Ouachita Water Treatment Plant - Executive Summary |
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The Ouachita Water Treatment Plant facility uses Chlorine, which is considered hazardous by EPA. The same properties that make Chlorine valuable as a water treatment chemical also make it necessary to observe certain safety precautions in handling the material. The prevention of unnecessary human exposure reduces the threat to the health and safety of employees as well as nearby members of the community. The primary goal of this Risk Management Plan is to ensure the safety of the employees of this facility and all residents that may be impacted by a release from this facility. This Risk Management Program, including the Emergency Response Program, was developed with the assistance of ALTEC Environmental Consultants, Inc. and NRS Consulting Engineers, Inc. The Emergency Response Plan includes procedures for notification of the appropriate agencies and potentially affected members of the community. In addition, it provides procedures for mitigating any releases that may cause harm to the community. The primary purpose of this facility is to treat the water system by utilizing the regulated chemical Chlorine. the maximum amount of Chlorine stored at this plant is 10,000 pounds. Chlorine is received in individual one-ton cylinders and stored until needed. Chlorine is injected into the water system by automatic feeders. The feed system uses a vacuum "shut-off" system which is designed to automatically shut the system down if a leak occurs. Access to the site is restricted to authorized facility employees, authorized management personnel and authorized contractors. A worst-case scenario for this facility involves the failure of and total release from the largest storage tank when filled to capacity, resulting in a release of 2,000 pounds of Chlorine. When Chlorine is released into the air, it creates a hazard. Therefore, the worst-case scenario has been used. Active mitigation has been considered for this scenario. The Chlorine storage tanks are located i n the Chlorine Cylinder Room which is constructed of a concrete wall on two sides and two open sides. It is assumed that the entire contents from the one-ton tank are released as a vapor. The distance to the endpoint of 0.0087 mg/l for the worst-case scenario is 2.6 miles. An alternative scenario was determined for this facility. The alternative scenario is based on the type of prevention system in place, and the release should be minimal. The vacuum "shut-off" system has been determined to be effective in preventing greater than small amounts of Chlorine from being released. Estimations based on the line capacity for the feeder lines would be approximately 10.5 pounds released into the atmosphere. This amount of Chlorine vapor release would result in a distance to endpoint of approximately 0.48 of a mile. The water treatment facility complies with EPA's Accidental Release Prevention Rule and with all applicable State of Arkansas codes and regulations. There have been no accid ental releases of Chlorine in the last five years. The Emergency Response Program was developed for the City of Hot Springs and the surrounding areas with the assistance of NRS Consulting Engineers, Inc. This program has been discussed with the Arkansas Office of Emergency Preparedness and the Hot Springs Fire Department. The Chlorine feed system was constructed at this facility in 1995 and meets all design requirements and complies with all applicable regulations for water treatment facilities. |