Irons Fork Water Treatment Facility - Executive Summary |
|
THE ACCIDENTAL RELEASE PREVENTION AND EMERGENY RESPONSE AT YOUR FACILITY. The Irons Fork Water Treatment Facility's overall approach to chemical safety is to handle all chemicals in the safest means possible. All chemicals can be handled in a safe manner, and any chemical can produce injury if used in an unsafe manner, whether it be minor or major injury. Some examples would be using safety gloves for highly acidic chemicals and using self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) when working with chlorine gas and in confined spaces where oxygen deprived air would be a possibility. In developing the emergency plan for the accidental leakage of chlorine gas, the following safety precautions will be taken: 1. Yearly training on all phases of safety pertaining to chlorine gas. This will include using the chlorine "B" Kit, utilizing the self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), and safe handling procedures of the chlorine ton cylinders. 2. Cross training with area Rural Fire Depart ments, the City of Mena Fire Department, and Law Enforcement Departments. The cross training is for the education of these area departments which will be utilized for the evacuation and isolation of possible contaminated areas within the evacuation area. 3. Working with the City of Mena Fire Department, which has a first responder team and has had training in hazardous chemicals. This team will assist the Mena Water Department in the event of a hazardous chemical leadage. They will not be responsible for the containment or elimination of the leakage. 4. Creating a first responder team consisting of personnel from the Mena Water Department. This team will be responsible for the containment and elimination of the chlorine leak. 5. Attending any safety meetings that may be presented. For example, State Meetings, District Meetings, Arkansas Rural Water Association Meetings, and American Water Works Association Teleconferences and other related training events which may conf ront the safety concerns and issues of chlorine gas leakage. YOUR FACILITY AND THE REGULATED SUBSTANCES HANDLED. The Irons Fork Water Treatment Facility is the potable water treatment facility for the City of Mena, Arkansas, and Rural Water Associations which are connected to and purchase water from the City of Mena Water and Sewer Department. This Treatment Facility is responsible for the safe production of a potable water supply to the customers connected to the public water utilizing specific chemicals into the treatment facility for the purpose of treating the water to exceed the minimum required standards set forth by the State of Arkansas Regulating Agency. These chemicals include only one chemical that would impose immediate health threats if leakage occurred. This chemical is chlorine gas, liquified by pressure. Chlorine gas is stored at the treatment facility in two thousand pound (ton) cylinders. This chlorine gas is compressed by pressure to form a liquid; the bott om section of the cylinder is liquid, while the top section is gas. It is the top section (gas) which injects chlorine into our water treatment process, pressure is lowered within the cylinder. This allows more of the liquid chlorine to be "decompressed" into chlorine gas, which can then be fed into the treatment process by our chlorine feeders. The maximum quantity of chlorine ton is connected to the chlorine feeder, while the other two are used for storage until needed. THE WORST CASE SCENARIO(S) AND THE ALTERNATIVE RELEASE SCENARIO(S) A worst case scenario and a general accidental release of chlorine will be treated the same way. It is not known if it will be a worst case scenario until the feed valve on the cylinder is completely closed. If the valve is completely closed and leakage still occurs, the operator will then decide if the leak is large enough to evacuate the worst case evacuation plan, or if it will be a alternative release with only the alternative release eva cuation area being evacuated. As soon as this determination is made, the operator will evacuate the site and call 911 from a neighboring residential house and notify operators of a chlorine leakage and either worst case or alternative release. This will allow those responsible for evacuation to take action without any further information needed. Evacuation and containment or elimination of leakage will be further covered in the emergency response program portion of this emergency plan. THE GENERAL ACCIDENTAL RELEASE PREVENTION AND CHEMICAL SPECIFIC PREVENTION STEPS. In the event an accidental leakage of chlorine gas occurs, the operator on duty should immediately try to isolate the leak by turning the feeder valve to the off position. If immediate elimination of the chlorine leakage is not achieved by this method, the operator should immediately evacuate the site to an area residence, call 911 and notify them of a hazardous chemical leak (chlorine) at the Irons Fork Water Tr eatment Facility. The 911 operator would then dispatch the first responder team and notify the Rural Fire Departments, the Mena Fire Department, and Local Law Enforcement Offices in order to begin evacuations. 