company is heavily regulated by DOT.EPA, OSHA and the Kansas Department of Agriculture. Each one of these goverment agencies has regulations that pertain to anhydrous ammonia. We also have developed an emergency response plan which deals with the release of anhydrous ammonia and we have had training in what to do in the event of a spill. We are constantly striving to improve our company safety program and our management, employees and farmer owners understand the importance of this product and we all respect this product. It is for this reason we go beyond what the regulations require and do what is right. |