Temecula Valley RWRF - Executive Summary |
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RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN - TEMECULA VALLEY RWRF EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) has established a risk management plan according to EPA's regulations (40 CFR Part 68) to enhance already existing safety and emergency response programs. EMWD is extremely cautious in the handling of all chemicals and is very diligent about safety for its employees and its communities. EMWD staff is highly trained and utilizes modern equipment to monitor its facilities to provide safeguards, while effectively employing these useful chemicals. These chemicals play an important role in water treatment and water reclamation, enabling everyone to lead healthier lives. Accidental Release Prevention and Emergency Response Policies Eastern Municipal Water District has an emergency response plan in effect to handle potential emergency situations at the Temecula Valley Rregional Water Reclamation Factility (RWRF). This Emergency Response Plan was designed to meet the following objective s: 1.) To save lives. 2.) To minimize and avoid injuries. 3.) To protect the environment. 4.) To minimize property damage. The Eastern Municipal Water District Safety Officer is the designated emergency coordinator for the facility. The District also maintains an on-call Emergency Response Team. The Plan provides the response organization and notification procedures, evacuation routes, chlorine health hazards and mitigation procedures which will be implemented to respond effectively to emergency situations that may arise at the facility. This Plan is reviewed and updated at least once per year and has been reviewed and updated to ensure compliance with the PSM, RMP and CalARP regulations Stationary Source and Regulated Substance The Temecula Valley RWRF maintains a maximum quantity of 14,000 pounds of chlorine on-site for use in disinfecting wastewater treated by the plant. There is a single chlorination building located at the facility housing seven one-ton chlorine container s. These containers are owned, maintained and filled by the chlorine chemical vendor per Department of Transportation regulations and standards. Chlorine gas is supplied from the bulk tanks to two chlorinators that regulate the chlorine feed rate via a pressure regulating valve that shuts off upon loss of vacuum downstream. A vacuum is created at the chlorinators by water flow through a set of injectors. Hazard Assessment Summary Worst Case Release Result Summary Scenario Description: Release of the maximum quantity of chlorine that can be stored in the largest vessel - 2,000 pounds in 10 minutes. The ton-container is located in a building, therefore, this passive mitigation measure was incorporated in the calculations. The most pessimistic meteorological conditions were used: 1.5 meters/second wind speed, and F stability (a measure for turbulance in the air). Although the chlorination building is equipped with an automatically actuated scrubber system, it was considered to b e inoperable for the purposes of this worst case scenario. The reference chart included in EPA's RMP Guidance for Wastewater Treatment Plants was used to determine the maximum downwind distance to 3 ppm. With these assumptions in place, the toxic plume extends offsite. Alternative Release Result Summary Scenario Description: Two alternate scenarios were considered. The first consisted of a liquid release inside the chlorination building from a failure of a fusible plug with a release rate of 150 pounds per minute from a < inch hole. In the second scenario it is assumed that the vendor delivers a ton-container that has a leaking valve. In both alternate release scenarios, the downwind distances are substantially less than that of the worst case. However, they extend offsite as well. Accidental Release Prevention Program and Chemical-Specific Prevention Steps The Eastern Municipal Water District has a Process Safety Management program in place to manage the handling of chlorine . In addition, common industry standards, policies, and procedures are utilized to ensure safe practices are being performed, including common practices outlined by the Chlorine Institute. In addition to the Management Programs, there are chlorine leak detectors situated in all rooms that contain chlorine. In the event of a chlorine gas leak reaching 1 ppm, the detectors relay a signal that activates a horn and a light outside the room where chlorine has been detected. In addition, the alarm is displayed on the SCADA monitors. At 3 ppm, the alarm signal actuates the emergency scrubber system for the chlorination building. Five Year Accident History The five-year accident history (June 1994 through June 1999) for the Temecula Valley RWRF reveals that there were no incidents that involved a release of chlorine. Planned Changes to Improve Safety Several process and management system improvements were implemented during the development of the PSM Program for this site. For compl iance with RMP regulations additional improvements are being considered. |