Jewel Food Stores, Inc. - Executive Summary |
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Jewel Food Stores, Inc. ("Jewel") is a diversified retailer of grocery products. Jewel is a wholly owned operating unit of American Stores Company (ASC, Salt Lake City, UT). Jewel operates many retail grocery stores, one of which is supplied through a distribution and transportation complex that straddles property in two cities, Melrose Park and Franklin Park, Illinois. The Jewel distribution operation employs over 450 people. The Jewel Refrigerated Distribution Center uses a 35,000-pound capacity anhydrous ammonia system for refrigeration of certain food products in storage. Anhydrous ammonia is subject to EPA regulation under 40 CFR 68, Accidental Release Risk Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals. Pursuant to the Risk Management Plan (RMP) regulation (40 CFR 68) and the Process Safety Management (PSM) standard (29 CFR 1910.119), Jewel has developed a comprehensive PSM written program to protect employees and the surrounding community from exposure to ammonia. The facility compl eted a process hazards analysis (PHA) for ammonia using the industry standard What-If? Analysis developed through the International Institute for Ammonia Refrigeration. The PHA was completed in early 1999 using technical and operations staff from the Jewel facility as well as experienced facilitators from Dames & Moore, an outside engineering firm. Jewel is committed to minimizing accidental releases of ammonia from the refrigeration process at the Melrose Park distribution center. Jewel's implementation of the revised PSM program includes employee education in the hazards of ammonia and measures that can be used to reduce employee and community exposure to accidental releases of ammonia. The plan includes a preventive maintenance program (mechanical integrity) for the ammonia system, as well as a program for both pre-startup safety reviews and management of changes (MOC) to this system. The program also includes specific requirements for safe work practices (such as safe approaches t o welding and similar hot work) and safety requirements for contractors who may be hired to work on the system. Lastly, the PSM written program incorporates the Jewel distribution center's emergency response plan and places special emphasis on handling accidental releases of hazardous chemicals and coordination of emergency response with local fire departments and other emergency response organizations. The Jewel distribution center has never experienced a release of ammonia involving consequences that affected residents or the environment. However, as part of the RMP requirements, Jewel undertook a review of the potential offsite consequences of the accidental releases of the largest vessels in the system. Although such a release is highly unlikely, the regulation requires this review. The worst case scenario was assumed to be the release of the entire contents of the 17,190-pound high-pressure receiver located indoors. The analysis of this release indicates that a potential expo sure of an area approximately 1.22 miles in diameter (distance to endpoint of 0.61 miles) would result. Local businesses, schools, parks, and residences are located within this area. The total population within the potential exposure area is estimated to be 3,731. In determining the alternate case scenario for ammonia, Jewel analyzed incidents occurring at other refrigeration facilities and the results of the internal process hazards analysis (PHA). The scenario chosen for the ammonia system assumes a =" hole in a liquid return pipe from the outside condensers. Such a release would affect an area of 0.34 miles (0.17 miles to the toxic endpoint) and create the potential to affect approximately 159 persons. Local businesses and residences are located within this area. |