Fox River Water Reclamation District - Executive Summary |
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The only chemical of concern for the Risk Management Plan is chlorine gas that is stored in one-ton cylinders. The worst-case release scenario assumes a full cylinder's contents is released, inside the chlorine storage building, in a ten minute span. With worst-case weather circumstances the potential area affected is a circle with a radius of 3,900 feet. The alternate release scenario assumes the same full cylinder's contents is released, inside the chlorine building, in a ten minute span. The only difference is the weather conditions are now more typical. In this case the potential area affected is a circle with a radius of 800 feet. This area is mostly within the treatment plant grounds. No other activities occur within the chlorine building. This eliminates the possibility that other activities will disrupt the safety program.The chlorine safety program requires only trained employees are allowed to enter the chlorine building. The building is equipped with an automatic de tection and alarm system. In addition, prior to entering the building, the trained operator visually inspects for a leak. All release scenarios assume the ventilation system for the building is active. This is an added level of conservativism since the system is only active about 15 minutes per day. In case the release release occurs during this period, there is a remote shut-off switch in another building. Without the ventilation system being active, the rate of escape of the chlorine should be much less. This will also help contain any release within the building. No pressurized chlorine areas exist other than the storage tanks themselves. The chlorine feed system is vacuum based. Therefore, if a leak occurs, the vacuum is lost and the feed system automatically shuts down. This would limit any leaks to far less than one pound of chlorine. In this most realistic release scenario, the emergency response will be limited to the chlorine building. If a leak occurs, the Fire De partment is immediately notified and the affected area is evacuated. If the leak is not automatically shut down, trained contracted personnel will be contacted to stop the leak. The five year accident history is that there have been no emergencies. |