Respondent owns and operates a meat processing facility that handles approximately 170,300 pounds of anhydrous ammonia. 32. The Facility is a Program 3 Facility under the RMP Regulations, in accordance with 40 C.F.R. § 68.10(d). EPA conducted an inspection of the Facility on June 27, 2017, to determine Respondent’s compliance with the RMP Regulations at 40 C.F.R. Part 68 (“the Inspection”). On January 18, 2018, EPA issued an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent, EPA Docket No. CAA-03-20 18-0029DA (“Order”) to Respondent, based on information available to EPA, including information gathered during the Inspection performed by EPA at the Facility, EPA has determined that Respondent violated 40 C.F.R. Part 68, with respect [to] its storage and handling of anhydrous ammonia in the refrigeration system at the Facility. Respondent completed the work obligations required under the Order to address the violations of Section 112(r)(7) of the CAA and 40 C.F.R. Part 68, and, accordingly, EPA issued a Notice of Termination of the Order on August 12, 2019.
Count I
Failure to Comply with Process Safety Information Requirements
The owner or operator shall include relief system design and the basis of the design as part of its compilation of information pertaining to the equipment in the process. 40 C.F.R. § 68.65(d)(1)(iv). While Respondent initiated a relief system study in 2010, implementation of the relief design was never completed. At the time of the Inspection, Respondent failed to have information regarding the initial design of the relief system and basis of the design.
Respondent ‘s failure to have relief system design information is a violation of the process safety requirements in the RMP Regulations, 40 C.F.R. § 68.65(d)(1)(iv)
As part of the process safety information required under the RMP Regulations, the owner or operator is obligated to document that equipment complies with recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices. 40 C.F.R § 68.65(d)(2).
The term “recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices “for safeguards pertaining to anhydrous ammonia refrigeration systems means practices as set forth in standards such as the American National Standards Institute/American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers 15, Safety Standard for Refrigeration Systems and Designation and Classification of Refrigerants (2013) (“ANSI/ASHRAE 15 (2013)”).
Section 8.11.2.1 of ANSI/ASHRAE 15 (2013) requires each refrigerating machinery room to contain a detector that will actuate an alarm and mechanical ventilation in the event of leaked refrigerant: “The alarm shall annunciate visual and audible alarms inside the refrigerating machinery room and outside each entrance to the refrigerating machinery room.” An earlier IIAR standard, IIAR Bulletin 111, Ammonia Machinery Room Ventilation (June 2002), also stated: “Alarms should annunciate visual and audible alarms inside the machinery room and outside each entrance to the machinery room.”
At the time of the Inspection, the Facility did not have audible alarms outside of each entrance to the refrigerating machinery room.
Respondent’s failure to have audible alarms outside each entrance to the refrigerating machinery room as set forth in recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices is a violation of the process safety requirements in the RMP Regulations, 40 C.F.R. § 68.65(d)(2)
In failing to comply with Section 112(r)(7) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. § 7412(r)(7), and the RMP Regulations, 40 C.F.R. §§ 68.65(d)(1)(iv) and 68.65( d)(2), Respondent is subject to the assessment of penalties under Section 113(d) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. § 7413(d).
Count II
Failure to Prepare and Maintain Training Records
At the time of the Inspection, the facility did not have complete records for the initial training of each employee involved in operating a process.
Respondent ‘s failure to have records of employees’ initial training is a violation of the RMP Regulations, 40 C.F.R. § 68.65(d)(2)
In failing to comply with 40 C.F.R. § 68.71(c), Respondent is subject to the assessment of penalties under Section 113(d) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. § 7413(d).
Count III
Failure to Comply with Mechanical Integrity Requirements
At the time of the Inspection in 2017, deficiencies in equipment that had been identified as action items in the Facility ‘s 2015 5-Year Mechanical Integrity Audit and the 2015 Compliance Audit, including but not limited to icing and corrosion on piping and ventilation adequacy, had not been corrected.
Respondent ‘s failure to correct deficiencies in equipment that are outside acceptable limits before further use or in a safe and timely manner is a violation of the RMP Regulations, 40 C.F.R. § 68.73(e)
In failing to comply with 40 C.F.R. § 68.73(e), Respondent is subject to the assessment of penalties under Section 113(d) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. § 7413(d).
Count IV
Failure to Promptly Resolve Incident Report Findings
At the time of the Inspection, Respondent had not established a system to promptly address and resolve recommendations from its September 16, 2016, Incident Investigation Report at the Facility.
Respondent’s failure to establish a system to promptly address and resolve all incident report findings from its September 16, 2016 Incident Investigation Report and document corrective actions is a violation of the RMP Regulations, 40 C.F.R. § 68.81(e), and Section 112(r)(7) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. § 7412(r)(7).
In failing to comply with the RMP Regulations, 40 C.F.R. §68.81(e), Respondent is subject to the assessment of penalties under Section 113(d) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. § 7413(d).
CIVIL PENALTY In settlement ofEPA’s claims for civil penalties for the violations alleged in this Consent Agreement, Respondent consents to the assessment of a civil penalty in the amount of fifty-five thousand dollars ($55,000)
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