Oeffler - Norwood Water Treatment Plant - Executive Summary |
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The City of North Miami Beach has operated the W.A.Oeffler-Norwood Water Treatment Plant for over forty years. Our accidental release policy involves a unified approach that integrates technology, procedures and management practices.The Emergency Response Policy involves preparation of plans tailored to our facility and the emergency response services available in the community and is in compliance with the EPA Emergency Response program requirements. The W.A.Oeffler-Norwood Water Treatment Plant is located in the Norland area of North West Dade County, a largely residential area, with three schools in close proximity. The chlorination facility is located in the North West corner of the property.This facility normally contains six to eight ton cylinders of liquid chlorine, five wall mounted chlorinators, two sets of scales with dials, two inline chlorine leak detectors, and leak repair safety equipment. Directly outside the facility is two independant breathing apparatus. The operator s visit the site daily during normal hourly plant inspections. Our general accidental release program is based on some of the follwing key elements : * Continuous high level training of the Operators * Preventative maintenance program * Use of state of the art process safety equipment * Effective operation and handling procedures, written with the participation of the Operators * Continuous evaluation of the safety equipment and procedures * Chemical specific training on the self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) which can be worn during connections/ disconnections of cylinders * Yearly MSDS awareness reevaluation of hazzardous properties of toxic materials The W.A.Oeffler-Norwood Water Treatment Plant has had no accidental releases of chlorine gas in the past five years. The facility has an emergen cy response program which has been coordinated and reviewed by the Local Emergency Response Planning Committee. This program includes a decision tree and notification plan. Yearly updates and evaluations are performed. While the worst case scenarios indicate that off-site areas will be affected in the event of a release, we believe that our recently instituted safety procedures and mitigation measures will reduce the likelihood of such an event and that the alternative case release scenarios more accurately reflect any risk to the community. |