1. Introduction
1.1 Site Description
The 2.5 acre Parish Chemical Company Site (‘PCC’ or the ‘Site’) consists, in part, of a 25,000 ft2, 2-story building along with unlined surface impoundments, 300-500 55-gallon drums stored in various locations, numerous 300-galllon totes, and several above-ground tanks ranging in size from 2,000-4,500 gallons. A partial Site inventory made available to the OSC discusses the presence of at least 11,000 various chemicals/compounds in quantities ranging from 5-3,000 grams. A 1992 Site fire resulted in the evacuation of a 1/2 mile-diameter zone and temporary closure of the nearby Interstate Highway. Residences, businesses, I-15, and a school are near the Site.
1.2 Background
PCC is located at 145 North Geneva Road, Vineyard, Utah. The PCC property is located approximately 1.5 miles east of Utah Lake and 0.5 miles west of the Interstate 15 Highway. The area surrounding the facility is occupied by light industrial businesses.
PCC is a specialty chemical manufacturing company incorporated in 1972 that has operated at its present location since 1979. The facility is situated on a 2.5-acre parcel and includes the following installations: a two-story 11,000 square foot building; two unlined surface impoundments (each 20 feet by 50 feet and 5 feet deep) located in the southwest portion of the property; a large drum storage area, located immediately west of the building where approximately 1100 55-gallon drums are stacked; numerous 300-gallon totes at various yard locations; a hazardous waste storage area in the north portion of the property; and eight 2,000 - 5,000 gallon aboveground storage tanks at various yard locations.
PCC develops chemical manufacturing processes to produce unique chemicals on behalf of their clients. Processes are scaled up and eventually PCC may pursue full-scale production using glass-lined and stainless steel reactor vessels ranging from 500- to 2,000-gallon capacity. Chemicals used at the facility include a wide range of volatile, flammable organic solvents such as ether; strong acids and bases such as sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide; and water-reactive chemicals such as metallic sodium.
1.3 Threat Determination
PCC has a long history of non-compliance with numerous local, state, and Federal regulations. The most significant known incident at PCC was a fire that occurred on July 24, 1992, originating in a stockroom/laboratory located on the second floor of the PCC building, in the northeast corner. I-15 was closed and an evacuation zone of ½ mile radius was implemented by local authorities. Due to the presence of water reactive chemicals at PCC, including sodium hydride, metallic sodium, lithium hydride, and other undisclosed chemicals, the fire was allowed to burn itself. Only a portion of the PCC building was affected. A subsequent Utah Occupational Safety and Health Division inspection resulted in a citation for eight “serious” and ten “other” violations, several of which were related to chemical management practices.
Findings from PCC inspections conducted since the fire demonstrate a pattern of poor chemical management practices at the facility. A January 2008 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) inspection documented numerous hazardous waste violations - many of the same violations which had been observed and documented in prior years.
The Vineyard Fire Department February 19, 2008, inspection report identified twelve International Fire Code violations, then went on to append 60 separate remarks concerning deficiencies found at the facility. Some of the most serious violations identified by the Fire Department related to the presence of improper electrical ignition sources within and/or near the Production Area, in close proximity to the 2000-gallon reactors which routinely contain highly-volatile organic solvents such as ether.
2. Next Steps
Actions will be taken to stabilize the PCC’s outside chemical storage area where approximately 1700 containers (mostly 55-gallon drums and 300-gallon totes) are stored. Accordingly, each container will be moved to one of two staging areas where:
• each container will be assigned a unique tracking number
• each container’s condition will be evaluated and documented
• each container’s label information (if any) will be recorded
• appropriate container sample(s) will be collected (for on-site haz-cat and/or off-site lab analysis)
• following haz-cat, containers will be moved to and segregated/staged according to hazard classification in the southeast portion of the Site.(The Utah County Sherriff’s office and the State of Utah will be assisting in removing containers of ethyl ether and perchloric acid for off-site disposal.)
As of April 16, 2008, 1050 containers have been evaluated, with another 270 containers determined to be too fragile to evaluate or containing unknown contents. Haz-catting and disposal arrangements are continuing.
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