Devro-Teepak, Incorporated - Executive Summary |
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Devro-Teepak, a leading manufacturer of cellulose products for the meat industry, is committed to taking all steps to prevent a negative impact of our Danville facility to our surrounding neighbors and to the environment in general. Our committment is formulated in our corporate "Environmental Control Philosophy" policy. The regulated substance, carbon disulfide, is closely monitored, from entry to the plant site, through storage, and final introduction into the process. The Danville facility has worked closely with OSHA in satisfying PSM requirements. Devro-Teepak, Danville, has been a VPP star site since 1993. We have committed our resources to assuring a safe work environment for our employees and are also working to assure thay any risks to our neighboring community are minimal. To predict possible impacts to the community with a release of carbon disulfide to the environment, the dispersion modeling program, ALOHA, provided by the National Safety Council was use d. The release simulations, both catastrophic (worst case) and alternative (most likely), showed limited impact to the surrounding community (1.5 miles for the catastrophic release and less than 300 feet for the more likely event). Trenches, containment area, and a catch basin are used to reduce the affects of a catastrophic release of the carbon disulfide. To minimize the effects of a more likely spill, detectors, sprinklers, deluge systems, and flow monitoring, with excess flow shutoff capability, are installed. During the last five years, there have been no releases, or accidents, associated with the carbon disulfide unloading, storage, or transfer systems. In the unlikely event of a release of carbon disulfide, requiring outside intervention, our on-site HAZMAT team has been trained to initiate an incident command call-in system and to contact all required outside agencies to minimize delay in reacting to the incident. The members of the HAZMAT team are trained to the technical level, and the head of the team is also the coordinator for the Vermilion County HAZMAT Response Team, which reports through the Emergency Management Agency for Vermilion County, Illinois. Changes to further improve the safety aspects of the carbon disulfide system began in 1990, when the chemical process was automated. In 1993, all piping, associated with the carbon disulfide system, was replaced. The most recent changes, 1997/1998, involved the addition of a new nitrogen unloading and carbon disulfide flow monitoring system, with a new redundant process feed line for use in annual pressure checks. We continually evaluate our systems with the goal of assuring the safety of our workforce and our community. |