PSM and RMP Citations/Analysis

This case involves a citation regarding the “grandfather training clause” found in both OSHA’s PSM and EPA’s RMP.  I have never seen it cited before, but I take my hat off to the EPA inspector for peeling that onion! Basically, this food facility had two (2) employees who had been hired in January and September…...

The Respondent owns and/or operates a chemical manufacturing facility that uses: A. Oleum (fuming sulfuric acid) [sulfuric acid, mixture with sulfur trioxide] (“Oleum”); B. Hydrogen fluoride/hydrofluoric acid (cone 50% or greater) [hydrofluoric acid] (“Hf “). in a fluoroproducts process and a sulfuric acid process.  From August 28 – 31, 2018, EPA conducted an inspection of…...

The Facility is a nitrogenous fertilizer manufacturing facility that produces anhydrous ammonia, urea solutions, urea-ammonium nitrate, and by-product gaseous carbon dioxide. The Facility also produces intermediates (including nitric acid and ammonium nitrate solution) during the manufacture of the above products. Based on the quantity of anhydrous ammonia present at the Facility, the Facility is subject…...

Respondent owns and operates a biopharmaceutical facility that stores and uses anhydrous ammonia in parts of the storage and refrigeration process. Respondent’s storage and refrigeration process does not meet the eligibility requirements for Program 1 under 40 C.F.R. § 68.10(g) and is subject to the OSHA process safety management standard since the process involves ammonia…...

Respondent is the owner and/or operator of the Facility, which has registered an RMPlan with the EPA for its Facility and has developed an RMProgram accidental release prevention program for the Facility. On February 26, 2019, the EPA issued to Respondent a Notice of Potential Violation (“NOPV”), providing notice that the EPA found that Respondent…...

A plastics plant experienced a release of approximately 15,825 pounds of styrene vapor from a railcar on 9/1/2020.  The railcar had been on the property since May 2020 (4 months).  The styrene began its reaction inside the railcar once the inhibitor had been consumed, leading to the release and evacuations ensued for those located around…...

Respondent is a plastics material and resin manufacturing plant that produces polyvinyl alcohol from the vinyl acetate process. EPA conducted an inspection of the Facility on May 15 through 17, 20 I8, to determine Respondent’s compliance with 40 C.F.R. Part 68 (the Inspection)…. Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership...

Respondent is the owner and/or operator of a candy manufacturing facility, which has registered an RMPlan with the EPA for its Facility and has developed an RMProgram accidental release prevention program for the Facility. At its Facility: a. Respondent produces food products b. Respondent has on-site for storage, 18,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia c. Respondent…...

It’s never a good sign when the EPA inspector is in the process and the operator’s personnel detector goes into alarm and the worried inspector is told… it was typical for the alarm to sound during sampling.  This led the inspector to inquire about this level of exposure for a repeated task such as sampling…...

Respondent operates a “stationary source” and has registered an RMPlan with the EPA for its Facility and has developed an RMProgram accidental release prevention program for the stationary source.  Respondent operates an ammonia refrigeration process that has on-site storage of 15,416 pounds of anhydrous ammonia.  On December 11, 2018, the EPA conducted an on-site inspection…...

Respondent owns and operates an adhesive and sealant manufacturing facility, which employs about 30 persons, is one of several plants that Respondent operates nationwide with about 45,000 employees worldwide. In the Facility’s manufacturing processes, the facility uses various highly flammable and/or toxic chemicals that are stored in outdoor tanks ranging in size from about 5,000…...

Respondent owned and operated the petroleum refining facility which produces, processes, stores, or handles more than the threshold quantities of flammable substances. Respondent’s hydrocracker unit (HCU) is a covered process under Program 3 of the RMP regulations. On April 10, 2020, there was an incident at the facility. One of the facility’s covered processes was…...