LCRA - West Travis County Regional WTP - Executive Summary |
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Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) owns and operates a municipal water treatment facility in Bee Cave, Travis County, Texas. LCRA has reviewed its obligations under EPA's Risk Management Program Rule (RMP Rule, Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act). In response to these requirements, LCRA notes that there are two obligations incumbent on the operations at its facility: 1. '112(r)(1) - Purpose and General Duty Clause - The essence of the general duty clause is that an owner/operator that stores and uses hazardous chemicals in any quantity has a fundamental obligation to ensure a safe operation, and to have plans in place in the event of an accident to appropriately manage the situation. LCRA takes this obligation very seriously, and intends to be not only a good neighbor but also a leader in community safety and emergency preparedness. 2. Risk Management Plan - LCRA operates a water treatment facility that stores and uses chlorine in excess of thresholds specified in the RMP Rule. Even prior to the promulgation of the RMP Rule, LCRA management has been very aware of the potential hazards posed by storage and use of chlorine, and has established programs to prevent any accidental releases and training for emergency response in the event of a release. These programs are documented and described in this Risk Management Plan. The purpose of the chlorine water treatment process is to treat and disinfect municipal water. Chlorine is delivered as a compressed gas in one-ton cylinders, and there are typically three cylinders at the plant at any one time. For planning purposes, LCRA has considered the impact of a sudden release of the entire contents of one cylinder within a ten-minute period of time. Very conservative (i.e., "worst case") assumptions about possible weather conditions and a predictive model indicate a potential radius of impact extending to 1.3 miles. A consideration of this radius has been incorporated into our notification and emergency response p lanning. We also considered the impact of a more likely release, based on our operational history and most likely hazard analysis. This analysis suggest that the largest release of chlorine that could realistically be experienced by the facility results in a radius of impact of 0.1 miles, i.e. having potentially few off-site impacts. LCRA has implemented safety precautions to prevent and mitigate any chlorine release. In addition to maintenance, training, and inspection procedures, LCRA has an active monitoring and alarm system that will detect a release and sound a local alarm. An emergency alarm is triggered when the chlorine level in the atmosphere is above 5 mg/l. Under these circumstances, the autodialer begins calling the Hydroelectric Operations Control Center (HOCC) and then operations personnel. LCRA has extensively coordinated with local emergency responders including the Hudson Bend Fire Department and the Local Emergency Planning Committee. LCRA management is committe d to: 7 Preventing accidents; 7 Training our employees in correct response procedures in the event of an accident; 7 Providing leadership to the community with respect to emergency preparedness; 7 Addressing any citizen concerns by fully explaining potential hazards associated with facility operations and all steps being taken to prevent and mitigate accidents; and 7 Being a good corporate citizen of Travis County. With these objectives in mind, this Risk Management Plan provides information about our management of the risks associated with the chlorine water treatment process, but more importantly we stress our commitment to ensuring a safe operation for our employees, our visitors, and our community. |