PPG Industries, Barberton - Executive Summary |
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PPG INDUSTRIES, INC. BARBERTON PLANT The PPG Industries, Inc. facility in Barberton, Ohio, manufactures optical products, fine chemicals and silica products. Examples of these products include: 7 Plastic resins - used by customers to make eyewear lenses like Transitions. photochromic lenses; 7 Chloroformates - used by customers to make medicines and chemicals used by farmers; 7 Silicas - used by customers to flatten and thicken paints and varnishes; 7 Teslin. - a synthetic printing sheet used by our customers to make items such as menus, identification cards, labels and children's books; and 7 Safety films and coatings - found in commercial and military aircraft windows. The Optical Products process is subject to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Risk Management Planning regulation. The six chemicals regulated by the EPA and used at the Barberton facility include phosgene, chlorine, allyl alcohol, n-propyl chloroformate, ammonia and isopropyl chl oroformate. These chemicals are used in making plastic resins for eyewear lenses, medicines and chemicals used by farmers. POLICIES: ACCIDENTAL RELEASE PREVENTION AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE The PPG Barberton facility complies with Occupational Safety & Health Administration's Process Safety Management (PSM) Rule (29 CFR 1910.119), applicable Ohio and federal EPA regulations, and applicable Coast Guard and Department of Transportation requirements. PPG also follows the Responsible Care. Codes of Management Practice, including the Responsible Care. Community Awareness Code of Management Practice, and PPG's own Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) Policy to assure emergency preparedness and foster community right-to-know. PPG's CAER Policy requires each manufacturing plant to have a pro-active community awareness and emergency response program to handle emergencies that might happen in that facility. All of these activities form an integral part of PPG's overall Environmen t, Health and Safety Policy, whose goal is "to manufacture, sell, and distribute products worldwide in a manner that is safe and protective of our employees, neighbors, customers and other stakeholders, and the environment." GENERAL ACCIDENTAL RELEASE PREVENTION PROGRAM PPG's prevention program consists of several layers of protection to assure that the plant is designed, operated and maintained safely. Trained personnel are the key to a safely designed, a safely operated and a safely maintained plant. Detailed engineering and design standards are used. These standards include national codes and standards, quality assurance inspections, over pressure protection systems, flammable and toxic gas detectors, emergency shutdown systems, a fire water system and Y2K compliant computer controls for the processes. Employees at the facility receive job-appropriate training. Safety, environmental, operating and training procedures are subject to periodic reviews and updates, as appropriate . Also, the Barberton facility uses maintenance and inspection programs that are designed to minimize the possibility of equipment, piping or control failures. These programs include procedures such as X-ray testing and thickness measurements. WORST-CASE AND ALTERNATIVE-CASE RELEASE SCENARIOS An off-site consequence analysis was performed for each of the six toxic chemicals in the Barberton facility. EPA rules require that a worst-case scenario be analyzed which would involve the highly unlikely release in ten minutes of the entire contents of the largest storage container. Based on off-site consequence look-up tables and EPA guidelines and specified assumptions, the least-likely release scenario of phosgene would cause an off-site impact. PPG-Barberton has no flammable chemicals to report as required by the EPA Risk Management Planning regulations. Alternative-case release scenarios, or planning-case scenarios was developed for phosgene, chlorine, allyl alcohol, n-propyl chlor oformate, ammonia and isopropyl chloroformate. Evaluations from these planning-case scenarios did not show an off-site impact. These scenarios followed the guidelines provided by EPA and off-site consequence look-up tables to perform the end-point calculations. The local emergency planning committee and office of emergency management will use the planning-case scenario information, along with PPG experts, to develop emergency response plans, train responders, perform practice drills and maintain the appropriate equipment. FIVE-YEAR ACCIDENT HISTORY The Barberton facility has had two accidental releases of regulated substances in the past five years. In July 1994, a pipe failure caused a mixture of water, ammonia and phosgene to be released to the air. As a precautionary measure, PPG asked safety officials to evacuate nearby homes and multi-family housing units downwind of the release. No one was injured, however, some residents, members of safety forces and PPG employees were ch ecked at a local hospital and released. The second release occurred in September 1998. A pipeline leak caused a release of chlorine. No one off-site was injured during this incident and there was no off-site impact. EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROGRAM PPG personnel are trained and ready to respond to emergencies. The local fire department personnel and other safety forces are prepared to help if needed. Operators, supervisors and maintenance mechanics are trained in responding to various emergencies. PPG's response plans are shared with local fire and police departments and other emergency responders. PPG conducts emergency practice drills with its employees and local safety forces. In addition, special emergency response equipment is located throughout the plant. Emergency equipment is inspected and tested on a regular basis so that it is ready at all times. Sophisticated alarms alert PPG-Barberton personnel of a spill or release. If necessary, local officials will notify citizens b y using community sirens, announcements on local radio and TV stations and police contacting people in the area by using bullhorns and going door-to-door. Citizens are instructed to either "shelter in place" or evacuate until the "all clear" signal is given by local officials. PLANS TO IMPROVE SAFETY PPG personnel are committed to looking for new ways to improve plant safety. Some examples are: 7 Assessing control instruments to assure that the most reliable and effective controls are used; 7 Conducting and reviewing hazard assessments ; 7 Evaluating jobs for ergonomic improvements; 7 Controlling plant access; 7 Observing job tasks to identify and correct unsafe behaviors in the work environment; and 7 Evaluating product handling and shipping procedures. The Barberton facility has communicated its chemical safety and accident prevention program and risk management information to employees, community leaders and citizens of Barberton through open houses, plant tours, meetings and c ommunity newsletters. For additional information, please call PPG-Barberton's Community Contact Line at (330) 825-1303 or access the PPG Industries, Inc. website at www.ppg.com. |