Hussey Copper Ltd., Eminence Kentucky Facility - Executive Summary |
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The Hussey Copper, Ltd plant in Eminence, Kentucky opened in 1966 to produce electrical copper bus bar. Expansion has continued throughout the years at the Eminence bus bar plant. The building has been enlarged four times to over 100,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Several new and larger rolling mills have been installed and additional annealing and silver (flash) plating lines were added to the plant. During the production of copper bus bar, wastewater is generated that must be treated prior to discharge. The plant's wastewater discharge is regulated by the State of Kentucky, Division of Water. The treatment system used to prepare the wastewater for discharge requires chlorine to be drawn into the wastewater under a vacuum. This is accomplished by using one ton chlorine cylinders and a piping system with numerous safety features. Hussey Copper, Ltd does have an Process Safety Management Plan and actively audits and reviews its operations to ensure that the chlorine s ystem is maintained properly and safely. If an incident did occur resulting in the release of chlorine from the cylinder or piping system, a large area would be affected downwind of the plant. Using air modeling programs and EPA levels of concern for toxicity, a total release of a cylinder could affect people up to three mile downwind. This is very unlikely to occur. Hussey Copper, LTD has trained an emergency response crew to respond to emergencies involving a chlroine release or any other chemical emergency and has worked with the local fire department to ensure adequate emergency response should an incident occur. Hussey Copper, Ltd also uses regular inspections and Process Safety Management Plan audits to ensure that the operating and management systems area adequate to prevent an incident or to minimize the likelyhood as much as possible. |