Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Texas Operations Center - Executive Summary |
|
Executive Summary The Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Texas Operations Center was established in 1985 and was originally owned by Borden Ice Cream. This facility manufactures ice cream under the Dreyer's and Edy's brand name for Texas and the southeastern United States. The facility gradually expanded over the years and today manufactures ice cream and stores a variety of ice cream related products such as frozen fruit bars, Nestle's chocolate covered ice cream bars and ice cream related products from other manufacturers. The site was sold to Dreyer's in 1996. Products are shipped via trucking operations. This facility extensively uses ammonia refrigeration in the manufacture and storage of ice cream products. The refrigeration involved is two stage with screw compressors and achieves temperatures as low as -40 F. The only RMP regulated chemical at the site is ammonia, which is used in the refrigeration aspect of ice cream manufacture and storage. Other materials on the site are either present in less than threshold quantities, do not meet the flash point criteria or are not listed in the RMP and PSM regulations. The other materials at the site relate to the manufacturing of ice cream and Food and Drug Administration regulations that apply to the site. Manufacturing operations are generally conducted indoors with some ammonia storage and evaporative condensers outdoors on the roof. The scenario development was based on the EPA and International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR) guidance document, Risk Management Program Guidance for Offsite Consequence Analysis (EPA 550-B-99-009). After considering several scenarios, the worst case scenario selected was the failure of the largest vessel located on the roof. This was selected because it is the largest ammonia storage vessel in the plant and it is outdoors. The outdoor aspect made calculations easier and also simpler to explain to the public. The worst case scenario's potential impact was only to nearby neighbors. The EPA/IIAR guidance document tables and equations in Appendix 4B were used for the distance determination. The alternate case scenario was based on the facility's five year accident history. The largest release in the five year history was selected and the duration of the release was shortened to allow the release to get offsite. Releases over substantially longer time spans do not go offsite. The EPA/IIAR guidance document tables and equations in Appendix 4B were used for the distance determination. Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Texas Operations Center is located in northwest Houston, Texas. The area is a light industry and warehouse district, and adjacent to the residential area of Spring Branch. The area is part of the Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District. Schools impacted by the worst case scenario include two schools in southern Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District, two public schools in northern Spring Branch Independent School District, a community college and two private schools in the northern part of Spring Branch. The only other major receptor is a park owned by the City of Houston located next to the facility. A hospital is located at the very edge of the worst case scenario circle. The Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Texas Operations is shown slightly incorrectly in LandView III. The TRI layer shows a Borden facility located on top of Campbell Road. This filing goes back to the days of Borden ownership and the origin of this location is unknown. Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Texas Operations has several safeguards either already in place or planned that would mitigate an ammonia release. The most important safeguard is the location of the equipment. Most of the ammonia equipment is located indoors. Dreyer's ventilates the ammonia compressor room in accordance with IIAR standards. Outdoor equipment is located on the roof, about 40-60 feet aboveground, except for the ammonia tank truck unloading line. The ammonia unloading line is located on the side of the plant furthest from the public park. Dreyer's Texas Operations does not use chlorine or other highly hazardous chemicals in its cooling water. Finally, Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Texas Operations follows guidelines from the International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration and OSHA's Process Safety Management Program. OSHA's Process Safety Management Program is a comprehensive 14 point program that covers nearly all aspects of highly hazardous chemical management. This includes safe design and operation of ammonia refrigeration facilities with trained personnel. |