Royster-Clark, Inc. Shawboro #1 - Executive Summary |
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1.Accidental release prevention and emergency response policies: The owners, management and employees of Royster-Clark, Inc., Shawboro, NC., are committed to the prevention of any accidental release of ammonia from Anhydrous Ammonia and Aqua Ammonia. If any accidental release should occur at the facility, personnel have been instructed and are prepared to work with the Currituck County Emergency personnel, the Crawford Township Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department and other authorities to mitigate any release and minimize the impact of the release on people and the environment. 2. The stationary source and regulated substance handled: The primary activity at the Shawboro #1 facility of Royster-Clark, Inc., is the blending and storage of fertilizer for sales to agricultural users (farmers). Additionally, the facility converts Anhydrous Ammonia to Aqua Ammonia for use in blending of fertilizer at this location and other Royster - Clark, Inc. fertilizer blending facilities in the reg ion. Anhydrous Ammonia is received by railroad tank cars and used from the railroad tank car in the conversion process to Aqua Ammonia. The Aqua Ammonia is stored for use in the blending of fertilizer for plant nutrients or for shipment by tank trucks. The maximum quantity of Anhydrous Ammonia stored at this facility would be 160,000 pounds in a Railroad Tank Car. The maximum quantity of Aqua Ammonia at this facility would be 1,167,000 pounds, stored in 6 - 22,000 gallon storage tanks and 2 - 12,000 gallon storage tanks. The Aqua Ammonia contains a maximum of 30% Ammonia and all of these storage tanks are in a diked area. There could be a maximum of 510,000 pounds of Ammonia at this facility if all storage tanks were full and there was a full Anhydrous AmmoniaTank Car in place for processing. This maximum storage would only happen in the rarest of circumstances because of inventory monitoring and control procedures. 3. The worst-case release scenario and the alternate release scena rio: a. The worst-case release scenario would be the release of the entire contents of Anhydrous Ammonia from a fully loaded Railroad Tank Car released as a gas in a 10 minute period. The maximum quantity of Anhydrous Ammonia released would be 160,000 pounds, which is the capacity of the Railroad cars. The distance to the end point of 200ppm of Ammonia, as determined by The Fertilizer Institute's Model - Degadis, is 1.22 miles. The release would affect 2,300 residents. The possibility of this worst - case release occurring is extremely unlikely as the railroad tank car is placed on an isolated siding at the facility and these railroad tank cars are periodically inspected and maintained according to Department of Transportation requirements. b.The Alternate Release Scenario, based on the most likely potential incident, is a release of Anhydrous Ammonia from a beak in a 2 inch transfer hose, during the unloading procedure, with the release discontinued in 2 minutes. The calculated quan tity of Anhydrous Ammonia released would be 11,900 pounds. The distance to an end point of 200 ppm of Ammonia, as determined by The Fertilizer Institute's Model-Degadis, is 0.56 miles. This release would affect 12 residents. The possibility of this alternate release scenario occurring is extremely unlikely as Shawboro #1 personnel periodically inspect, repair, and replace related equipment according to established standard procedures. 4.The General Accidental Release prevention program: The Shawboro #1 facility has implemented the provisions of "Safety Requirements for the Storage and Handling of Anhydrous Ammonia, K-61.1" published by the American National Standard Institute, Inc., the standards of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration ( OSHA ) 29CFR 1910.111 "Storage and Handling of Anhydrous Ammonia" and the provisions of Aqua Ammonia supplier's recommendations for safe handling of Aqua Ammonia. 5. The Five-Year Accident History: This facility has had no accide ntal release of Ammonia in the past five years that have caused any deaths, injuries, or significant property damage on site, or has resulted in any off site deaths, injuries, evacuations, sheltering in place, property damage, or environmental damage. 6. The Emergency Response Program: This facility has: a. A written emergency response plan which is incorporated in the written community emergency response plan of Currituck County. b. Provided state and local authorities with emergency planning and community right-to-know information as required under SARA Title III (EPCRA). c.A written response program, in accordance with the OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.120, including pre-emergency planning and employee training. This facilitie's Emergency Response Program has been discussed with and reviewed by The New Hanover Station 5 Fire Department which annually inspects the facility. 7. Planned changes to improve safety: Safety improvement is an on-going process at all the facilities o f Royster-Clark Inc.. Periodic evaluations are performed to assess the effectiveness of safety practices and the proper maintenance of this facility. There are no additional specific Ammonia safety recommendations for implementation at this facility at this time. |