FARMERS COOP EQUITY - ISABEL - Executive Summary |
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The owners, management and employees of The Farmers Co-op Equity Co. are committed to the prevention of any accidental releases of anhydrous ammonia. If and accidental release should occur, the facility is prepared to work with the local fire company, or other authorities, to mitigate any release and minimize the impact of the release to people and the environment. The primary activity at the facility is to receive, store and distribute anhydrous ammonia to our farmer owners. The maximum quantity stored would be 193,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia in our two storage tanks. The worst-case release scenario would be the release of the total contents of a storage tank released as a gas over 10 minutes. The maximum quantity released would be 114,000 pounds, which represents the volume of the storage tank at 85 percent as limited by design standards. The distance to the endpoint (point of dispersion to 200 ppm) is 2.32 miles. The alternative release scenario based on the most likely potential incident is a release from a break in a transfer hose. The distance to the endpoint (point of dispersion to 200 ppm) is .83 miles. EPA, OSHA, KDA and DOT heavily regulate this companies anhydrous ammonia operation. The facility has implemented the provisions of ANSI K-61 published by the American National Standards Institute and OSHA 1910.111, the rules pertaining to employees' safety and anhydrous ammonia. Because this company is so heavily regulated and management has committed substantial resources to training and to operational safety, we have achieved an outstanding safety record. There have been no accidental releases of anhydrous ammonia in the past five years that: have cause any deaths, injuries, or significant property damage at the facility; nor to our knowledge, have resulted in offsite deaths injuries, evacuations, sheltering in place, property damage, or environmental damage. The facility has a written emergency action plan and response plan. We annually send to the State, LEPC and the Local Fire Department a list of hazardous materials we have on hand and where they are located. Our goal is to provide effective, efficient service to our farmer owners when they need it and where they need it. Doing the job safely is critical to our farmers, employees and the rural communities we serve. |