City of Loveland Wastewater 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 Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) 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 WWTP is located in the southeaster portion of the City at 920 South Boise Avenue. Chlorine is used at the facility to provide disinfection of treated wastewater effluent prior to discharge into the Big Thompson River. Chlorine is stored in one-ton cylinders, and no more than two cylinders of chlorine (4,000 pounds) are stored at the WWTP. Worst Case and Alternative Case Release Scenarios The worst case release scenario involves th e loss of 2,000 pounds of chlorine from a single cylinder of chlorine outside 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 WWTP, as well as an aggressive maintenance, inspection, and testing program for equipment utilized within the c overed process. These programs all serve to prevent or minimize unintended releases of chlorine. Five-Year Accident History The WWTP has had one accidental release of chlorine within the last five years. The accidental release was caused by human error during maintenance 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 WWTP is included within a written community emergency response plan, and the primary responder to the WWTP is the City of Loveland Fire Department. WWTP 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 pr esent ideas to eliminate them or to minimize the potential consequences of those hazards. The City demonstrated this by upgrading the chemical feed process from a pressure system to a vacuum system in early 1999. This system reduces the potential for chlorine leaks and decreases system maintenance. In addition, the WWTP is planning to switch to an ultra-violet disinfection system. This has been placed in the 5 year capital improvement project budget. 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. |