City Of Port Arthur (Water Purification Plant) - Executive Summary |
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1. Accidental release prevention and emergency response policies: The City of Port Arthur Water Plant uses chlorine gas as a disenfectant. The City is committed to there employees in the safe handling of chlorine. The City is also committed to reducing the threat to nearby members of the community. All employees that handle chlorine in its container are hazwopper certified. Employees receive training for State certification, on site training and training from local suppliers. Our emergency response program will be coordinated with the Port Arthur Fire Department. It includes procedures for notifying effected neighborhoods and schools thru radio, TV and telephone. 2. Stationary service and regulated substances handled: The primary purpose of the facility is the treatment and disenfection of drinking water. Chlorine is the only toxic chemical over the threshold limit used at this facility. Its received in ton cylinders via trucking. The facility has equipment for safe handling an d storage of ton cylinders. The total inventory stored at this facility is 30,000 pounds. 3. Worst case and alternative release scenario: Our worst case scenario would be the rupure of a ton cylinder releasing 2000 lbs. of liquid chlorine. Our chlorine cylinders are hooked up in series of four. This means we would have three ton cylinders releasing chlorine gas at a high rate through the ruptured cylinder. Its estimated that an additional 1200 lbs. of chlorine gas would escape through the ruptured cylinder before they would freeze up exceeding the recommended withdrawal rate of 400 lbs. per cylinder per day. This would increase our total mass release to 3,200 lbs. Chlorine would be released in a 10 minute time period, our release rate would be 320 pounds per minute, with a toxic end point of .0087mg/l. The affected radius would be 6.7 miles assuming worst case atmospheric conditions. The modling figures are from the chlorine institute pamphlet 74. All liquid leaks will be handled by the Port Arthur Fire Department and onsite hazmat team. Our alternative release scenario would be a 1/4" copper tubing that runs from the ton cylinder to the manifold. The tubing would break and release 500 lbs. of gas chlorine in a 60 minute time period. The release rate would be 8.3 pounds per minute. The affected radius would be 1.2 miles assuming worst case atmospheric conditions. On site hazmat team will handle all gas leaks in order to minimize the release. 4. The general accidental release prevention program and the specific prevention steps: Accidental release and prevention of the facility includes inspections of equipment and chlorine cylinders for any malfunctions or abnormal appearances. It also includes an inspection check list when changing chlorine cylinders. Specific prevention steps include training of employees, safe handling of cylinders, and inspection and maintenance of the system. Inventory of spare parts that are subject to failure are kept on site for immediate use. This facility is inspected by the Texas Natural Resourse Conservation Commission. (TNRCC) 5. Five year accident history: The Water Plant has had an excellent accident history over the past 5 years. We had one accidental release on 2-4-98, where approximately 4 ounces of liquid chlorine was traped in the copper tubing after the presure was drawn down to zero. When the tubing was removed the liquid escaped and turned to a liquid / evaporation leak. It did result in one minor injury of an employee. No evacuations were needed, no one offsite was injured and no offsite damage occurred. The procedures have been revised so this will not occur again. The procedure includes turning off the cylinders and allowing the chlorinator to feed the remaining chlorine from the system. When the pressure is at zero the system should be isolated from the chlorinators and allowed to set for a few minutes. If the pressure builds back up there evidence that liquid chlorine is in the syst em and should be removed by feeding it through the chlorinators as it evaporates in the line. 6. Emergency response program: Our emergency response program will be coordinated through the Port Arthur Fire Department and their hazmat team. Ton cylinder repair kits will be kept at the Water Plant and on the Fire Department response truck. Class A encapsulated suits will be kept at both locations. All maintenance employees are hazmat certified and receive a refresher training course each year. Our written emergency response plan includes specific actions to be taken in the event of a release. The plan includes information on emergency health care, informing the public, and public agencies for responding to a release. The Water Plant is subject to a state emergency plan listed in the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission Rules And Regulations for public water systems 290.42(e)(11). 7. Planned changes to improve safety: The City Of Port Arthur has completed a new Water Purificati on Plant that meets all current building and safety codes. All chlorine handling and feed equipment meet or exceeds the American Water Works Assocation Standards (AWWA). All current and future maintenance employees will be hazmat certified in order to assess and repair all chlorine leaks. Safety equipment and protective clothing will be kept at the facility to minimize chlorine releases. NOTE: When closing the RMP-Submit, Latitude and Longitude Not In Bounding Box appears. The screen shows what was entered and what the valid bounding box range is. The address finder used was http://www.etakguide.com/#FindLocation The map did show the correct area where the Water Plant was located. |