Water Pollution Control Plant - Executive Summary |
|
The City of Fort Wayne Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) is a Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) whose facility staff is committed to safety and is continually evaluating ways to improve safety programs. Facility staff works closely with other city and county agencies to coordinate safety and emergency response training activities. The WPCP utilizes chlorine (CAS No. 7664-41-7) in its wastewater treatment process during the warm weather months of April through October. Chlorine is received in a 55-ton or 90-ton railcar and stored in two 10,200-gallon storage tanks. One railcar is delivered inside a locked fenced area around a rail siding located south of the facility parking lot. Liquid chlorine is transferred from the railcar to the storage tanks through an underground pipeline as the pressure differential between the railcar and storage tanks allows. Dry, oil-free, compressed air is used to empty the railcar of residual liquid chlorine. The two chlorine storage tanks are located indoors and are connected to the chlorination system. Chlorine sensors continously monitor the air in the rooms where chlorine is used and stored. If more than 4 ppm of chlorine is detected, an alarm sounds alerting facility personnel of a possible leak. The most recent safety inspection of the facility by an external agency was conducted by the Indiana Water Pollution Control Association (IWPCA). The worst-case release scenario was modeled according to EPA guidelines and involved the catastrophic failure of one, full 90-ton rail car. No mitigation measures were considered for this scenario. It is not likely that such an event would occur. EPA also requires that five alternative release scenarios be considered and that one more likely to occur than the worst-case scenario should be used in an off-site consequence analysis. The scenario more likely to occur involves the seal failure in a railcar valve. No mitigation measures were considered in the off-site consequence analysis. The railcar valve seal failure is infrequent and it is not likely that the scenario described in Section 3 would occur. The WPCP has safely operated the present chlorine process equipment, without incident, since it was installed in 1969. The facility is continually evaluating ways to improve the safety of this chlorine system. Two new chlorinators have been purchased to replace existing units. These new chlorinators are to be installed in November 1999, after the end of the chlorine season. The facility is covered by the Allen County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) community emergency response plan and has procedures for notifying local emergency responders in the event of an accidental release of chlorine. |