Johns Manville Corporation, Cleburne, TX - Executive Summary

| Accident History | Chemicals | Emergency Response | Registration | Source | Executive Summary |

Johns Manville International, Inc. 
Cleburne, Texas 
 
RMP EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
 
 
1)  Brief Description of the Cleburne, Texas Facility: 
 
   The Johns Manville (JM) Plant in Cleburne, Texas was constructed in 1964.  The  
   facility manufactures fiberglass building insulation which is sold in the commercial,  
   residential, and retail markets.  In addition, the facility manufactures air handling and  
   acoustical products and chopped fiber for use in roofing mat and gypsum board  
   manufacturing.  The facility currently encompasses approximately 750,000 square feet  
   under roof and is set in approximately 100 acres of rural area.  There are presently about  
   410 full time employees who operate the Plant 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 
 
   Johns Manville places a strong emphasis on safety and environmental leadership.  The          
   Company fosters a proactive philosophy to ensure that employees work in a safe                
   environment and that each facility remains  
in full compliance with all applicable federal,    
   state, county and local regulations.  JM is also committed to environmental leadership        
   within the community served.  This commitment is exemplified in the Cleburne Facilitys       
   strong recycling and waste minimization programs.  The Companys long term goal is to         
   have zero process wastes taken to disposal facilities, with all residual materials either     
   recycled or used for beneficial purposes.  The Facility demonstrates another example of       
   its aggressive position on recycling through its use of extraordinarily high levels of        
   outside, post-consumer glass in its forming process.  This crushed glass, or cullet         
   would otherwise be deposited in municipal landfills.                                          
 
   The facility maintains a good working relationship with all federal, state, county and    
   local agencies.                                                    
 
 
 
2)  Brief Description of the Accidental Release Prevention and Emergency Response  
    Policies at the Johns Manville Facility in Cleburne, Texas: 
 
   The Johns Manville fiberglass manufacturing plant in Cleburne, Texas qualifies for the                  
   USEPA 112R (40 CFR 68) requirements due to the use of formaldehyde.  The facility                       
   exceeds the qualifying threshold of 15,000 pounds of this material onsite for two separate              
   processes.                                                                                              
 
   Liquid resin solution containing formaldehyde (above 1% mixture) is delivered to the                    
   facility via truck transport.  Resin solution is stored in cold storage until it is mixed with          
   water and other materials to make a binder solution (less than 1% 
formaldehyde) which is                
   applied to fiberglass.  This binder solution is applied in the fiberglass manufacturing                 
   process as a low VOC binder which acts to bind glass fibers.  The formaldehyde                          
   containing resin solution is stored as a liquid in numerous 5,000 gallon storage tanks                  
   associated with two similar (but separate) processes located inside the facility.  The                  
   storage vessels are constructed and operated in accordance with ASME specifications.                    
   The resin storage processes are designed to minimize spills in the event of an accidental               
   release.  The resin storage rooms and adjacent rooms are equipped with trenches that                    
   minimize the surface area of a spill.  In addition, the resin storage rooms are maintained              
   at 50 degrees F to reduce the volatility of the material.  Although not a qualifying          
 
   mitigation measure for the 112R program, low storage temperatures give plant personnel                  
   adequate time to react to the situation by reducing the volatilization rate of the resin                
   material.  As a result of these factors, Johns Manville has not experienced an accidental               
   release of formaldehyde over the entire life of the facility.  Modeling impacts indicate                
   that a worst-case release of formaldehyde from the resin storage tanks would not impact                 
   the public beyond the Facilitys property line and therefore is qualified as a Program 1                
   facility.                                                                                               
 
   With the exception of minor incidents, it is the Facilitys policy to immediately contact               
   and rely on o 
utside emergency responders in the event of a significant unforeseen or                    
   accidental release of formaldehyde-containing liquid resin.  Outside responders would                   
   include the community fire department and other community or contractor services as                     
   required.                                                                                               
 
 
3)  Brief Description of the Worst Case Scenario, including Administrative Controls and                     
    Mitigation Measures to Limit the Distances for each Reported Scenario:                                  
 
   According to 40 CFR 68, the worst-case s 
cenario is to be based on the release of the                    
   greatest amount held in a single vessel, taking into account administrative controls that               
   limit the maximum quantity.  At Cleburne, two separate formaldehyde processes qualify                   
   for Program 1.  Both the West-Herm and East Pot and Marble locations are considered.                    
 
