Globe Manufacturing Corp. - Executive Summary |
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Globe Manufacturing Corp. owns and operates a textile manufacturing facility located at 3145 Northwest Drive in Gastonia, North Carolina, Gaston County. This facility is bordered by local residences, businesses, and I-85. This Globe Manufacturing facility employees approximately 250 people from the surrounding community. It is the policy of Globe Manufacturing Corp. to meet all requirements established by applicable safety, health, and environmental regulations. The Globe Manufacturing Gastonia facility has always put safety first. The Globe Manufacturing Gastonia facility stores toluene diisocyanate (unspecified isomers, TDI, CAS No. 107-15-3) and ethylene diamine (EDA, CAS No. 26471-62-5) on-site in quantities that exceed the 20,000 lb and 10,000 lb thresholds, respectively. The facility maintains one (1) 7000-gallon storage tank of TDI and one (1) 7500-gallon storage tank of EDA at the facility. These storage tanks are enclosed within their own buildings with area monitors. Pressure relief vents from the tanks are routed to control devices in the event that they should ever exhaust. Globe Manufacturing Corp. has taken many measures to ensure that release of TDI and EDA do not occur at the facility. The "worst-case release scenario" for toxics is a release of TDI. It is assumed that the entire contents of the storage tank are released over ten minutes. The release is contained within a dike in the TDI building. The maximum distance to the endpoint was determined to be 0.53 miles based on the EPA's RMP Off-Site Consequence Analysis Guidance (May 1996) and verified by using the RMP CompTM Program. The "alternative release scenario" for TDI is assumed to be a release due to a pipe shearing from the storage tank. Another alternative release scenario reviewed was the pipe breaking between the unloading pump and the tank. Both scenarios predicted a release rate of much less than 1 lb/min (the lowest release rate on the EPA tables) from the TDI storage b uilding; therefore, the maximum distance to the toxic endpoint was determined to be 0.11 miles based on the EPA's RMP Off-Site Consequence Analysis Guidance (May 1996) and verified by using the RMP CompTM Program. In actuality, it is expected that impact distance will be much less since the maximum estimated release rate is 0.00087 lb/min which is significantly lower than 1 lb/min. The "alternative release scenario" for EDA is assumed to be a release due to a pipe shearing from the storage tank. This scenario estimates a release rate of 0.228 lb/min from the EDA storage building. The maximum distance to the toxic endpoint was determined to be < 0.06 miles based on the EPA's RMP Off-Site Consequence Analysis Guidance (May 1996) and verified by using the RMP CompTM Program. Again the minimum release rate on the EPA tables is 1 lb/min; therefore, it is expected that the impact distance will be significantly lower. The alternative release scenarios account for passive mitigation since any releases during tank unloading or from the storage tank are contained within the diked areas under the EDA or TDI building, dependent upon material being handled. The alternative release scenarios are based on an assumed wind speed of 3.0 meters per second (6.7 miles/hr), Class D stability, and an air temperature of 77 degrees Fahrenheit (770F) at 50 percent relative humidity (50% RH). Globe Manufacturing Corp. has worked to maintain a safe environment for its employees and the surrounding community. The facility has has no incidents of TDI or EDA during the last five years. The facility has established an emergency response program detailing specific actions to be taken in the event of an incident involving these compounds. The facility has coordinated emergency response activities with the Gastonia County LEPC and Gastonia Fire Department. |