Honeywell International, Inc. Baton Rouge Plant - Executive Summary

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RMP Executive 
Honeywell Baton Rouge Plant 
LDEQ 8028 
 
The Honeywell International, Inc. Baton Rouge Plant is a manufacturing facility located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  It is part of the Specialty Chemicals Business Unit of Honeywell.  Headquartered in Morris Township, New Jersey, Honeywell is an advanced technology and manufacturing company serving customers worldwide with aerospace and automotive products, chemicals, fibers, plastics and advanced materials.  With 1998 sales of approximately $15 billion, the company ranks among the top 100 of the Fortune 500.  Honeywell has approximately 70,500 employees at 300 facilities in 40 countries.  Honeywelll operates twelve major businesses: Aerospace Equipment Systems, Aerospace Engines, Electronic and Avionic Systems, Aerospace Marketing Sales and Services, Federal Manufacturing and Technologies, Polymers, Specialty Chemicals, Electronic Materials, Consumer Products Group, Turbocharging Systems, Truck Brake Systems and Friction materials.   
More information about Honeywell may be found at its Web Page: www.Honeywell.com. 
 
It is the world wide policy of Honeywell to design, manufacture and distribute its products and to handle and dispose of materials throughout their life cycle in a manner that protects the environment and safeguards employees, customers, and the public from unacceptable risk.  Honeywell's complete Health, Safety and Environmental Policy may be found at the Honeywell Web Page. 
 
The Honeywell Baton Rouge Plant participates in the Responsible Care program of the Chemical Manufacturers Association.  The Community Awareness and Emergency Response Code of Responsible Care brings chemical plants and local communities together through communications and cooperative emergency planning. The Honeywell Baton Rouge Plant endeavors to accomplish this by sponsoring and regularly meeting with an established local Community Advisory Panel.  The Honeywell Baton Rouge Plant is very active with our community sponsoring or  
participating in the Academic Distinction Fund, Plant & Play Day at the Baton Rouge Zoo, Special Olympics, Meet Your Neighbor Day, Parker House Children's Christmas Parties, Deep South Sports Bicycle Helmet donations, speakers bureaus, March of Dimes, Red Cross, and United Way activities.  
The Process Safety Code of Responsible Care is designed to prevent fires, explosions, and accidental chemical releases.  The code requires safety audits, inspection and maintenance programs, and safety training for employees and contract workers.  Facilities are encouraged to listen to the concerns of the community and to consider these concerns when designing and implementing process safety systems. The Honeywell Baton Rouge Plant produces fluorine hydrocarbon chemicals used as refrigerants and non-ozone depleting substitutes.  Our products, such as our long-term, non-ozone depleting replacements 407C and AZ-20, are used as refrigerants in home, automobile, and commercial air conditioners, and refri 
geration units such as supermarket freezers, display cases, and ice machines.  Other Honeywell products, such as HCFC 141b and 142b, are the leading substitute blowing agents for rigid foam insulation for construction, appliances, and transport vehicles.  The facility has 203 employees from the surrounding communities. 
 
In accordance with the requirements of the RMP rule, a description of the following seven elements is provided for the Honeywell Baton Rouge Plant. 
 
1. Accidental release prevention and emergency response policies: 
 
It is the policy of the Honeywell Baton Rouge Plant to operate a safe and environmentally sound facility by identifying and controlling health, safety, or environmental risks related to its operations; by designing its processes to protect people, property and the environment: by conducting and continually reviewing and improving programs for safety, health and environmental excellence; and by establishing processes to assure that all laws and regulations ap 
plicable to its operations and products are known and observed.  The accidental release prevention and emergency response policy associated specifically with the plant's use of the regulated substances involves the integration of safety devices and technologies inherent in the design of the process, safe operational procedures and management practices, operator training, the preparation and testing of site emergency response plans, the maintenance of onsite emergency response equipment and a professionally trained Emergency Response Team, coordinating our efforts and resources with local emergency response services, and communicating with the community. 
 
2. The stationary source and regulated substances handled: 
 
The following listed substances are stored and handled in quantities that exceed the threshold quantity specified in the RMP Rule. 
 
Hydrogen Fluoride: 
 
The Honeywell Baton Rouge Plant uses anhydrous hydrogen fluoride in the manufacture of refrigerants.  The facility's stationa 
ry sources of hydrogen fluoride consist of two storage tanks and associated process distribution equipment.  Hydrogen fluoride is shipped into the facility in railcars. 
 
