City of Casselberry - Howell Park Water Plant - Executive Summary |
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The accidental release prevention and emergency response policies at your facility: This facility complies with the Chlorine Institute and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) requirements for chlorine gas storage, and it is the City's policy to adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws. If an emergency were to occur, it is our policy to notify 911 or the City of Casselberry Dispatcher at 262-7613, and request response to the emergency. Additional emergency response can be obtained through the Seminole County HazMat Team, if necessary. This facility is a municipal drinking water treatment and distribution operation. Chlorine is used to treat drinking water with a chlorinator system as water is pumped from supply wells and then out into the City of Casselberry's municipal water supply system. Chlorine is used and stored in 1-ton cylinders (2,000 pounds) outside around the chlorinator system. The chlorinator consists of two 1-ton chlorine cylinders on-line at all times. A maximum of five 1-ton cylinders can be stored at the water plant (10,000 pounds). The facility includes a small administration building, pump station, three above ground water storage tanks, and parking lot. A chain-link fence encloses the facility's operation. The worst-case release scenario and alternative release scenario. The worst-case scenario is a release of chlorine from the total failure of a 1-ton (2,000 pounds) cylinder. This event is unlikely to ever occur and is presented here as required by the Risk Management Program regulations. The worst-case scenario assumes that the entire quantity of a 1-ton cylinder is completely released over a period of 10 minutes, resulting in a gaseous release of chlorine. According to EPA's Offsite Consequence Analysis look-up tables, the distance to the toxic endpoint for this quantity of chlorine is 1.3 miles. The facility is located in an urban area and could affect approximately 2,300 per sons. The alternative release scenario is a more realistic accident that would involve a release of gaseous chlorine from the chlorine injection system tubing. It has been assumed that a break could occur at the point where the injection tubing receives gaseous chlorine from the on-line chlorine cylinders. The amount of gaseous chlorine released from this scenario would be limited to the entire length of the injection tubing, or about 40 feet. The diameter of the tubing is 3/8". Less than one pound of gaseous chlorine would be released (0.0028 pounds). According to results from the TRACE model, the distance to the toxic endpoint for this quantity of gaseous chlorine is 150 feet or 0.03 mile. EPA's Offsite Consequence Analysis look-up tables, and results from EPA's RMP*Comp for the distance to the toxic endpoint for this quantity of chlorine is less than 0.1 mile. The alternative scenario release of chlorine could affect approximately 16 persons. The general accidental release prevention program and chemical-specific prevention steps. This facility complies with EPA's accident prevention rule, OSHA's PSM rule, and all applicable state and local codes and regulations. The chlorinator system is designed, installed, and maintained in accordance with Chlorine Institute and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) state regulations. The City of Casselberry is very proactive regarding safety at its water and wastewater plants. The City has safety programs in place to prevent accidents, as well as respond to accidents, should they occur. The City's safety and hazard prevention programs include the following: 7 Risk Management Program 7 Process Safety Management 7 Hazard Communication 7 Lockout/Tagout 7 Confined Space Entry 7 Fall Protection The operators at the water plants and the reclamation facility are licensed by the State of Florida. To prepare for an emergency, plant operators have been trained in both respiratory protection and emerge ncy action and fire prevention. The operators have many years of experience safely handling chlorine. They receive updated training regarding operations and safety on a regular basis. Five-year accident history. The Howell Park Water Plant has never had an accident involving chlorine that caused deaths, injuries, property or environmental damage, evacuations, or sheltering in place. The emergency response program. In the event of an emergency involving the chlorinator system or the stored chlorine, it is our policy to notify 911 or the City of Casselberry Dispatcher at 262-7613 and request response to the emergency. Additional emergency response can be obtained through the Seminole County HazMat Team, if necessary. We have discussed this policy with the City of Casselberry Police and Fire Departments; members of the fire department have inspected our chlorine system. Planned changes to improve safety. The City of Casselberry has a Master Water Plan that contains a summary of r ecommended improvements of the benefits and feasibility of (1) replacing the liquid one-ton chlorine cylinders with an alternate disinfectant or (2) the installation chlorine scrubbers on a building housing the one-ton cylinders. The Howell Park Water Plant is scheduled for this review and study by the year 2001. |