Clackamas River Water Disinfection System - Executive Summary |
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The Clackamas River Water Treatment Plant is the primary water treatment plant for the Clackamas area and the City of Gladstone. Clackamas River Water also supplies water to the City of Milwaukie, Mt. Scott Water District, and Oak Lodge Water District. The facility uses chlorine gas to disinfect treated water before sending the water into the distribution system. The purpose of disinfection is to destroy or remove harmful or objectionable organisms from the water. Disinfection destroys disease producing organisms. Chlorine gas is used at the treatment facility because of its low cost, good disinfecting power, ease of handling, and excellent safety record. There has never been an accidental release of chlorine of any amount at the Clackamas River Water Treatment Plant. Clackamas River Water has accidental release prevention and emergency response policies in place. These policies minimize the posibility of an accidental release and protect the public if an accidental release occ urs. As part of Clackamas River Water's Emergency Response Plan, Clackamas River Water has coordinated these policies and procedures with local emergency responders. Clackamas River Water has also instituted safety procedures and training policies to protect both Treatment Plant employees and the public from an accidental release of chlorine. Clackamas River Water has recently installed a Chlorine Neutralization Facility that has the capability to completely neutralize the contents of the largest chlorine container in the unlikely case of a chlorine leak. The Chlorine Neutralization Facility is equipped with an emergency power generator in case a leak occurs during a power failure. An off-site concequence analysis has been performed to assist emergency responders. Two release scenarios have been performed as part of the analysis, a catastrophic release scenario and a minor release scenario. The catastrophic release scenario represents the complete release of a container of chlo rine gas due to a catastrophic event at the disinfection facility. The event that would cause the catastrophic release would likely also cause severe damage to the Water Treatment Plant and the surrounding area. The minor release scenario represents the release of a part of the contents of a chlorine container due to a leak in the container. In this scenario the leak would be confined to an area within the treatment plant boundries. In both release scenarios, EPA regulations do not allow the use or consideration of the Chlorine Neutralization Facility. |