Searcy Waste Water Treatment Plant - Executive Summary |
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In this waste water treatment plant facility (Searcy Waste Water Treatment Plant), we handle chlorine which is considered hazardous by EPA, OSHA, etc. The same properties that makes chlorine valusble as wastewater treament chemical also makes it necessary to observe certain precautions in handling chlorine. Overall, the prevention of unnecessary human exposures, reducing the threat to our personnal helath as well as our co-workers, and reducing the threat to nearby members of the community is the main goal of incorporating the Risk Management Plan into our daily operations. It is our policy to adhere to all applicable federal and state rules and regulations. Safety depends upon the manner in which we handle and use chlorine combined with the safety devices inherent in the design of this facility, with the safe handling procedures that we utilize, along with the training of our personnel. The primary prupose of this facility is to treat the waste water by utilizing chemicals such a s chlorine. Chlorine is received by individual one ton cylinders and stored until needed. Chlorine is fed into the water system by automatic vacuum operated feeders. The vacuum system will help prevent the continual operation of the chlorine if there is an increase or decrease in pressure or vacuum flow. Acess to the site is restricted to authorized facility employees, authorized facility employees, authorized management personnel, and authorized contractors. The maximum amount of chlorine at this Searcy Waste Water Treatment Plant is 14,000 pounds. Our employees conduct proper cylinder change-out procedures when needed (every 20 days). They also review operating procedures and maintnenance tasks daily or as needed. The prevention program for this facility is a Level 2. Lock-out/Tag-out procedures are used to help prevent an accidental release of chlorine. When maintenance is conducted on the chlorination system, the Plant Manager (Paul Abernathy), and the Maintenance Techni cian (Tom Hartsfield) approve the proper installation of materials, and completion of installation. Any change in maintenance procedure is reviewed and approved b the same tow individuals. All operators at this facility are knowledgeablein the proper start-up procedures for the waste water treatment operations. Al guages, feed lines, cylinders, etc. are visually inspected on a daily basis. Our emergency response (action) plan was developed with the assistance of Environemtnal Data Services, Inc., the Searcy Fire Department, and the White County OES. If a chlorine release occurs at the 260 North Bypass location, the chlorine alarm will sound, which will notify personnel at the facility of a release. Plant Manager (Paul Abernathy) will get personnel organized for an emergency action response (chlorine manual valve shutoff), and then possible evacuation if manual valve doesn't stop the release. On-duty personnel have SCBA equipment, and trained confined space personnel that they wi ll use to enter the confined space and determine extent of release. They can perform an emergency action by attmepting to shut-off the chlorine cylinder by using the manual valve. If the release cannot be controlled by the manual valve shut-down, then evacuation procedures will then be followed. A head count will be made of employees in reference to emplyee shift roster, then Dan Dawson (Asst. Utility Mgr/Safety Coordinator) will be notified, the 911 call will be made to notify the Searcy Fire Deptartment, White County OES, Searcy Police Department, and White County Sherrif's Department of the release. Searcy Fire Department will organize the Emergency Response Activities, and will start evacuation of the affected population. The chlorine vapor release could be slowed by not starting the manual vent system in the chlorine room until notification to 91 system is made, and evacuation activities begin. This will not prevent chlorine from releasing, but will allow for some time to re spond. The worst case scenario for this facility is a one tone cylinder failure, which woul be a release of 2,000 pounds of chlorine gas into the atmosphere. Active mitigation has been considered for this scenario consisting of manual shutoffs, and automatic vacuum feed chlorine system. Passive mitigation has also ben considered for this release scenario, which would be a release into an enclosed space with little contact with outside air. It is assumed that the entire contents of this cylinder are released as vapor. The distance to enpoint of 0.087 mg/l for the worst case scenario is 3.5 miles. The area surrounding the facility is considered to be urban due to the thick trees and vegetation, as well as the hilly terrain. The worst case scenario would impact approximately 17,000 people. An alternate release scenarion was determined for the 260 North Bypass location. The chlorine cylinders operated on an automatic vacuum feed system, so the amount of chlorine released at the 26 0 North Bypass location would be minimal (approximately 10 pounds). This release would result in a distance to endpoint of approximately 0.08 miles. This relatively short distance would impact approximately 10 persons. (All populations were based on Landview Software). There have been no accidental releases of chlorine from this facility in the past five years. The automatic vacuum feed system helps prevent/limit releases of chorine that could escape during operational periods. Operators of the chlorination system are requried to check instruments, cylinders, feed systems, etc. on a daily basis to aid in the prevention of accidental releases. Even though this is a Level 2 Prevention Program, Searcy Water & Sewage has chosen to utilize Level 3 Process Safety Management Prevention Program to furthur emphasize their efforts in preventing accidental releases. This waste water treatement facility complies with EPA's Accidental Release Prevention Rule, and with all applicable state/f ederal regulations. |