Valley Farm Retail Warehouse - Executive Summary |
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Valley Farms Retail Warehouse is a refrigerated storage and distribution center for perishable foods owned by Seaway Food Town, Inc. The facility is located on Ford Street in Maumee, Ohio. The warehouse is solely for the distribution of products (dairy, meat, produce and frozen foods) to the 73 stores that are owned and operated by Seaway Food Town, Inc. Seaway Food Town, Inc., is regional chain with stores in Ohio and Southeast Michigan. Anhydrous Ammonia is the refrigerant that is used for refrigeration in the warehouse. The system contains anhydrous ammonia above the TQ limit of 10.000 lbs.. The current inventory of anydrous ammonia in the system is under 13,000lbs. Seaway Food Town, Inc., is commmitted to the safety of its employees and the people of the community of Maumee, Ohio. The company has invested in the implimentation of its own Hazardous Material Response Team which in inself can respond to all types of Hazardouse Material releases or spills. The company also ha sthe necessary equipment for the team to operate properly following all requirements of Federal, State and Local laws. Over the past year, the team has established a close working relationship with the Maumee Fire Department. A drill which included the Maumee Fire Department was held this past year with another one being planned for October 1999. There have been no accidential releases of ammonia in the past five years. Our worst case scenario illustrated that if all 13000 lbs., of ammonia were released within a 10 minute time, it would affect a radious of 1 mile in all directions around the facility. The illustration used would be a major event where the system was to lose all the ammonia in the system within a ten minute time frame. Our alternative release scenario is based on a release of 13,000 lbs from a one inch leak in a main storage vessel. This type of release, without any type of mitigation would affect the area as far away as 2/10 miles radius from the facility. In order to continue to run a safe operation, the company is currently revising many of its ammonia safety procedures as well as updates to the mechanical system itself. |