Respondent owns and operates a Power Plant (“Facility”) which produces processes, handles, or stores, among other things, hydrogen peroxide, which is an extremely hazardous substance when stored in a carbon steel tank and produces hydrogen, a regulated substance, when reacting with carbon steel. On July 25, 2014, there was an incident in which a tank had an uncontrolled release of pressure from the Hydrogen Peroxide tank. The 7000 pound carbon steel tank liberated from its foundation, separated from its bottom at the weld seam, and jettisoned 570 feet to the South West of the Facility. The 1200 gallons of hydrogen peroxide were released to the environment and leaving the water treatment system inoperable. This resulted in a plant forced outage of 48 hours and mitigation costs of approximately $100,000. There were NO injuries or fatalities. Respondent’s investigation revealed that…
the root cause was a failure in the management of change at the facility, which allowed a former sulfuric acid tank to be used, without precautions, for the storage of hydrogen peroxide.
Respondent failed to identify the hazard of using a former sulfuric acid tank for hydrogen peroxide storage, a use to which it was not designed. Having done so, the respondent failed to institute safeguards to ensure safety, such as ensuring the liner was suitable for the intended purpose, creating an on-going process for inspecting and maintaining the tank’s liner.
Respondent failed to design and maintain a safe facility and did not take such necessary steps to prevent accidental releases by not having an adequate management of change in regards to the Hydrogen Peroxide Tank, which led to the pressure release, spill of hydrogen peroxide, and the tank to jettison. Respondent’s failure constitutes a violation of the CAA general duty clause.
EPA and Respondent agree that an appropriate penalty to settle this matter is thirty thousand dollars ($30,000).
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