Tri-County Water Authority - Executive Summary |
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This facility is committed to the safety of its employees and the community, and to the quality of the environment. We believe in being responsible neighbors in our community. To ensure our commitment, we adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws. The facility has coordinated emergency response activities with the Ft. Osage Fire Protection District. This facility treats raw water to bring it to drinking water standards. Chlorine is the only risk management program related substance used at the facility in excess of threshold quantities. The use of chlorine is confined to within a chlorination system. Safety systems associated with the chlorination system included vents, check valves, manual and automatic shutoffs, alarms, emergency air supply, emergency power, and written emergency procedures. Our worst-case release scenario for the chlorination system is a failure of a one-ton cylinder which releases the entire contents (2,000 lbs) to the atmosphere. The dista nce to endpoint for this scenario is 3.0 miles according to look-up tables provided in the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) guidance document for wastewater treatment plants. Public and environmental receptors identified within 3.0 miles of the facility include schools, residences, recreation areas, commercial/industrial areas, and a wildlife preserve area. An alternate release scenario was also analyzed, involving a leak in a vessel which releases 60 lbs of chlorine to the atmosphere. The distance to endpoint for the alternative release scenario is 0.1 mile. No public or environmental receptors were identified within 0.1 mile of the facility. This facility complies with the EPA's accident prevention rule and all applicable state and local codes and regulations. Our prevention program includes written operating and mechanical integrity procedures, safe work practices, and a training program to ensure that our employees are knowledgeable in the hazards of the process and in their specific job functions. If an incident does occur, it is thoroughly investigated and the findings of the investigation are communicated to all affected employees. We believe our prevention program is key to minimizing the risk to our employees, the public, and the environment. In the past five years, we have not had an accident involving chlorine that resulted in any on-site deaths, injuries, or significant property damage, or that resulted in any offsite deaths, injuries, property damage, environmental damage, evacuations, or shelterings in place. In the event of an emergency involving chlorine, we will immediately notify the Ft. Osage Fire Protection District and request that they respond to the emergency. They have inspected our facility and are familiar with our operations. It is our policy to continuously work toward better and safer systems. Our entire facility received a thorough mechanical integrity inspection in June of 1999. |