Chlorine: 
 
Chlorine is used as a raw material in the manufacture of automobile and home refrigerants.  It is transported to the facility in railcars and one ton cylinders. 
 
Chloroform: 
 
The Honeywell Baton Rouge Plant uses chloroform as a raw material in the manufacture of refrigerants.  The facility's stationary sources of chloroform consist of two storage tanks and associated process distribution equipment. 
 
Difluoroethane: 
 
Difluoroethane is used as a raw material in the manufacture of refrigerants.  Honeywell Baton Rouge Plant's stationary sources of difluoroethane consist of two bulk storage tanks and the distribution equipment. 
 
Trifluoroethane: 
 
Honeywell Baton Rouge Plant uses trifluorethane as a raw material in the manufacture of refrigerants.  There is one storage tank for trifluoroethane. 
 
The worst-case rel 
ease scenario and the alternative release scenario, including administrative controls and mitigation measures to limit the distance for each reported scenario: 
 
EPA's RMP regulations required the Honeywell Baton Rouge plant to model the dispersion and off-site impacts of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride which would be released to the atmosphere in the event of a hypothetical worst case release scenario occurring at the Baton Rouge plant.  The Honeywell Baton Rouge plant's worst case scenario is the hypothetical failure of a tank containing a maximum of 240,000 pounds of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride.  As required by EPA's regulations, the worst case scenario air dispersion modeling assumed that the resulting spill from the tank could not be controlled by the facility's anhydrous hydrogen fluoride spill mitigation system (described more fully below) and, furthermore, that the entire 240,000 pounds of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride spilled would vaporize in 10 minutes.  Under these unlikely assump 
tions, the toxic cloud formed by the vaporized hydrogen fluoride would reach offsite endpoints and public receptors under certain meteorological conditions assumed in the air dispersion modeling required by EPA. 
 
For a number of reasons, it is extremely unlikely that this event would ever occur. The anhydrous hydrogen fluoride spill mitigation system includes an automatic remote shutdown system that deploys valves that fail closed and diverts the anhydrous hydrogen fluoride to separate emergency containment dump tanks.  Operations personnel are in continual attendance of the process.  There are 1000GPM positional water spray mitigation towers that when deployed contain all vapors that may leak.  Our professionally trained Emergency Response Team has mutual aid capability from other local industries and the Office of Emergency Services.  
 
EPA's regulations also require the modeled dispersion and off-site impacts of hydrogen fluoride, chlorine, chloroform, difluoroethane, and trifluoroet 
hane which would be released to the atmosphere in the event of a more credible alternate release scenario occurring at the Baton Rouge facility.  The alternate release scenario for the Honeywell Baton Rouge Plant involves a small weld failure in an anhydrous hydrogen fluoride pipeline, which results in a five-minute release.  Mitigation of this type of release would automatically occur through the automatic shutdown system with fail close valves.  The second alternate release scenario is that of a small flange failure of a chlorine line.  Due to the activation of the automatic shut-off valves the duration of the release would be five minutes and will be mitigated by use of a water spray.  The third alternate release scenario of chloroform involves a pump seal failure which releases chloroform to a sump.  It would be mitigated by activation of a manual shutdown system and a water spray.  The fourth alternate release scenario involves a release of difluoroethane from a broken two-inch di 
ameter pipe.  Mitigation would include an automatic remote shutdown and water spray mitigation. 
 
 
 
The general accidental release prevention program and chemical specific prevention steps: 
 
The general accidental release prevention program at the Honeywell Baton Rouge Plant for the affected stationary sources includes the following elements: 
 
a) established process safety management system for oversight and control of the manufacturing processes, 
b) computer controlled processes with sophisticated interlock and shutdown protocols,  
c) development and implementation of accurate written procedures for safe operation and maintenance of the process.  
d) An on-going mechanical integrity program that ensures critical process equipment is designed, constructed, installed and regularly tested in accordance with recognized codes and standards. 
e) Formalized, documented inspection protocols integrated with preventive and predictive maintenance programs, 
f) performance of process hazards analyses 
with prompt resolution of any recommendations, 
g) use of safety shutdown, relief and vent systems, interlocks, secondary containment installations, control instrumentation, and process monitoring for early warning and detection, 
h) implementation of procedures designed to review and manage changes to the process 
i) performance of incidence investigations, process safety compliance audits, and pre-startup safety reviews, and 
j) comprehensive process-specific training programs for process operators and maintenance personnel. 
 
