Agrilink Foods Inc.-Fulton - Executive Summary |
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Agrilink Foods Fulton, NY. Plant The Agrilink Foods facility in Fulton, NY is a frozen vegetable packaging facility linked with a large cold storage warehouse for shipping and receiving materials. We receive vegetables that have been previously frozen at another facility and package them into retail sizes and prepare them to be shipped to markets across the United States. Several of our products require sauces or other ingredients, such as pasta, to be added. These items are also prepared in this facility. During the processing and packaging, refrigeration is required to maintain a high quality product. For this refrigeration we use Anhydrous Ammonia at quantities above the reporting quantity of 10,000 pounds. Anhydrous Ammonia is used as refrigerant for several reasons, it is economical and efficient to use, and it provides low operating temperatures that are needed for rapid freezing of product. Also located at the site is a 100,000 square foot 0 degree cold storage warehouse and shipping facility. This large area is also cooled through the use of Anhydrous Ammonia. Safety programs and procedures have been developed to decrease the amount of hazardous chemicals being used at the plant in an effort to reduce the risk of possible releases to the environment. Compliance to environmental responsibilities is achieved by the assignment of responsibilities to 9 plant management employees. In compliance with the requirements of the Risk Management Program we have developed a worst case release scenario and an alternative release scenario. These scenarios were developed using the RMP* Comp computer program developed by the US EPA. We also used the computer programs Marplot and Landview III to develop the mapping diagrams and population estimates for these scenarios. The worst case release scenario is based on a single chemical release of Anhydrous Ammonia from our main storage vessel. The quantity released would be 30,000 pounds based on our ammonia inventory. Based on EPA guidelines this quantity would be released over 10 minutes, which is a rate of release of 3000 pounds per minute. The material being released would be a liquid and vapor mixture. The facility is located within the city limits which caused us to use an urban setting in our model. An urban setting means that there are several obstacles, such as buildings and trees, to disrupt the flow of the released material. The RMP* Comp program assumes a wind speed of 1.5 meters per second on a worst case weather day. Based on all the factors stated above our model developed a toxic end point circle of 2 miles from the plant in any direction. This means that if there were a release of this magnitude, that an area extending 2 miles from the facility in all directions could have the potential to contain toxic levels of Anhydrous Ammonia. This type of release would be very unlikely due to the type of damage required. Our alternative release scenario uses many of the above factors, the differences include a wind speed of 3.0 meters per second, class D weather conditions, and the accident scenario. We based our alternative scenario on a release rate of 100 pounds per minute and a release duration of 60 minutes. This alternative model developed a toxic end point circle of 1/10 of a mile from the plant. This alternative release scenario was used because it is more representative of a possible incident at the facility. The release rate chosen is closely representative of a small broken pipe or faulty pressure relief valve. The Fulton facility is required to follow OSHA regulation 29CFR1910.119, Process Safety Management for regulated chemicals. Process Safety Management (PSM) is a 14 part program which gives guidance regarding operation of our Ammonia refrigeration systems. We have a trained Ammonia system operator onsite 24 hours a day 7 days a week. All of our operators receive regular training to maintain skills and provide them information on new technology. Each operator has also completed 24 hours of Hazardous Material Technician training and serves as a member of our onsite Response Team. During normal operation, we physically review all Ammonia pipelines on a weekly basis. We also, on a quarterly basis, use an air sampling device to sample our evaporative condensing tower for any trace of ammonia. Currently all of our compressors operate under 2 separate high pressure switches. These switches are designed to stop the compressors before they reach a pressure high enough to cause a safety relief valve to open and release ammonia to the atmosphere. Following PSM requirements we have implemented a 5 year replacement program on all safety pressure relief valves in the system. During the past five years there has been only one reportable release of Ammonia at the Fulton facility. The material remained within property lines and there was no risk to the offsite environment. If a situation occurs which requires immediate action to prevent environmental contam ination the on site response team is activated. This team is made up of 19 personnel who have all received a minimum of 24 hours training at the Hazardous Materials Technician level and are level A suit qualified. Three of these people have also received an additional 24 hours training to become Incident Commanders. This team conducts practice drills throughout the year to maintain skills. If an incident beyond the capability of the onsite team occurs the City of Fulton Fire Dept. is called. Through the command officer of the Fire dept. any further request for assistance such as for the Oswego County Hazardous Materials Response Team. The need to notify the public would be done through the fire dept. and police dept. |