Hawkins Water Treatment Group - SUPERIOR - Executive Summary

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Since Hawkins Chemical was founded in 1938, the company has become a critical source of chemical products for communities and businesses across the upper Midwest.  For example, nearly all municipal and industrial water treatment facilities in the region rely on Hawkins for water disinfectants and other treatment products, equipment and expertise. 
   Hawkins Chemical is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with branches that meet local needs in seven neighboring states.  The company's primary business is to repackage, custom-blend and distribute products for the water disinfection, pharmaceutical, food, computer and other industries.   
   Hawkins has prepared and filed a Risk Management Plan for its Superior, Wisconsin facility where its primary activity is to receive and distribute packaged products such as chlorine for use by individual customer facilities. 
   The Risk Management Plan that Hawkins staff has filed for this facility is a planning and prevention tool; it helps us to better identif 
y hazards and communicate with others.   Risk Management Plans are developed by facilities that have sufficient quantities of any of 140 hazardous materials on site; at this facility, we handle only one of those materials.  In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that 66,000 such facilities will have to file Risk Management Plans in 1999. 
    
   The products covered in our Risk Management Plan for this facility is Chlorine.  Chlorine and bleach (sodium hypochlorite) are well-known and trusted disinfectants for drinking water, waste water, food processing equipment, swimming pools, etc. 
 
Planning Scenarios 
   In addition to identifying and reporting materials of interest, RMP also requires companies to prepare two accident scenarios as a way to plan for--and thus to prevent--hazardous accidents.   
   The first of the two types of planning scenarios required under RMP is called a "worst-case scenario."  Facilities develop and share this scenario with emergency res 
ponders as a planning tool, not a prediction.  The worst-case scenario, as its name indicates, assumes a complete and simultaneous failure in every one of several layers of mechanical and safety controls, that the worst possible weather conditions exist, and that the entire contents of our largest container would release suddenly. 
   Our worst-case scenario involves a 150-pound cylinder of chlorine, a product which our customers use to purify water.  Assuming the worst-case scenario, the entire contents of the cylinder would release at our site over a ten-minute period and would travel 0.4 miles by air before dispersing to a level that is not harmful.  This estimate is based on EPA's guidance for water treatment facilities, which handle chlorine similarly to Hawkins. 
   Again, the worst case scenario is a planning tool, not a prediction.  Many mechanical and procedural safeguards are in place to make sure even small releases don't happen.  For example, 
   * The cylinder is equipped with a pr 
essure relief valve which will prevent catastrophic failure from over-pressurization, 
   The second of the planning scenarios is known as an "alternative release scenario," which is a somewhat more realistic possibility than the worst-case scenario.  Hawkins' alternative scenario also involves chlorine.  In this planning scenario, a 150-pound container might have a faulty pressure relief device (fuse plug) which leaks some chlorine.  For this scenario, EPA estimates the chlorine gas would travel a distance of 0.12 miles by air, in a period of 60 minutes, before it dissipates to a level that is not harmful. 
    
Risk Management 
   Hawkins provides products critical to meeting the region's public health and the manufacturing needs.  Some of these products pose risks, which is why all Hawkins employees share a commitment to safety.  Our safety policy states: 
"Hawkins Chemical, Inc. recognizes its obligation to provide all employees with a safe and healthful workplace. The Company has provided, a 
nd will continue to provide, the human, physical and financial resources necessary to meet this objective.  We expect all employees of the Company to use these resources to make our operations as safe and healthful as is humanly possible." 
   Planning for accidents, such as that done through RMP, helps to ensure that they never happen.  In fact, our RMP for Superior, Wisconsin reports no harmful accidental releases over the reportable period of five years.   Hawkins is a leader in national efforts to ensure safe handling of chemicals such as chlorine. 
   Reality is, however, that accidents can happen.  That's why we continually update mechanical safeguards and invest heavily in training for our employees and our customers.  
   In addition to our internal efforts, safety and emergency response planning also is coordinated with local and national officials, including the Superior Fire Department.
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