COMMONWEALTH OIL REFINING CO., INC. - Executive Summary |
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The Commonwealth Oil Refining Co., Inc. (CORCO) owns and operates a Petroleum Bulk Storage Terminal (NAICS Code 42271) at its facilities located between the Municipalities of Guayanilla and Pe?uelas, Puerto Rico. One of the commodities managed by CORCO is Liquefied Petroleum Gas or LPG, of which Propane (CAS No. 74-98-6) is its main component. Facilities handling LPG as CORCO were initially exempeted to submit RMP's as of June 21, 1999, according to a court stay that was finally resolved early year 2000, thus requiring CORCO to submit its RMP. LPG or propane is received from ocean going vessel at its Marine Terminal located at the Bahia de Guayanilla, stored at its fixed storage facilites located within its South Tank Farm, and loaded into trucks at its truck loading rack. For the purposes of this RMP, CORCO will consider Propane - a flammable substance - managed above regulatory treshold levels at each the Marine Terminal and at its South Tank Farm. Release scenarios and offsite consequence analyses have been defined by referring to "Risk Management Program Guidance for Propane Storage Facilities (40 CFR Part 68)" - EPA 550-B-00-001, January 2000. The most significant worst-case scenario assumes the release of 2,974,969 lbs. from a single refrigerated compartment from a ship moored at our Marine Terminal, resulting into a vapor cloud explosion , and with resulting distance to endpoint of 1.2 miles. The alternative release scenario assumes the rupture of a 6" pipeline containing liquid propane, resulting into the release of 17,640 lbs. into a vapor cloud explosion, with a distance to endpoint of 0.2 miles. Populations theoretically affected by these projected scenarios would range between 70 and 1,450 persons. Environmental impact would be mostly limited to resources within the Bahia de Guayanilla and surrounding areas. CORCO would be subject to Prevention Program 3. As part of these requirements, CORCO has Material Safety Data Sheets available to its em ployees, contractors and visitors. No processing is done onsite. Drawings and technical data is available at its "Mechanical Files Room". A Process Hazards Analysis is currently underway, with an expected completion date of May 31, 2000. Standard Operating Procedures supplemented by special instructions from supervisory personnel are available at the different control rooms. A collection of safety procedures last revised as of April 1996 addresses most important safety issues. The LHG Operation Manual developed to comply with US Coast Guard's requirements for our Marine Terminal governs most of our activities at that facility. Most of the training to operators is on-the-job by senior personnel. Inspection of equipment and piping is done as per applicable technical standards. Pressure vessels are inspected once per year as required by Puerto Rico regulations. In most cases, changes to equipment after being reviewed by local personnel have to be certified by corresponding outside inspectors. LPG facilities in Puerto Rico are also inspected by the governmental Public Service Commission. Audits of compliance with applicable requirements under 40 CFR Part 68 will be conducted once every three years after 1999, or whenever significant changes to facilities or to regulations make necessary a revision of this RMP. The investigation of incidents and the issuance of hot work permits is done as per written procedures. Representatives of the different operating groups of our employees will be allowed to participate in PHA's. Contractors are subject to CORCO's safety procedures and practices. CORCO mostly relies on its internal resources to respond to releases, but is also an active member of a mutual aid organization named CIMAO. Its main emergency response procedures are its Facility Response Plan and the LHG Emergency Manual, each developed to comply with applicable regulatory requirements. |