Hardy Street Water Well - Executive Summary

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The City of Ridgeland operates a water supply well located on Hardy Road in Ridgeland, Mississippi. At the well site, the City stores two (2) one-ton cylinders of chlorine, which is used as a disinfectant for the water supply well. These cylinders are stored individually under small fiberglass enclosures at all times. 
 
There are no full-time employees at the well site. However, employees of the City perform daily equipment checks for leaks. In addition, a chlorine leak can be detected through the City's computerized operation system. 
 
In preparation of the Risk Management Plan (RMP), both worst-case and alternative release scenarios were considered. Under worst-case scenario conditions, a catastrophic event would occur releasing a full one-ton cylinder. The radius of the potentially impacted surrounding area would be 1.3 miles. This scenario is highly unprobable and did not consider the mitigation of a release by the fiberglass enclosures. 
 
A more probable release event would occur if  
a transfer hose connecting the chlorine cylinder to the chlorinator were to fail. This scenario was the alternative scenario considered in the development of the RMP. This release event would have a potential impact in a 0.01 mile radius of the site. 
 
The Hardy Road well site has had only one release in the last five (5) years. During this event, approximately one (1) pound of chlorine was released into the air. During this release event no injuries were reported and no evacuations occured.  
 
In the event a significant release occurs, the City of Ridgeland Fire Department would be notified immediately to respond. The Fire Department has experienced personnel trained to handle such situations.
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