City of Loveland Water Treatment Plant - Executive Summary |
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Executive Summary Release Prevention and Emergency Response Policies The City of Loveland, Colorado (City) takes a very active approach in maintaining and improving chemical safety. The City has demonstrated its commitment to safety by upgrading the chemical feed process at the Water Treatment Plant (WTP) in early 1999 from a gas pressure system to a vacuum system mounted directly on chlorine cylinders, which decreases system maintenance dramatically and therefore reduces the potential for chlorine leaks. Facility and Regulated Substance The City's WTP is located northwest of the City at 3152 Waterdale. Chlorine is used at the facility to provide disinfection of the public water supply. Chlorine is stored in one-ton cylinders, and no more than eight cylinders of chlorine (16,000 pounds) are stored at the WTP. Worst Case and Alternative Case Release Scenarios The worst case release scenario involves the loss of 2,000 pounds of chlorine from a single cylinder of chlorine outsid e of any enclosure. The rule for worst case release analysis assumes all of the contents are released in 10 minutes. The alternative case release scenario was based on process hazard analysis, and involves the release of 600 pounds of chlorine in 60 minutes as a result of a fusible plug failure. The distance to endpoint for both scenarios was analyzed using RMP*Comp (an EPA program), and the analyses resulted in a worst case release scenario distance to endpoint of 1.3 miles and an alternative case release scenario distance to endpoint of 0.1 miles. Accidental Release Prevention Program The accidental release prevention program complies with the requirements for Program Level 2 processes. The prevention program includes an employee training program based on the written operating procedures for the WTP, as well as an aggressive maintenance, inspection, and testing program for equipment utilized within the covered process. These programs all serve to prevent or minimize unintende d releases of chlorine. Five-Year Accident History The WTP has had one accidental release of chlorine within the last five years. The accidental release was caused by human error after removal of the old pressurized feed system, and resulted in a release of less than one pound of chlorine and a worker seeking medical evaluation. The accidental release did not result in an offsite impact. Emergency Response Program The WTP is included within a written community emergency response plan, and the primary responder to the WTP is the City of Loveland Fire Department. WTP employees handle incidental releases of chlorine and are trained and equipped to do so. Planned Changes to Improve Safety Safety is an ongoing process. The need for improvement is identified by facility employee inputs and inspections which are performed regularly at this facility. Employees are encouraged to recognize hazards and to present ideas to eliminate them or to minimize the potential consequences of those h azards. The City demonstrated this by upgrading the chemical process from a pressure system to a vacuum system in early 1999. This system reduces the potential for chlorine leaks and decreases system maintenance. One development that resulted from our hazard review is to install a chlorine detection alarm in the feed area to improve the safety at our facility. This will be accomplished in 2000. The existing chlorine detection system in the storage room will be upgraded. This system will provide a digital readout indicating the concentration of chlorine and greatly improving safety and how the employee responds to the situation. |