Chemical specific prevention steps include: 
(need more detail here on this specific programs for your chemicals) e.g. dump tanks, HF monitors, water aprays etc etc.) 
a) developing an understanding among the operators for the hazardous properties of all hazardous chemicals, the process chemistry and safe operational process limits such as temperatures, pressures, and flows, 
b) understanding the consequences of unsafe chemical handling, process deviations and inadver 
tent mixing of incompatible chemicals, 
c) having knowledge of the requirements, capabilities and limitations of both personal and emergency response equipment and maintaining accessible inventories of each, 
d) maintenance of a response team trained to a high level of readiness, 
e) design of process technology and process equipment based on a thorough understanding of the hazardous properties of all hazardous chemicals, and 
f) design and installation of active and passive mitigation facilities such as vapor absorbing water spray systems, liquid containment dikes, relief systems with scrubbing capacity, automatic remote shutdown systems, excess flow valves, and closed circuit monitoring systems. 
 
The five year accident history: 
The Honeywell Baton Rouge Plant has had two on-site medical incidents that fall within the definition of an RMP accident. One incident involved hydrogen fluoride burns to the neck and shoulder of an employee when a piping joint failed.  An assessment of the approp 
riate materials of construction was made and appropriate corrective measures taken which included refresher training of all maintenance craftsman regarding material compatibility.  The second incident involved a minor inhalation of chlorine when a valve that had been improperly cleaned was dissembled.  Maintenance procedures were reviewed, revised, and refresher training conducted.  
 
The emergency response program: 
The Honeywell Baton Rouge Plant has an emergency preparedness planning and response program designed to deal with accidental releases and other unplanned events associated with the facility's stationary sources.  The plant has a written Emergency Response Plan that addresses various contingencies including specific actions for responding to an accidental release of the materials that we handle.  The Plan provides for both internal plant and external community emergency alerting and notification with multiple means of communication identified.  The plan addresses emergency he 
alth care, sheltering in place, evacuation, emergency responsibilities, response and control procedures, and emergency equipment.  The Plan provides for the implementation of an Incident Command System to direct and coordinate the plant's response activities.  The Plan has been coordinated with the LEPC and with the local Fire Department who would direct all offsite community notification activities. The Honeywell Baton Rouge plant maintains its own professionally trained Emergency Response Team (ERT) which is knowledgeable and prepared to respond to incidents involving accidental releases of hydrogen fluoride, chlorine, chloroform, difluoroethane, and trifluoroethane.  The ERT conducts quarterly emergency response drills and exercises.  Annual in-house audits of the plant's emergency response system are performed.  The plant is equipped with an extensive underground fire water system supplied by 1500GPM and 1000GPM fire pumps drawing from dedicated fire water tanks totaling 325,000 ga 
llons. The local Fire Department Hazardous Material Team is invited to tour the facility annually.  Honeywell Baton Rouge plant works in full cooperation and coordination with the Office of Emergency Services.  Honeywell provides support for the installation of the Community Alert System (CAL), the community warning system of sirens, loudspeakers, and automatic telephone notification.  The Plant serves as a member of the Greater Baton Rouge Industrial Task Force, and the Greater Baton Rouge Industrial Management Association.  
 
Planned changes to improve safety: 
The most recent process hazard analysis of the Honeywell Baton Rouge plant was completed in 2001.  As a result of this systematic safety review, several action items were identified and implemented to improve upon the existing safeguards at the plant and to further reduce the potential for any accidental release.  The process hazard analysis for the hydrogen fluoride, chlorine, chloroform, difluoroethane, and trifluoroethane sta 
tionary sources will be revalidated every five years. The Honeywell Baton Rouge plant maintains its own professionally trained Emergency Response Team (ERT) which is knowledgeable and prepared to respond to incidents involving accidental releases of hydrogen fluoride, chlorine, chloroform, difluoroethane, and trifluoroethane.  The ERT conducts quarterly emergency response drills and exercises.  Annual in-house audits of the plant's emergency response system are performed.  The local Fire Department Hazardous Material Team is invited to tour the facility annually.
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