San Patricio County COOP - Executive Summary |
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We are a fertilizer retail facility. The only material considered hazardous at this facility is anhydrous ammonia. Our facility has one skid-mounted 12,000 gallon ammonia storage tank. A contractor supplies equipment and personnel for blending ammonia to make our fertilizers. The contractor trains his personnel in safe handling of ammonia and in safe operation of his equipment. It is our policy to meet, or exceed, all local, state, and national standards relating to our handling of ammonia. We have also coordinated with the Odem Fire Department to respond in the unlikely event of an emergency. In the past five years, we have not had any accidents or releases with off-site consequences. Specific safety features that we employ to minimize the impact of an accidental release include: 1. Excess flow valves to prevent flow from the tank if any hose or line breaks. 2. Pressure relief valves on the storage tank to prevent overpressuring and rupture of the tank. As required by the EP A, we have analyzed the worst-case release scenario defined by the EPA. This scenario involves a release of the entire contents of the storage tank. According to information supplied by the EPA the effect from this scenario would extend 2.7 miles from our facility, and would include the town of Edroy, but no schools or hospitals. It is extremely unlikely that an event such as EPAs worst-case release scenario will ever occur. A more probable, but still highly unlikely event, would be an event like a hose break during a truck pull away. According to information supplied by the EPA, the impact from such a release would only extend 380 feet and would not impact any residences. Our registration information indicates no full-time employees at this site. This is because this facility is an unmanned facility, and employees are only at the site for the brief time it takes to fill a truck. |