MARCH 4, 2015
OWENSBORO, KENTUCKY
Owensboro firefighters dressed in HazMat suits prepare
Tuesday morning to enter a portion of Owensboro Municipal Utilities' William
Cavin Water Treatment Plant on Kentucky 144 near the Elmer Smith Station.
Owensboro Fire Department's hazardous materials team along
with other emergency personnel were called to the treatment plant in response
to a small chlorine leak in a 1-ton cylinder that had just been delivered to
the plant from Henderson.
OMU workers detected the leak after noticing discoloration
on one of the cylinder's safety plugs.
Fire department personnel covered the plug with a special
kit and the cylinder was returned to the supplier, according to Kevin Frizzell,
OMU director of production.
OMU operates two water treatment plants — the Cavin plant
and Plant A on East Fourth Street near Daviess County Middle School.
Photo by Jenny Sevcik,
Messenger-Inquirer/jsevcik@messenger-inquirer.com, 691.7294
WATER PLANT A
OWENSBORO MUNICIPAL UTILITIES
Water Plant A produces drinking water for the citizens of
Owensboro, Kentucky. The plant has a capacity of 20 million gallons of finished
water per day. It has one RMP covered process - chlorination of the drinking
water for microbiological control. The Plant is subject to the OSHA Process
Safety Management requirements and is therefore a RMP Program Level 3 process.
OMU takes its role in the safety and well being of the
community seriously and goes to great lengths to ensure that its facilities and
operations do not impact its neighbors adversely. Emergency response plans and
procedures are in place to ensure that employees and neighbors of our
facilities will not be exposed to harmful releases.
The Process
The plant uses gaseous chlorine to disinfect the drinking
water produced. Chlorine is stored in 2000 pound cylinders with a maximum on
site at any one time of 8 cylinders. The entire process takes place in a
totally enclosed building which is monitored continuously for chlorine leaks.
In the event of a significant leak, a scrubber system will activate to
neutralize the chlorine before it can be released from the building.
Worst Case Release Scenarios
The RMP requires that the "Worst Case" release
scenario be addressed. For Water Plant A, the worst case is a failure of a
cylinder which releases all of the gas (2000 pounds) in a ten minute period.
This case assumes no scrubbing and no containment from the chlorine building. In
this case, the chlorine could affect receptors within a three mile radius of
the plant. It is estimated that this could affect 42,839 persons.
An alternate "worst case" scenario reviewed is if
there is a severe piping leak. In this case, the scrubber would be in service
and the potential radius affected is 0.40 miles. It is estimated that this
could affect up to 1,890 persons.
It is emphasized that these are "worst case"
conditions.
Release Prevention
OMU has a program in place at the plant to prevent
situations that could lead to a release of chlorine. Some elements of this
program are: employee training; equipment maintenance; equipment inspection
program; and contractor management. These are designed to provide that the
system is well maintained and that employees and contractors are aware and
informed of the risks and proper procedures for working on and around the
chlorine system.
OMU also has in place continuous monitoring and controls
such as the enclosed building and scrubber for minimization of the possibility
of chlorine escaping from the facility.
Five Year Accident History
We have had three (3) minor chlorine releases in the
previous five years.
Emergency Response Program
OMU has an emergency response program that is coordinated
with the local Emergency Management Agency and police and fire departments.
Planned Improvements
The chlorine facilities are new and well designed and there
are no plans for modifications. OMU will continue to review its training
program and procedures and make improvements where possible.