911 will then notify the chlorine institute (Chemtrek), who will then notify Curtis Thomas of Harcros Chemical (Chlorine Response Leader). The Mena Water Department will notify Curtis Thomas as well, as soon as 911 has been notified. Only trained personnel, who are equipped with self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) should investigate or work to contain or eliminate any leakage that may occur; all other persons should be kept away from the contaminated area. Only persons with routine annual training in the use of the chlorine "B" Kit for ton cylinders and trained in the use of self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) will be considered as trained personnel; preferably cross trained in utilizing the chlorine "B" Kit while wearing the self contained breathing apparat us (SCBA). Any leakage from the feeding system can be easily remedied by closing the feed valve on the ton cylinder and isolating the leak to a minimal incident. Yearly maintenance of the chlorine feed system is mandatory for the Mena Water and Sewer Department. Yearly maintenance will replace any old or worn feed tubing and will replace parts on the chlorine injector which will wear out or "Dry Rot" which could produce the possibility of leakage. A good maintenance program in all things is the answer to malfunction and breakdown problems that may arise. Maintenance of the chlorine system could prevent leakage problems in the future. Daily inspection of ton chlorine cylinders and testing feed valve for any possible signs of leakage will be a priority of daily duty requirements. This will allow action to be taken before the leak would become a major risk factor. The Mena Water & Sewer Department will be working closely with area Rural Fire Departments, the Mena Fire Dep artment, and our Law Enforcement Agencies to ensure that proper training and cross training will take place so that expedient, correct, and safe measures can be taken to limit the amount of chlorine leakage that may occur and to ensure safe and expedient evacuation if this course of action is necessary. After evacuation of residents, they would only be allowed to return to their homes after the air quality has been determined to be safe. This determination will be made by the Mena Fire Department through testing of the air quality and testing for chlorine concentrations in the air. FIVE YEAR ACCIDENT HISTORY - We have had zero accidental release of chlorine in the past five years. THE EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROGRAM The elements of the Emergency Response Program would be to first notify 911, who would then notify the First Responders with the Mena Fire Departments and Local Law Enforcement Agencies who would assist with evacuation procedures, and then notify Chemtrek (Chlorine Institute ), who would then notify Curtis Thomas of Harcros Chemical who is the Chlorine Response Leader and would respond to the City of Mena for any assistance he could provide. After notifying 911, the operator would then notify Curtis Thomas of Harcros Chemical for expedient service to try to remedy the problem as quickly as possible. The Mena Fire Department would be responsible for conducting the evacuation, all other departments would need to correspond their actions through the Mena Fire Department. After evacuation, no personnel will be allowed in the evacuation area unless properly trained for containment and elimination of chlorine leakage. The First Responder Team will consist of personnel from the Mena Water Department and the Mena Fire Department. This team would be responsible for the containment or elimination of the leakage, and will be proficient in utilizing the chlorine "B" Kit, the useage of self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), and cardio pulmonary resuscitat ion (CPR). This team is responsible for the containment and elimination of the chlorine leak. These personnel will be required to attend any and all training events that would pertain to the containment and elimination of possible chlorine leakage. Public notice would be by local Radio Stations. This would be done in conjunction with calls from the Mena Water and Sewer Department personnel to each house within the evacuation area, and also while the house to house evacuations are being performed by the local law enforcement agencies (Mena Fire Department will be in charge) with assistance from Rural Fire Departments. PLANNED CHANGES TO IMPROVE SAFETY - Planned changes to the Mena Water & Sewer Department's current program that would improve the safety of the storage site will include required training for Water Department Personnel and cross training with the local authorities, Office of Emergency Services, and Rural Fire Departments. This training will be for educational pur poses and evacuation. Also, cross training with the Mena Fire Department for the First Responder Program. These training and education programs will include the following: 1. Training on the chlorine "B" Kit. 2. Attending all safety meetings possible, state, district, or other. 3. Training on self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). 4. Training with both the chlorine "B" Kit and the SCBA. 5. Cross training with the local authorities, Office of Emergency Office, and the Mena Fire Department. 6. Establish a First Responder Team that is adequately trained in containing and eliminating chlorine leakage. This team will have specific requirements pertaining to training qualifications. 7. An evacuation plan has been implemented by the Mena Water & Sewer Department, the Office of Emergency Services (OES), the Rural Fire Departments, the Polk County Sheriff's Department, and the Mena Fire Department. A map has been developed that shows the evacuation radius of the plant and the residents that it will affect. A list has been made of these residents and posted at the Mena Water & Sewer Department, the Mena Fire Department, the Polk County Sheriff's Department, the Office of Emergency Services, and the Rural Fire Departments. 8. Public information and education of this program with the residents within the evacuation area will be performed by door to door, one on one visitation with the affected residents. These residents will be provided a copy of the RMP*SUBMIT and any questions will be answered at that time. 9. The Mena Water Department has a list of all persons on the First Responder Team and any phone numbers they may have (i.e. business, home, pager, cell, etc.). This will allow the Mena Water & Sewer Department to contact these persons for any required training that will be mandatory. |