Clermont County Bob McEwen WTP - Executive Summary

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    The Clermont County Water and Sewer District, in southwest Ohio, operates three facilities which use one-ton containers of chlorine gas.  Gas from the containers is drawn into a stream of water through an "injector".  The resulting stream of chlorinated water is piped into the treatment processes. 
    The Bob McEwen Water Treatment Plant (BMWTP), at 3690 Greenbriar Road in Batavia Township, has a maximum capacity of 10 tons of chlorine, and uses almost 50 tons per year to disinfect the drinking water it produces.   
    The County has shaped its safety policies, standard operating procedures, maintenance, and training to emphasize the prevention of any chlorine leaks. If, despite this preparation, a leak occurs, the facilities are designed to contain it.  If containment cannot be accomplished, the County Emergency Response Agency is prepared, along with the Batavia Township Fire Department and the Greater Cincinnati Hazmat Team, to stop the leak at its source and to minimize its  
impact on the public.  BMWTP, which began operations in 1995, has never had a leak of a magnitude sufficient to require emergency response, or to affect the public.  No plant operator has undergone exposure sufficient to require medical assistance. 
    Leak scenarios were performed on a computer model by the County Emergency Response Agency.  If an actual leak occurs, the computer model can be used to determine, in a matter of minutes, what area (if any) needs to be evacuated, based on the amount of chlorine released and the current atmospheric conditions. 
    The worst case scenario was based on the complete release of the maximum inventory of chlorine within 10 minutes.  This could only occur if all the ton containers were full and were simultaneously ruptured, which would require extraordinary circumstances and considerable outside force.  At BMWTP, under average weather conditions, with minimal wind out of the southwest, the worst case scenario shows the chlorine moving towards t 
he industrial area of Afton, where Ford Motor Company and Cincinnati Milacron have large facilities.  The computer model does not project the plume beyond a six-mile extent; therefore this distance was reported in the RMP.  The remaining area is largely agricultural, with some residential, and includes a lightly used part of the East Fork State Park along Greenbriar Road.    
    The alternate scenario was based on a more realistic possibility:  a single one-ton container leaking through a broken pipe or valve, with the leak stopped in one hour.  Using average weather conditions and a breeze from the southwest, the computer model projects a chlorine plume that would affect homes within 1100 yards, which stops short of the Greeenbriar Mobile Home Park.  When the East Fork Estates Subdivision is developed, more people will be within range of this scenario.  The VFW Post may also be affected. 
    Treatment plant operators are careful in their duties and respectful of the potential danger 
of chlorine.  They are trained to prevent leaks, and know how to respond if one should occur.  Access to the facility is controlled.  The Clermont County Water and Sewer District has been, and remains, trustworthy in the handling of chlorine.
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