Document 70EkXK8b8Eo9rbmjZ8X4rLJEa

MR. 2- m. co:tn:r c;i \ t ri J*N w cs ^rj*vau . - Al" W _ * f,03 Firestone Plastics Company oivsion o the .'iU'Wone ne ^ * i h b r p coMMs-r H A fcVf Y S FIRESTONE F^UNOf^ Hay 18, 1979 3^ PGRrlYVILLE, MARYLAND 301-O3R 3000 State of Maryland CipartiDent of Licensing & Regulation L."`VtLS to;i of Lab or and Industry Occupational Safety and Health OOJ Last Baltimore Street Haiti sore, Maryland 21202 ATTENTION-, fir* Harvey A. Epstein, Commissioner RE: VCM Discharge Dear Mr. Epstein: In compliance with the reporting requirements set forth in tne OSHA VCM Standard 1910.1017* this is a report of an accidental release of vinyl chloride vapors into a work area. The majority of the information contained herein was given to Mr. Andrew A. Alc.irese, of your office, during a phone conversation with Paul Eidreth, our plant safety engineer, on May 16, 1979- The accidental release occurred at the Perryville, Maryland plant of the Pirestone Plastics Company during the 4 p.m. to midnight shift on Sunday, May 13, 1979 when an operator failed to -roperly valve-off the steam jet'prior to charging vinyl chloride co a reactor* With the steam jet valve open, an estimated 1,000 pounds of liquid vinyl chloride was accidentally transferred to th2 steam jet surge tank, causing a vinyl chloride vapor exposure at approximately 3800 PHI in the first floor work area of the suspension polymerization building. All operating personnel not directly involved in securing the equipment were immediately evacuated from the area, two opera tors donned their protective respirators and remained in the area to properly valve-off the escaping vapors. Within ten to fifteen minutes the work area had been ventilated and the air concentration of vinyl chloride returned to normal levels of less than 1 PPM. The two operators who were in the area of high exposure wer requested to see the company physician for examination at the time of the exposure and again on May 15, 1979- Each refused claiming ;hat they were not experiencing any ill or side effects. However, both have since indicated that they will und rgo the medical xamic-a-ion upon returning to work from their schedul d days off. OCC 0017 cont... * ir. Harvey A. Ebstein May 18 19?9 Page 2 Since tbe r lease v/as net caused by a mechanical failure, but rather an operator error, the method to prevent a future accidental release of a similar or like nature will involve personnel training and procedural changes. First, ail operating personnel involved in the batch charging procedure have been personally contacted by production supervision and reinstructed on the proper ''check-out" procedure prior to batch charging. Secondly, a check-sheet requiring the operators initials and verification that all valves have been properly closed prior to reactor charging Las been instituted. In addition, we are currently modifying and relocating the steam Jet from its existing position on the charge manifold to a acre direct piping arrangement at the top of the reactor. This design change should eliminate the possibility of accidentally transferring liquid vinyl chloride to the surge tank, should the operator fail to properly close the steam Jet valve. It is felt that this design change, along with the corrective *tepr mentioned earlier, should adequately prevent a future accidental release of this nature from occurring. .?-Tr ; I 33 Sincerely, Peter J. Foley PhANT MANAGER OCC 0018