OLD BRIDGE CHEMICALS, INC. - Executive Summary |
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Old Bridge Chemicals, Inc. accidental prelease prevention policy involves a unified approach that integrates technologies, procedures and management practices. All applicable procedures of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Prevention program are adhered to. Operating procedures are written by the production manager using the technical process description. All existing operating procedures related to anhydrous ammonia are verified for correctness once a year by the production manager, plant supervisor and process operator. Training is formulated and tracked by the plant manager, general counsel and health & safety manager. Understanding of the training is assured by oral exams and demonstration. The mechanical integrity of the system is delegated to the maintenance manager. The program consists of equipment lists and specifications, preventative maintenance procedures and a demand work order system. The management of change program is quality assured by the plant manager, maintenance manager and general counsel. It is composed of a written program with elements delegated to appropriate members of the management team. There is a written prestartup review program quality assured by the maintenance manager or his delegate. The incident investigation program follows corporate policy for fact determination, root cause system analysis and recommendation implementation. The corporate policy is to hold periodic safety meetings at which employee participation is encouraged concerning each element of the program as well as general plant-wide safety and production issues. The contractor program follows a corporate contractor policy. The program is implemented by the Health and Safety Manager. No accidental releses of anhydrous ammonia has occured at this facility in the past five years. The worst case toxic release of anhydrous ammonia is 1.24 miles by use of the Dense Gas Air Dispersion (DEGADIS) model. The alternative case release of anyhydro us ammonia is 0.05 miles using the DEGADIS model. Release prevention in use are ball vlaves, excess flow shutoff valves, emergency shutoff valve, and procedures. Operator refresher training and system update training are conducted on the prescribed basis in the operator training program. The maintenance program conducts preventive maintenance checks to assure operation of the prevention devices. All incidents are invetigated to determine root cause and system deficiency correction. The has an emergency response program that has been reviewed by the Local Emergency Response Planning Committe (LEPC). Thsi program includes a notification plan. The company plans no safety improvements at this time because all current state of the art design and operation is implemented. |