Armour Fresh Meats - Executive Summary |
|
The accidental release prevention and emergency response policies at the plant consist of all regulations that are regulated by OSHA and the PSM program at the facility. The RMP Contact is scheduled to go through the Train the Trainer and then all refrigeration employees and numerous supervisors will train in the 40 HAZMAT course to respond to accidental releases. All refrigeration maintenance personnel go through training on all the SOP's from the PSM program. These procedures are reviewed yearly to help insure that all problems are corrected. The preventative maintenance program is periodically reviewed and updated as the monitoring and repair on equipment is performed. This process has been of great benefit to the plant in finding problems in a timely manner. The Armour Fresh Meats plant in Nampa, Idaho, is a beef slaughter and processing facility. The plant is defined by the EPA as a "Complex Slaughter" facility. Final products produced include: meat products, edible tallow, inedible tallow, dried blood, meat and bone meal, and unfinished hides. The regulated substance used at this facility that meets threshold quantities is anhydrous ammonia. Ammonia is used as a manufacturing aid in the refrigeration process. Refrigeration is used in processing and storing of the meat and meat products. The worst-case scenario for this facility is a rupture in the V-2 accumulator resulting in a loss of the entire contents of 15,730 pounds of ammonia. This loss will occur within 10 minutes and the spilled liquid will vaporize at room temperature releasing gas to the building envelope and to the atmosphere. The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) has determined that the maximum airborne concentration below which it is believed that nearly all individuals can be exposed for up to one hour without experiencing or developing irreversible or other serious health effects or symptoms which could impair an individual's ability to take protective action for anh ydrous ammonia is 200 parts per million (ppm). Under the worse-case weather conditions with dispersion into an urban area, the toxic cloud formed by the evaporating ammonia would reach offsite endpoints and near by public receptors. It is very unlikely that a release of this magnitude is possible because of the protection to the equipment and the safety measures in place with the PSM and PM programs at the plant. A more likely release scenario is the alternate case toxic release of 2,000 pounds of ammonia within a 60 minute period of time. This release would result in the failure of a rupture disk/relief valve, and travel to the plants property line as a result. The plant has not had a release of this quantity in the past five years. The Armour Fresh Meats facility is in compliance with all OSHA PSM rules and this RMP rule requirements. The procedural and managerial steps that are in place are a preventative measure to accidental release prevention as well as maintenance and tra ining programs that are in place. There have been no releases at this facility in the past five years that have resulted in death, injuries, or property damage on site or in death, injuries, evacuations, sheltering in place, property damage, or environmental damage offsite. The Armour Fresh Meats facility has an emergency response plan on file with Canyon County LEPC. The policies for reporting spills and releases is documented in the "Policies and Procedures" manual updated by the Corporate Environmental Operations office. The ammonia compressor rooms of this facility are protected by monitoring systems. Alarms and warning devices were installed in December of 1996. The facility will pursue HAZMAT training between plant personnel and the local fire department as a deterrent to toxic release danger. |