Quindaro Water Processing Plant - Executive Summary |
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Executive Summary The Board of Public Utilities (BPU) uses chlorine and ammonia during the preparation of potable water at the Quindaro Water Treatment Plant (Quindaro). Quindaro is located on the south bank of the Missouri River in an urban area of Kansas City, Kansas. As required by federal regulations, BPU has prepared this Risk Management Plan (RMP) to comply with the requirements in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 68. This RMP contains the following sections: 1. This Executive Summary, required by 40 CFR 68.155. 2. The Registration Form (Section 1), which includes the data required by 40 CFR 68.160. 3. A Hazard Assessment (Section 2), which includes the assessment of offsite consequences required by 40 CFR 68.165. 4. The five year accident history (Section 3) required by 40 CFR 68.168. 5. A description of the Prevention Programs (Section 4) for training maintenance, compliance audits, and incident investigations, required by 40 CFR 68.170. 6. The Emergency Response Program (Section 5), required by 40 CFR 68.180. 7. The Certification Statement (Section 6), required by 40 CFR 68.185. 8. A copy of the record keeping policies and procedures for this RMP. These policies and procedures meet the requirements of 40 CFR 68.200. Two chemicals are stored at Quindaro above the threshold limits, chlorine and ammonia. Because chlorine is the more toxic chemical and because it is stored in larger quantities, it was selected as the representative chemical for the worst case release scenario. The plume size was estimated at greater than 25 miles. The plume could affect nearly all of the Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO metropolitan areas. Alternative release scenarios were evaluated for both chlorine and ammonia. In both cases, the plumes would not extend beyond Quindaro's property. For leaks inside the chlorine building, the chlorine scrubbers would be available to prevent releases. Chlorine buildings with scrubbers are also present at two sites in the distribution system. There has been one chlorine release within the last five years. This release occurred February 22, 1996 when a rubber diaphragm on a pressure gauge on the tank car failed and released chlorine into the atmosphere. BPU personnel discovered the leak and reported it to the Superintendent who promptly evaluated the situation and requested BPU maintenance personnel to repair the leak. Maintenance personnel trained in chlorine leak response donned safety gear and proceeded to correct the situation. There was no affect on human health or the environment. There have not been any ammonia releases in the last five years. Section 4 and Attachments 5 and 6 list the general accident release prevention program and the chemical-specific prevention steps. Section 4 lists information on the location of safety information (MSDS she ets), engineering safety measures, training measures, and maintenance procedures. Attachment 5 is the Quindaro Contingency Plan, which contains emergency procedures. Standard operating procedures for the chlorine and ammonia systems are provided in Appendix 6. With the completion of the new water treatment plant at Nearman (January 2000) the Quindaro plant will be taken out of service and the chlorine railroad tank cars will no longer be present at the site. While safety training updates and process hazard reviews are always an ongoing part of BPU's overall operating philosophy, no further physical plant modifications are planned for the Quindaro plant chlorine system. |