City of Niles, MI Wastewater Treatment Plant - Executive Summary |
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Employees of the City of Niles, Mi Wastewater Treatment Plant are trained in safety awareness and procedures under OSHA HAZCOM or Right-To-Know and specific chlorine handling procedures presented by the chlorine supplier. The facility is located on Marmont Street on the bank of the St. Joseph River. Sanitary, storm and treated industrial process waste water from the City of Niles, Mi and surrounding communitiesis is processed, digested, and disinfected with chlorine before being discharged to the river. The chlorination process is well established and universally used for water disinfection. The chlorine is purchased in one-ton cylinders, and there are a maximum of 5 cylinders on site at any one time. The worst-case scenario would occur should a cylinder fail during delivery and unloading before being stored in the chlorination building. Depending on weather conditions, the fumes would likely migrate to the river, the Dowagiac Creek, residences, businesses, schools, a hospital and the fire/police/jail building within 1.3 miles of the facility. Because the cylinders are outside a very short time, and the employees are thoroughly trained in the unloading procedure, this scenario is extremely unlikely to occur. The alternative, or most likely scenario would be the failure of the cylinder occuring within the confines of the chlorination building, thus providing passive mitigation. A failure in the process of transfering the chloring gas to dissolving it in water would cause a pressure change which would automatically shut down the process. The chlorination building is equipped with a chlorine gas sensor which is calibrated to send an alarm when the chlorine level reaches 1.0 part per million in the air. The alarm consists of a loud audible component and a visible component(warning light). In addition, the process room is checked at least once per shift every day of the year both visually and by smell. The facility PSM gives details for employee response to a leak. Shoul d fumes escape, their flow is dependent on the wind and local topography. Being heavier than air, they would certainly travel to the river and nearby creek. However, the lay of the land would lead the fumes east of the facility about 1/4 mile, and south toward the downtown Niles area. This would probably be the initial evacuation area. There has never been a chlorine release from this facility. If either scenario were to happen, the employees would evacuate the premesis, and would call 911 as soon as possible. The City of Niles Fire Department is set to respond. The Fire Chief, or senior Dept. manager on site, would be the incident commander and responsible for assessing the weather conditions and transmitting them to the fire station as well as calling in the Berrien County HazMat Team. The weather data would be entered into the Niles Fire Department's CAMEO computer program to give a dispersion model, which would be related back to the commander. He would then arrange for public not ification and evacuation with assistance, if needed, from Niles and area police and fire departments. The historical safety record of this facility as well as similar facilities nationwide is clear evidence of the overall safety of the process. However, management maintains awareness of alternate technologies such as hypochlorite and ultra-violet light disinfection, and their effectiveness through membership in the Water Environment Federation and through its publications. However, today, employee training is considered the primary way to ensure continual safe operation of the Niles Wastewater Treatment Plant. |