   Under a worst-case scenario for the West-Herm resin room, a single vessel containing                    
   5,000 gallons of liquid resin, which includes about 10.0% formaldehyde, is assumed to                   
   spill with partial containment (low-lying pavement and trenches) in the resin room.                     
   Liquid not contained in the resin room is assumed to spill into the building via trenching              
   and is contained by indoor trenching.  Distance to the toxic endpoin 
t of 12.0 mg/m3 is                  
   calculated for Cleburne using AFTOX, a dispersion model that will determine toxic                       
   chemical concentrations at hazard distances.  According to AFTOX, a worst-case resin                    
   spill and subsequent formaldehyde vaporization onsite at Cleburne will result in a                      
   distance of 0.02 miles to the toxic endpoint.  A plant and topographic map analysis                     
   indicates that 0.02 miles from the location of the resin tank is completely onsite.                     
 
   Under a worst-case scenario for the East Pot and Marble resin room, a single vessel                     
   containing 5,000 gallons of liquid resin, which includes about 10.0% formaldehyde, is                   
   assumed to spill with partial containment (low-lying pavement and trenches) in the resin         
 
   room.  Liquid not contained in the resin room is assumed to spill into the building via                 
   trenching and is contained by indoor trenching.  According to AFTOX, a worst-case resin                 
   spill and subsequent formaldehyde vaporization onsite at Cleburne will result in a                      
   distance of 0.03 miles to the toxic endpoint.  A plant and topographic map analysis                     
   indicates that 0.03 miles from the location of the resin tank is completely onsite.                     
 
   Therefore, the formaldehyde-containing liquid resin processes at Cleburne do not qualify                
   for Program 2 of 112R.                                                                                  
 
 
 
4)  Brief Description of the Five Year Accident History (68.42):                                            
 
   The Cleburne facility has never had an accident involving formaldehyde-containing                       
   liquid resin that caused deaths, injuries, property or environmental damage, evacuations,               
   or sheltering in place.                                                                                 
 
 
5)  Brief Description of the Emergency Response Program (68.90  68.95):                                    
 
 
   In the event of an emergency involving the Facilitys formaldehyde-containing liquid                    
   resin system, it is the Facilitys policy to notify the local fire department and other                 
   emergency responders and request that they respond to the emergency.  Plant personnel                   
   have discussed this policy with the fire department; members of the fire department have                
   inspected the facility.                                                                                 
 
   In addition to the emergency action and notification procedures described earlier in this               
   document, Johns Manville complies with and maintains numerous other operational                         
   programs for the purpose of promoting employee safety and minimizin 
g potential hazards                  
   to the surrounding community. These include, but are not limited to:                                    
       a. Emergency Hotline notifications                                                                      
       b. Spill, Prevention, Control and Countermeasure Plan and equipment.                                
       c.  RCRA Contingency Plan                                                                           
       d.  Hot Work Permit Program                                                                         
       e.  Safety Lockout-Tagout Program                                                                   
       f.  Extensive safety programs throughout the location                                               
       g.  Fire Prevention Plan                                                                            
       h.  Bomb Threat Plan                                                                    
 
       i.  Agency, insurance and physicians inspections                                                    
       j.  Job Safety Analyses                                                                             
       k.  Confined Space Entry procedures                                                                 
       l.  Injury Investigation Procedure and Root Cause Analysis                                          
       m.  New and Altered Equipment Inspection (Management of Change)                                     
       n. Outside Contractor Review Policy                                                                 
       o. Community Emergency Response Coordination Policy                                                 
       p.  Various emergency communication systems throughout the facility                                 
                 such as audible alarms, paging systems, hand-held radios, phones,                         
 
  visual alarms.                                                                            
       q.  Right-To-Know Notification Programs issued to State and local                                   
                 agencies (Emission Release Reports, SARA Title III, etc)                                  
       r.  Extensive and detailed employee training in all phases of job related                           
                 safety, chemical awareness, handling potential spills, HAZCOM,                            
                 RTK, emergency procedures, notification and numerous other programs
Click to return to beginning