Oregon Cherry Growers, Inc. - Salem - Executive Summary |
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RMP EXECUTIVE SUMMARY-OCG SALEM Oregon Cherry Growers is a processor of cherries in brine which are further processed into maraschino and glace' cherry products. Processing operations also include hot and cold process coloring, and maraschino bottling. Sulfur Dioxide gas is bubbled into salt water to prepare brines that preserve, firm and bleach the cherries. This process is essential to optimize uses for the growers' fruit and preserve cherry quality. Our mission is to produce the highest quality cherry products in safe processing operations and protect our employees, our growers, our customers, the public, and the environment. To assure that Sulfur Dioxide is handled safely, only trained, qualified operators are authorized to make cherry brine. Oregon Cherry Growers has a long standing safety program which includes annual SO2 training for all brine making crews, Process Safety Management, meetings when a process change occurs, and continuing follow up to assure safe practices ar e followed and improved if possible. Process team members assist in the annual update of our procedures and safety information. We have had no accidental releases of Sulfur Dioxide in the last five years. Our hazard analysis shows our worst case scenario is loss of all contents of a 90 ton railcar of Sulfur Dioxide in 10 minutes. The distance to endpoint is 25 miles. Potential population affected is 1.2 million people. The Most Likely(alternate) scenario is a leak in a 5 ton cylinder valve where the quantity released is 300 pounds over 60 minutes. The distance to endpoint is 1.2 miles. Potential population affected is 910 people. To assure accidental releases are prevented, Oregon Cherry Growers has a continuing safety program for Sulfur Dioxide. All process procedures are written and closely monitored by trained qualified employees. These include checklists for operations, regular equipment inspections, and maintaining a stringent training program to keep operators alert to safe operations. Emergency Response activities are reviewed and updated annually. Emergency response training is included in pre-harvest training activities. Planned improvements include additional coordinated training with local emergency response agencies and applying the principles of continuous improvement to all chemical handling processes. All improvements are documented and reviewed with the process team prior to implementation. |