H. C. Morgan Pollution Control Facility - Executive Summary |
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1.10 Executive Summary Professional Services Group, (P.O. Box 2207, Auburn, Alabama, 36830), owns and operates the H.C. Morgan 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 southwest side of Auburn, Alabama, 616 Sandhill Road. This site consists of approximately 40 acres located in a rural setting ( bounded by low density residential units). The site has an elevation of approximately 450 feet above sea level and the natural flow of surface water appears to be to the south toward Parkinson Mill Creek, a tributary of Chewacla Creek. The H.C. Morgan facility treats the majority percentage of the sanitary wastewater for the City of Auburn and the site is regulated under the State of Alabama NPDES Permit # AL0050237. The process at the plant utilizes both mechanical and biological treatment to remove organics from the wastewater, 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 isolated from the remainder of the plant. Also, in this building, there are no more than two cylinders in proximity to one another. Operators are thoroughly trained in the handling of the hazardous chlorine. 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 amount of a second cylinder that is in service. The release would allow gaseous chlorine to migrate off plant site to the south-southwest, toward some distant farm residents. The envelope of expansion will be some 1.1 miles. The most likely alternative scenario is the release of a partially full cylinder, less than 2000 pounds, with the same flow pattern and traveling some 733 yards in the sa me general direction. 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 local population and env ironment. Additionally, new technology is being considered which would allow the plant to discontinue the use of chlorine (5 to 10 year timeframe). |