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Thursday, April 09, 2015

Emergency management plan for Perdue's hexane-releasing factory in Pa. By Ray Wallace


Hexane:

HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION 
Emergency Overview

Appearance: liquidclearcolourless 
DANGER!Warning EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE LIQUID AND VAPOR. VAPOR MAY CAUSE FLASH FIRE. MAY AFFECT THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM CAUSING DIZZINESS, HEADACHE OR NAUSEA. MAY BE HARMFUL IF INHALED....
Potential Health Effects
Exposure routes 
     Inhalation, Skin absorption, Skin contact, Eye Contact, Ingestion 
Eye contact 
     Can cause eye irritation. Symptoms include stinging, tearing, redness, and swelling of eyes. 
Skin contact 
     Can cause skin irritation. Symptoms may include redness and burning of skin, and other skin damage. 
Ingestion 
     This material can get into the lungs during swallowing or vomiting. This results in lung inflammation and other lung injury. 
Inhalation 
     Breathing of vapor or mist is possible. It is possible to breathe this material under certain conditions of handling and use (for example, during heating, spraying, or stirring). Breathing small amounts of this material during normal handling is not likely to cause harmful effects. Breathing large amounts may be harmful. 
Aggravated Medical Condition 
     Preexisting disorders of the following organs (or organ systems) may be aggravated by exposure to this material: Skin, Upper respiratory tract, lung (for example, asthma-like conditions), Central nervous system, male reproductive system 
Symptoms 
     Signs and symptoms of exposure to this material through breathing, swallowing, and/or passage of the material through the skin may include: stomach or intestinal upset (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea), irritation (nose, throat, airways), central nervous system depression (dizziness, drowsiness, weakness, fatigue, nausea, headache, unconsciousness)....
     -- Dated April 25, 2014, the above “Safety Data Sheet” was prepared by Nexeo Solutions of Woodlands, Texas.
JUDY: "hired an environmental firm to look at the plant and cited some of their objections. She said emissions from the plant will exceed what Perdue has stated, that there could be explosion hazards and that the environmental rights amendment to our state constitution that guarantees people the right to clean air has not been adhered to.

     "'The burden is on DEP [the Pa. Dept. of Environmental Protection] to show that this project complies with the amendment,' she said.

     "That, she added, has not been done."

     -- Both sets of above news quotes -- Randy Gockley's and Judy Nissley's -- come from “Praised and bashed, Perdue soybean plant gets one final public hearing,” by Larry Alexander, at this March 31, 2015 Lancaster, Pa. LNP site:


WHO'S ON THE PERDUE FACTORY'S "EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM"?
Called to order by Randy Gockley, the Emergency Planning Committee meeting of October 4, 2012 concerned what has since become Perdue's five-year-old attempts to get approval for its hexane-releasing, explosion-prone factory. 
At that meeting, the factory was confirmed to operate 24 hours a day, with a night crew of:
     "approximately 6" 
Though it was stated that Perdue's factory would: 
     "have an emergency response team"
...no mention was made of: how big such a team would be; its hours of availability; the suitability, capability, and training requirements of its members; the emergency equipment required; how long it would take and how many miles such equipment plus the response team itself would need to travel when being called to the factory for an emergency; the cost of maintaining such a response team; who pays that cost (taxpayers?); and the potential risks to Susquehanna Valley residents before, during, and after such an emergency.  
FURTHERMORE:
Perdue's Mark Stanley advised Randy Gockley and others at the above-mentioned Emergency Planning Committee meeting that a critical BAI environmental report commissioned by Nissley Vineyards & Winery was:
     "not accurate"
...but Mr. Stanley would give no details.
Nonetheless, the BAI report appears to have been sufficiently accurate to contribute to Perdue's revoking its own DEP application. A DEP spokesperson described Perdue's surprising action as follows:
     "It is very uncommon for a company to ask for its own plan approval to be revoked."
And today, in 2015, all air-breathing families of the Susquehanna Valley have Judy Nissley to thank for continuing to fund independent environmental research on Perdue's subsequently altered (but no better) DEP application. 
Concerning that application, August Mack Environmental has supplied --to Thomas J. Hanlon, Environmental Engineering Manager of the Air Quality Program of the Pa. DEP -- extensive scientific documentation supporting this conclusion:
     "The application submitted by Perdue is deficient and should be denied until important concerns related to adversely affecting the environment, public safety, and air quality have been adequately addressed....
     "The emission of more than 208 tons of VOCs from this location including more than 104 tons of n-hexane emissions along with the storage of 40,000 gallons of hazardous hexane at this site is an environmental hazard, a safety hazard, and a public health hazard. The only way this facility would be acceptable would be if it eliminated the use of hexane."

6 comments:

Steve said...

Hey, Ray, you forgot to keep reading when cherry picking the official Material Safety Data Sheets! Although handling the product at ground zero requires certain safety measures similar to any concentrated chemical or just plain gasoline, the use and vapor hazards around the plant using it is basically nil. Oh, and the term, "explosion prone"? Really, Ray? LOL!

Read it and weep, Ray;
Section 15 - Regulatory Information
US FEDERAL
TSCA
CAS# 110-54-3 is listed on the TSCA inventory.
Health & Safety Reporting List
None of the chemicals are on the Health & Safe
ty Reporting List.
Chemical Test Rules
None of the chemicals in this product are unde
r a Chemical Test Rule.
Section 12b
None of the chemicals are listed under TSCA Se
ction 12b.
TSCA Significant New Use Rule
None of the chemicals in this material have a
SNUR under TSCA.
CERCLA Hazardous Substances and corresponding RQs
CAS# 110-54-3: 5000 lb final RQ; 2270 kg final
RQ
SARA Section 302 Extremely Hazardous Substances
None of the chemicals in this product have a T
PQ.
SARA Codes
CAS # 110-54-3: immediate, delayed, fire.
Section 313
This material contains Hexane (contains a mixt
ure of (CAS# 110-54-3, 100%),which
is subject to the reporting requirements of Section
313 of SARA Title III and 40 CFR
Clean Air Act:
CAS# 110-54-3 is listed as a hazardous air pol
lutant (HAP).
This material does not contain any Class 1 Ozo
ne depletors.
This material does not contain any Class 2 Ozo
ne depletors.
Clean Water Act:
None of the chemicals in this product are list
ed as Hazardous Substances under the
CWA.
None of the chemicals in this product are list
ed as Priority Pollutants under the CWA.
None of the chemicals in this product are list
ed as Toxic Pollutants under the CWA.
OSHA:
None of the chemicals in this product are cons
idered highly hazardous by OSHA.
STATE
CAS# 110-54-3 can be found on the following st
ate right to know lists: New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Massachusetts.
California Prop 65
California No Significant Risk Level: None of the c
hemicals in this product are listed.

Anonymous said...

I am with Perdue on this one. Lets let some really informed people like scientist. determine if these items are harmful . I aam sure the EPA will keep a close eye on things.
Let Perdue build the plant so we won't have to burn millions of gallons of fuel to haul the beans to the closest point of purchase.

Anonymous said...

Hey Ray, how many tons of emissions are put out by vehicles every day? Do you ride a bike or walk to work?

You are misinformed and an alarmist. Get a life.

Anonymous said...

What does Jake Day have to say on this matter?

Anonymous said...

Yeah Ray, you need to find a job, you have way to much free time on your hands! You display the "chicken little" syndrome! Let the EPA and the other folks do what they do, Perdue has handled hexane successfully for years!

Anonymous said...

Never, never, never trust the EPA and all its minions. They lack true education and are alarmists at best. Regs are wrong and out of site.