Fort Detrick - Executive Summary |
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Fort Detrick is located in central Maryland, approximately 45 miles west of Baltimore and 45 miles northwest of Washington, D.C. The installation comprises approximately 1,230 acres. Fort Detrick is part of the U.S. Army Medical Command, and its primary missions include biomedical research and development, medical logistics and material management, and global Department of Defense telecommunications. Fort Detrick is required by the EPA to have a Risk Management Plan and Program in place because of its potential to store as much as 14,000 pounds of chlorine at its Wastewater Treatment Plant, and as much as 28,000 pounds of chlorine at its Water Treatment Plant. The installation's Risk Management Program is a comprehensive program designed to ensure a catastrophic release of chlorine gas will not occur. The Fort Detrick Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants are also subject to the OSHA Process Safety Management Rule. Personnel from the U.S. Army Center for Health Pro motion and Preventive Medicine compiled and prepared Fort Detrick's Risk Management Plan. The personnel have extensive air emissions and emergency planning experience. They were assisted by subject-matter experts from the Fort Detrick Garrison, who are also key participants in the installation's Risk Management Program. The key participants include the Office of Safety, Health and Environment, Directorate of Installation Services, Emergency Operations Center, Staff Judge Advocate, Fire Department, Public Affairs Office, and Provost Marshal. The Fort Detrick Risk Management Plan includes worst-case release analyses and alternative release scenario analyses, which were performed using EPA required parameters. At both the Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants, ruptured one-ton vessels would cause the worst-case releases of chlorine. A release from either plant would result in impact areas of 1.3 mile radii from the respective plants. The most likely alternative release scena rios at both plants would be valve failures of one-ton vessels. At both plants, valve failures would result in impact areas of 0.1 mile radii from the respective plants. The EPA adopts the position that safe operating practices do not occur without the support of top management. Fort Detrick command staff emphasizes maximum and ongoing support of environmental and safety issues. The command has established a Risk Management Planning Subcommittee under the Environmental Quality Control Committee. The purpose of the Environmental Quality Control Committee is to advise the command on environmental priorities, policies, strategies, and programs, and includes in its membership the Commanding General and representatives of all Fort Detrick tenants. The Risk Management Planning Subcommittee addresses risk management planning issues only. Because of command emphasis on environmental and safety programs, Fort Detrick has never experienced a significant release of hazardous air pollu tants. Also, because of the emphasis on pollution prevention, the only threshold quantity of subject criteria pollutants that exists at Fort Detrick is chlorine. Fort Detrick standard chemical management practice is to minimize chemical usage and apply the OSHA Process Safety Management Rule and Process Hazard Analyses to eliminate accidents Nevertheless, following are efforts undertaken by the Risk Management Planning Subcommittee to prevent catastrophic releases of chlorine: - Approving and adopting a charter. - Approving and adopting roles and responsibilities of members. - Discussing, prioritizing, and addressing items presented in the Process Hazard Analyses. - Developing a schedule of actions to be taken. - Developing and providing updated process SOPs to employees. - Developing, certifying, and maintaining training plans for employees. - Preparing maintenance plans and written procedures to manage process changes. - Conducting compliance audits. Also, the Risk Manageme nt Planning Subcommittee has begun investigations into reducing the amount of chlorine used at the treatment plants, which may result in chlorine storage at less than threshold quantities and a reduced risk. In addition to the above prevention measures, the Fort Detrick Fire Department provides both fire and hazmat response from a fire station with 21 full-time emergency responders. The Fort Detrick Fire Department is a member of the local community response network and has a mutual aid agreement in place to assist or be assisted by the Frederick County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association. As the Hazmat Response Team, the Fire Department area of operations includes the City of Frederick and Frederick County. Emergency response and notification procedures are detailed in the Fort Detrick Integrated Contingency Plan (August 1998). The Fort Detrick Integrated Contingency Plan contains continuously updated emergency telephone numbers, and provides a detailed description of duti es and responsibilities. After a release has been reported to the Provost Marshal Office, the Provost Marshal notifies the Fort Detrick Fire Department. The Fire Department will verify the release and assume the role of Incident Commander. The Incident Commander coordinates the response efforts and cleanup of the release, and informs the Environmental Coordinator, who assumes the role of Installation On-Scene Coordinator. Depending on the magnitude of the release, the Incident Commander coordinates with the Installation On-Scene Coordinator to contain the release with local resources or request assistance from neighbors using mutual aid agreements. Also involved in coordination efforts are the Safety Office, Directorate of Installation Services, Hazardous Materials Management Office, Industrial Hygiene Office, Public Affairs Office, Staff Judge Advocate, and the Emergency Operations Center. |