Northside Pollution Control Facility - Executive Summary |
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1.10. Executive Summary Professional Services Group owns and operates the Northside Pollution Control Facility for the City of Auburn, Alabama. The facility is an activated sludge/extended aeration sanitary wastewater treatment operation that is located on the Northwest side of Auburn, Alabama, accessible by Richland Road. This site consists of approximately 5 acres, located in a predominately rural setting, bounded by farm lands to the north, west and east and a residential community 1700 yards to the southeast. The site is located approximately 600 feet above sea level and surface water flow is south-southeast toward Willow Creek Subdivision and a tributary of Willow Creek Pond. The Northside Facility treats 25% of the sanitary waste water for the City of Auburn and is regulated under the state of Alabama NPDES Permit # AL0050245. The process at the plant utilizes both mechanical and biological treatment to remove organics from the waste water prior to returning the water to the general environment. As part of the processing effort chlorine gas is utilized in contact with the flow stream to ensure coliform removal. The chlorine gas is stored and is placed into service in a chlorine contact building, which is in proximity to other operations at the plant. In the building, the chlorine is further isolated to a separate room where two (one ton cylinders) are in service. The operators are thoroughly trained in the handling of the hazardous gas. A review of the process indicates that the worst case scenario is the release of a one ton cylinder that is being placed into service, plus a small (less than 300 pounds) amount of a second cylinder that is in service. The release would allow gaseous chlorine to migrate off plant site to the south-southeast toward a subdivision that is at a distance of some 1700 yards. The envelope of exposure is estimated to be some 1800 yards. The most likely (alternative) scenario is the release of a partially full cylinder, less than 2000 pounds, with the same flow pattern In both cases the emergency response involves activation of the Local Emergency Response Program. The site has a Process Safety Management (OSHA PSM) program in place that includes the following elements: Hazard Review, Operating Procedures, Training, Maintenance, Incident Investigation, Compliance Audit, Management of Change, Prestartup Safety Review, Contractors Employee Participation and Hot Work Permits. These programs are utilized for the entire plant operation and for the specific chemical chlorine. The efforts of the site prevention program have been successful with no incidents having occurred during the past five years. However, should an incident occur the site has developed an Emergency Response Program that involves the Local Public Safety Department (fire and police), the local HAZMAT team and other support agencies. In the future the already successful program will be maintained to ensure the continued protection of the l ocal population and environment. Additionally, new technology is being considered which would allow the plant to discontinue the use of chlorine (5-10 year timeframe). |