Weed Street Wastewater Treatment Plant - Executive Summary |
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The City of St Marys stores 150 lbs. cylinders of chlorine at the Weed Street Wastewater Treatment Plant. A maximum of 40 cylinders (6,000 lbs. of chlorine) is stored at any one time. The RMP has been prepared in accordance with the Guidance for Wastewater Treatment Plants prepared by EPA. The City has adopted accidental release prevention and emergency response policies and procedures as part of the RMP. The accidental prevention program includes: a detailing of applicable safety information and codes; a review of potential hazards at the site; development of written operating and maintenance procedures; development of a new training program; establishment of procedures to investigate incidents; and development of a procedure to periodically review and update the plan. The highest potential for an accidental release from the site occurs during the handling and connection/disconnection of the cylinders. To prevent accidents, the operating procedures require all material handling equipment to be inspected and all cylinders to be secured prior to handling. The operating procedures also provide checklists to be followed when connecting and disconnecting the chlorine cylinders. The checklists include procedures to be followed in the event that a leak is detected during this process to minimize any impacts. The City Water and Sewer Department personnel do not respond to chlorine emergencies at the site. The Camden County Fire and Rescue will respond. In addition, a specially trained emergency response team from P.B.&S. Chemical in nearby Jacksonville, Fla. will respond in the event of a chlorine emergency. The operating procedures list steps to be followed in case of an emergency and include the emergency telephone numbers to be called to contact Camden County Fire & Rescue and the response team from P.B.&S. Chemical. The City of St Marys has experienced no accidents involving the chlorine facilities at this plant during the past five (5) years. As part of the RMP, a worst case release scenario and an alternate release scenario were investigated. The purpose of the analysis is to insure that no potential risks to public health are overlooked. The worst case release scenario was determined in accordance with the RMP regulations and assumed that an entire one ton container will empty within 10 minutes. This scenario results in an affected area of 0.4 miles. The alternate release scenario assumed a release of chlorine gas from a = inch hole in piping or the container for a duration of 30 minutes and resulted in an affected area of 0.1 miles. The RMP includes estimates of the population and any potential public and environmental receptors in the affected area. |