Tar River Water Treatment Plant - Executive Summary |
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The accidental release prevention and emergency response policy: The policy of the City of Rocky Mount is to manage hazardous chemicals in such a way as to prevent chemical releases and establish emergency response procedures to minimize the consequences of an accidental release at the Tar River Water Treatment Plant. The goal of this policy is to provide safe working conditions for employees as well as protect the public and the environment. The stationary source and regulated substances handled: The subject source is the Tar River Water Treatment Plant located on Leaston Road in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The facility is a 12 MGD water treatment facility consisting of flocculation, clarification and filtration processes providing potable water to the citizens of Rocky Mount. The process at the water treatment plant subject to the RMP regulations is the chlorination system, which manages greater than threshold quantities of chlorine. The worst-case release sce nario(s) and the alternative release scenario(s): Based on EPA criteria, the worst-case release scenario at the Tar River Water Treatment Plant is the catastrophic failure of a one ton cylinder used to store chlorine resulting in an offsite impact. EPA's "Risk Management Program Guidance for Wastewater Treatment Plants" was used for this determination. This is extremely unlikely due to the safeguards described in the Prevention program. The alternative release scenario considered for chlorine is the catastrophic failure of the <-inch stainless steel tubing connecting the cylinder to the pipe manifold resulting in an offsite toxic end point distance of 0.1 miles. There are numerous mechanical and procedural safeguards at the Plant designed to prevent this from occurring. However, for emergency response planning purposes they were not considered in the alternative release scenario. The general accidental release prevention program and chemical-specific preve ntion steps: The accidental release prevention program at the Tar River Water Treatment Plant is focused on the safe management of chlorine used in the chlorination system. The first step in the prevention program at the Plant was the establishment of a management system to assign overall responsibility and responsibility for the individual program elements. Additional steps include: ensuring process safety information on the disinfection system is accurate, complete and up-to-date; ensuring the system is designed and modified safely by periodically conducting process hazard analyses; ensuring the system is operated and maintained in a safe manner by developing, maintaining and implementing Standard Operating and Preventive Maintenance Procedures; ensuring Plant employees are adequately trained and tested in the RMP program elements; ensuring new equipment and modifications to the disinfection system are designed, constructed, operated and maintained by following Management of Change, Pre-startup Review and Hot Work Permit Procedures; ensuring contractors are qualified, and oriented to the site hazards; and conducting periodic Compliance Audits and Incident Investigations including resolution of recommendations made during these investigations/reviews. The five-year accident history: During the previous five years, no RMP chemical injuries related to the disinfection system have occurred at the Tar River Water Treatment Plant. The emergency response program: The Tar River Water Treatment Plant is included in the City of Rocky Mount's Emergency Response Plan. In addition, the Plant has in place an emergency action plan than includes procedures to be followed in the event of an accidental release of chlorine. The procedures cover the following: emergency action procedures; coordinating personnel; emergency reporting; evacuation plan; first aid procedures; notifying local emergency response agencies and the public; emergency response con tacts; emergency response equipment; reportable release quantities; emergency alarm system; training and drills; and pre-emergency planning. |