Chestertown Foods, Inc. - Executive Summary |
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The accidental release prevention and emergency response policies at your facility: This facility complies with applicable International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR) standards and it is our policy to adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws. This facility has mechanisms in-place as identified in the Process Safety Management, Ammonia Refrigeration System to address small releases of ammonia. If an emergency release were to occur (i.e. a reportable quantity release), it is our policy to notify applicable agencies and request that they respond to the emergency. The Chestertown Foods facility is included in the Kent County Emergency Operations Plan, revised June 1998. Procedures are contained therein for response to an emergency involving the ammonia refrigeration system by non-facility personnel, including the local fire department. A description of your facility and the regulated substances handled: This facility is a poultry furth er processing facility used to cook, prepare, package, refrigerate and ship poultry. The facility receives prepared poultry from other slaughtering facilities and cooks, processes, packages, refrigerates and stores the product for shipping to destinations in the region. We use ammonia as a refrigerant in a single ammonia refrigeration system to provide refrigeration capacity to process equipment including cooler and tunnel freezer evaporator units, water chillers, and other processing equipment. The system has a maximum intended ammonia inventory of 23,000 pounds and was installed in 1994 by a prior facility owner. The worst-case and alternative case release scenarios: Our worst-case scenario is the failure of a pipe or vessel in the ammonia refrigeration system when it is operating with its maximum intended inventory of 23,000 pounds, resulting in its complete release to the environment over a period of 10 minutes. The resulting distance to a 200 ppm ammonia toxic endpoint i s 15,000 feet and public receptors are within the distance to the endpoint. Our alternative release scenario is a 1/4" effective diameter orifice leak (representative of a pump seal leak or gasket rupture) leading to an airborne release. The resulting distance to the endpoint extends off-site to a distance of 1,000 feet. The general accident release prevention program and chemical-specific prevention steps: This facility complies with EPA's accident prevention rule applicable state and local codes and regulations. The ammonia refrigeration system is designed, installed, and maintained in accordance with IIAR codes and standards. Five-year accident history: We have not had an accident involving ammonia that caused deaths, injuries, property or environmental damage, evacuations, or shelterings in place since the facility changed ownership to Chestertown Foods, Inc. in 1996. The emergency response program: In the event of an emergency involving our ammonia refrigeration system, it is our policy perform immediate external notifications to applicable agencies (National Response Center, State Emergency Response Commission, Local Emergency Planning Committee) and request that they respond to the emergency. The Chestertown Foods facility is included in the Kent County Emergency Operations Plan, revised June 1998. Procedures are contained therein for response to an emergency involving the ammonia refrigeration system by non-facility personnel, including the local fire department. Planned changes to improve safety: Changes will be implemented as needed as a result of safety evaluations of the ammonia refrigeration system. |