Water Well No. 7 - Pearl River Church Road - Executive Summary |
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN WATER WELL NO. 7 - PEARL RIVER CHURCH RD BEAR CREEK WATER ASSOCIATION, INC. ACCIDENTAL RELEASE EMERGENCY RESPONSE POLICIES Bear Creek Water Association, Inc., is a consumer-owned suburban utility company providing public waterworks services for a about 6000 customers in a 90-square mile service area in the rapidly urbanizing south Madison County area north of Jackson, Mississippi. The association has eight water well sites where gaseous chlorine is stored for disinfection of raw well water. Chlorine at seven of these sites is stored in two150-pound tanks. Therefore, the total amount of chlorine at these sites at any one time is 300 pounds, less than the threshold amount of 2500 pounds necessitating a Risk Management Plan Bear Creek's Water Well No. 7 site on Pearl River Church Road, however, contains two one ton cylinders of gaseous chlorine. The 4000 pounds of chlorine at this site requires a RMP. This Risk Management Plan is, therefore, site specific to Bear Creek Water Association's Water Well No. 7. The association currently depends upon the Madison County Local Emergency Planning Committee for emergency reponse to accidental release of chlorine at the Pearl River Church Road well site, as well as other wells sites with lesser amounts of stored chlorine. It is the association's policy to immediately dial 911 and notify the local LEPC of any accidential release of chlorine. However, the association recently directed its engineer to prepare policies and procedures for emergency response by its in-house and contract employees in the event of an accidental release. These policies and procedures should be considered by the association's board of directors and management in the next two or three months. STATIONARY SOURCE The stationary source considered in the RMP is Bear Creek Water Association's Water Well No. 7 on Pearl River Church Road in south Madison County. This well site houses a 1500 gpm water well, a 300,000 gallon elevated steel water storage tank, a small concrete block equipment building with electrical controls and related equipment, including a chlorinator, and two one ton cylinders of gaseous chlorine housed in individual fiberglass enclosures. The chlorine is used to oxidize hydrogen sulfide in the raw well water and to disinfect the public water supply. The well site also houses a monopole cellular communications tower that is unrelated to the water well operations. The well site is not manned on a full-time basis. An employee of the association checks the site daily on weekdays to troubleshoot equipment and provide routine maintenance, and communications company personnel periodically check communications equipment. The Pearl River Road well site is located in a predominantly rural portion of the Bear Creek service area. The surrounding land use is agricultural and rural residential with most homes being located on sites of three to ten acres. A small rural church is located just north of the well site. The agricultural and residential area around the well site is heavily timbered, rolling terrain. This terrain would reduce the distance to the hazardous endpoint of the release. WORSE-CASE RELEASE SCENARIO The worse-case release scenario is based upon the rupture on one chlorine cylinder and the release of 2000 pounds of gaseous chlorine over a period of ten minutes. The RMP/Comp computer program furnished to EPA notes that an area with a radius of about 2.2 miles centered on the well site would be impacted by this accidental release. However, it is likely that this estimate is conservative due to the heavily timbered nature of the land surrounding the well site. Bear Creek Water Association estimates that this worst-case accidental release scenario would pose a hazard to about 1000 people in the 2.2 mile radius before the chlorine gas had dissipated enough to be non-hazardous. ACCIDENTAL RELEASE PREVENTION PROGRAM Bear Creek Water Asso ciation complies with OSHA 1910.38 (Emergency Action Plan) and coordinates with the Madison County Local Emergency Planning Committee. The association maintains each one-ton chlorine cylinder in a fiberglass housing that minimizes the danger of accidental damage. The association's office and field personnel have ready access to emergency phone numbers for notification in the event of an accidental release. FIVE-YEAR ACCIDENT HISTORY Bear Creek has not experienced an accidental release of chlorine from the Pearl River Church well site or any other well site. EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROGRAM The association's only current emergency response program is to notify 911 and the Madison County Local Emergency Planning Committee of an accidental release. PLANNED CHANGES The association's engineer is preparing a formal emergency response plan for field and office personnel. The engineer will hold training sessions for all association employee (both in-house and contract) when the plan is comp leted and approved by the association's board of directors. |