National Starch and Chemical Co. - Indianapolis - Executive Summary |
|
National Starch and Chemical is a global leader in natural and synthetic polymer technology for adhesives, resins, specialty chemicals, electronic materials and specialty starches. The specialized starch products made in Indianapolis are critical ingredients in food, paper, corrugating, textiles, packaging, building products, cosmetics, adhesives and pharmaceuticals. The principal operations are the wet milling of corn to extract starch and the modification of the starch to create specialty industrial and food starches, corn dextrins and adhesives. It is the policy of National Starch and Chemical to follow all Federal and local environmental and safety regulations. As members of the Chemical Manufacturers Association, National Starch and Chemical has adopted the Responsible Careb Code of Management Practices. These management practices include Community Awareness and Emergency Response, Pollution Prevention, Process Safety, Employee Health and Safety, Distribution, and Product Steward ship. These management practices govern our daily operations to provide a safe work site for our employees, improve the environment, and contribute to the welfare of our community. The Indianapolis plant processes millions of bushels of corn per year. The corn wet milling system separates the corn into four fractions, one of which is starch. The other three fractions, (fiber, high protein meal and germ) are sold for additional processing into corn oil and feed rations. The starches have been produced and developed for very specific uses by our customers. Sulfur dioxide is used as a processing aid in the corn wet milling system. Sulfur dioxide aids in the separation of starch from the protein in corn. It also acts as a bactericide to control the growth of bacteria in the process. The sulfur dioxide is delivered to the plant by trucks and is stored in tanks designed to contain pressurized gases. The unloading procedure is supervised during the entire duration. The inventories in th e tanks are maintained by monitoring the levels and reordering material when the level reaches a minimum. The worst case scenario is based upon a catastrophic rupture of a full tank. The alternate case scenario is based upon a rupture in the unloading hose. The starch modification process utilizes propylene oxide to manufacture food starches that maintain final product texture and stability in refrigerated and frozen food applications. Propylene oxide is transported to the plant by railcar and then off loaded into a storage tank. The storage tank is covered and built inside a secondary containment vessel designed to hold the complete contents of the storage tank in case of any leaks. The propylene oxide railcar is unloaded next to an in-ground spill containment vessel large enough to hold the entire contents of a railcar . The unloading station is designed to collect all spills in the area and direct the spills to the containment vessel. An operator is present, during unloading, to monitor the entire unloading process and to respond immediately to any problems should they occur. The worst case scenario is based upon a catastrophic rupture of a full railcar. The worst case scenario for propylene oxide has no off site impact due to the passive control systems designed into the process. There have been no accidental releases of sulfur dioxide or propylene oxide resulting in an offsite consequence during the last five years. There has been one precautionary evacuation of the plant in June of 1997. The incident was not related to sulfur dioxide or propylene oxide and did not result in any release of chemicals, personal injury or response from the fire department. There has not been any chemical release incidents during the last five years requiring fire department response. National Starch employs a multifaceted approach to prevent accidental spills and releases. Accidental spill and release prevention is first addressed in the design phase. The design process incl udes using a multifunctional team of operators, mechanics, supervisory personnel, chemists and engineers to review all aspects of the process. This includes design criteria, layout, equipment selection, installation procedures, operating procedures and training. National Starch also conducts startup planning and prestartup inspections in the design phase. Once the process is installed and operating, ongoing measures constantly take place to assure the process remains safe. These include: continued training of the operators and maintenance employees, management systems to address process changes, mechanical integrity inspections, and thorough investigation of incidents . Regular audits are performed to verify that all of these processes and procedures are working successfully. National Starch has reviewed our emergency response program with the local station of the Indianapolis Fire Department and the Marion County Hazardous Materials Planning Committee. We conduct ongoing meetings w ith our residential and business neighbors. We have initiated annual training for the plant Hazardous Material Response Team. A constant effort is made to enhance the level of emergency preparedness, by conducting emergency response drills and coordinating these drills with the local fire department. Information from our drills and the drills held at other National Starch facilities are shared, so that our manufacturing and safety teams can learn from other experiences. This unified effort of training, knowing our worse case scenarios and how to handle them and sharing information with our residential and business neighbors, as well as other National Starch facilities around the world, creates a safer and healthier work environment for us and our community. |