Westinghouse Specialty Metals Plant - Executive Summary |
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Accidental Release Prevention and Emergency Response Policies The Westinghouse Electric Company Specialty Metals Plant in Blairsville, Pennsylvania has a long-standing commitment to worker and public safety. The Specialty Metals Plant is an OSHA-VPP Star Plant, a Malcolm Baldridge Quality Award Winner and is ISO-9000 Certified. This commitment to safety and performance excellence is demonstrated by the resources invested in accident prevention. This includes the training of personnel (operators, maintenance, management and emergency response teams), establishing Safety Policies and Procedures, and emphasizing safety in the design, installation, operation, and maintenance of our facility and its processes. The Specialty Metals Plant places great importance on the recognition, evaluation, and control of all environmental and accident producing hazards arising in the work place. It is this plants policy to provide and monitor safe and healthful working conditions, and to follow opera ting practices that will safeguard all employees and the environment and result in safe working conditions and efficient operations. However if a release does occur, our Emergency Response Personnel are trained to respond to the emergency and will take action to mitigate the hazard. Facility Description and Regulated Substances Handled The Westinghouse Specialty Metals Plant is a manufacturer of nuclear grade tubing for the nuclear industry. The tubing is made by rolling and drawing nonferrous materials primarily zirconium alloys. The facility stores and handles 140 lb containers of the regulated substance hydroflouric acid at 70% strength. The material is used in acid pickling baths at approximately 3% concentration to chemically etch the tubing (the baths also contain approximately 15% nitric acid). The facility maintains on site in safe storage, approximately 8,800 pounds of hydroflouric acid at 70% strength. The plant is comprised of 507,000 square feet of manufacturing space and 54,000 square feet of office space. The facility is located in a rural area on a site of approximately 525 acres. Worst Case Release Scenario The worst case release scenario for the hydroflouric acid storage and handling process is the release of a 140 pound container of 70% hydroflouric acid while in transit between buildings. No administrative controls are considered in this scenario. The EPAs Offsite Consequence Analysis (OCA) guidance was used in conducting modeling of this release. Using the worst-case conditions and assumptions in the OCA guidance, the calculated distance to toxic endpoint is 0.31 miles or 1,636 feet. This distance would extend slightly off of Westinghouse property on the eastern side. The off-site property is within the the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flowage easement of the Conemaugh Reservoir and building in this area is prohibited . Much of the Westinghouse property within the distance to toxic endpoint is within the secured area of the facility w hich is fenced and has controlled access. Neither the uncontrolled access portion of the Westinghouse property or the offsite property within the distance to toxic end point includes any offsite residences, institutions, industrial, commercial or office buildings, parks or recreational areas. There are no public receptors or environmental receptors within the distance to toxic endpoint. General Accidental Release Prevention Program To prevent the accidental release of hydroflouric acid at the Specialty Metals Plan, the plant Safety Department has written safety procedures covering the receiving, transport, decanting, processing, disposal and clean-up of hydroflouric acid at SMP. There are also related policies such as decontaminating tools and equipment which have contacted hydroflouric acid. Extensive training in the form of annual acid safety training has been done for all affected employees. In addition to having acid safety procedures and training, the Specialty Metals Plant use s only DOT approved containers for Hydroflouric acid storage. These containers have been rigorously tested prior to their being used for acid storage and transport. Our Hydroflouric acid supplier is also required to inspect and recondition all hydroflouric acid containers prior to filling them. These containers are kept in diked storage at all times except for when the acid material is being transported between buildings. SMP maintains a close relationship with the virgin acid supplier. Part of the relationship requires the supplier to perform annual acid safety training and to visit the worksite annually to ensure industry safe practices are being followed. Five Year Accident History The Westinghouse Specialty Metals Plant has had no releases involving a regulated substance in the past five years. Emergency Response Program The Westinghouse Specialty Metals Plant has an integrated SPPC and PPC plan that covers all chemical spill response scenarios. The plans are updated every th ree years and are reviewed with the plant spill response personnel. Copies of the plans are submitted to state and local agencies and emergency response organizations . The plant has an Employee Emergency Response plan that details the expected response of employees to a chemical spill and details how to obtain help in the event of an emergency. Also included in the plan are the plants Emergency Alarm System and evacuation procedures. Training is done annually for all employees. The plant also coordinates emergency response with the LEPC through an Off-Site Emergency Response Plan filed with the Westmoreland County Emergency Planning Committee, which details the hazardous substances on-site, a hazard analysis, and appropriate emergency response. The Off-site Emergency Response Plan is updated annually. The plants Emergency Brigade trains annually on our sites Emergency Response Plan. The Emergency Brigade conducts drills to maintain readiness and are trained monthly on a variety of e mergency response related subjects. Planned Changes to Improve Safety The plant is currently considering changing from a container based 70 % Hydroflouric Acid process to 49% bulk feed system. The 49% HF acid would be safer to personnel and is less fuming. In addition to switching to bulk HF at 49% concentration, the plant has plans to shut down one of the two pickling areas. This will lessen the number of acid storage tanks and minimize exposure to a potential chemical spill. |