Lake Wateree Water Treatment Plant - Executive Summary |
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The Lugoff-Elgin Water Authority (LEWA) owns and operates a water treatment plant located in Kershaw County, South Carolina. The facility provides potable drinking water to the cities of Lugoff and Elgin and surrounding areas within the county. In order to provide water that is free of harmful bacteria and pathogens, chlorine, considered potentially toxic by the US EPA, is used to disinfect the water. It is the facility's policy to adhere to all applicable Federal and state rules and regulations associated with the safe handling of this chemical. A maximum of 4,000 lb of chlorine could be stored at the facility at any given time. This is larger than the threshold quantity for this chemical as listed in 40 CFR Part 68. Ammonia, also regulated by 40 CFR Part 68, is stored at this facility in an amount less than the threshold quantity. As a result, only chlorine is discussed in the facility's Risk Management Program. The Lake Wateree Water Treatment Plant has had no major chlori ne spills or accidents in the past five years. Small chlorine leaks are common at water treatment facilities and do occur at this facility. The leaks are typically caused by improper tank connections and are easily detected with a simple test performed by operators or by chlorine sensors located in and around the chlorine storage building. Once detected, operators are able to stop these leaks quickly. The chlorine cylinders, when in use, are stored inside a building. The building's walls help to contain any harmful chlorine gas that may leak from the cylinders. Additionally, LEWA has established a program to prevent the accidental release of chlorine gas. The prevention plan, presented in the Risk Management Program, consists of procedures and training designed to prevent accidents including: 7 Standard Operating Procedures 7 Employee Training 7 Mechanical Integrity (Preventative Maintenance) Program 7 Investigating/ Documenting of Accidents 7 Compliance Audits 7 Process Safet y Information 7 Process Hazard Analysis 7 Management of Change 7 Pre-Startup Safety Review 7 Employee and Employer Responsibilities When Hiring Contractors to Work On-Site 7 Employee Participation 7 Hot Work Permits LEWA believes that the prevention program is effective, and no major release are expected at the water treatment plant. Because of the lack of chlorine accidents in the past, LEWA sees no need and has no plans to improve safety at this time. However, LEWA has developed an emergency response program to be used in case of an accidental release. The Emergency Response Program includes procedures for notification of the local fire department and any potentially affected neighbors as well as first aid for victims. LEWA has coordinated an emergency response plan with the following agencies: Lugoff Fire Department 892 Highway 1, South Lugoff, SC 29078-9345 803-438-2911 Camden Fire Department 1000 Lyttleton Street Camden, SC 29020-4415 803-425-6040 As a part of this Risk Management Plan, LEWA has modeled a worst case and three alternative release scenarios in an attempt to predict the effect of certain potential accidents. Results show that the worst case scenario would result in potentially toxic concentrations of chlorine in a 7.4 mile radius from the water plant, affecting approximately 10,000 residents of Fairfield and Kershaw counties. The worst case scenario would be the result of a tank failure where the entire contents of a 2,000 lb chlorine cylinder are released in 10 minutes. Mitigation is not considered in this case. The alternative scenarios are situations that are considered more likely to occur including small leaks from flanges, joints, valves, and pipes. The most serious of the alternative scenarios would cover a radius of 1.9 miles, affecting 700 citizens. The remaining two scenarios cover 1.4 miles and 0.74 miles and could affect 370 and 105 people, respectively. |