Illinois Fertilizer Conference Proceedings January 22-24, 2001 Home 2001 Index Search

Anyhdrous ammonia fertilizer: safety,
public outreach, and emergency response

Lloyd Burling, Lisa Muirheid Martin, and Jean Trobec¹

Introduction

The program described in this presentation is an educational program of the Illinois Fertilizer & Chemical Association (IFCA) with offices in St. Anne, IL and Bloomington, IL.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Risk Management Plan (RMP) required under Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act requires all anhydrous ammonia storage facilities in the United States to register with the US EPA regarding the ammonia storage practices at their facility. The RMP requires these facilities to conduct worst-case scenario modeling and determine the consequences of a complete storage tank failure, assuming that no mitigation of the event would occur. The facility must document the effect of such a release on the surrounding community, including the number of persons that could be affected should such an event ever occur.

Because the revelation of worst-case scenario events has the potential to cause public concern about the storage and use of anhydrous ammonia in the agricultural industry, IFCA believes there is a serious need for an extensive outreach and emergency response awareness program that:

1. explains the need and benefits of anhydrous ammonia for Illinois agriculture;

2. describes the storage facilities and the safeguards in place;

3. explains the types of incidents that may occur and their impact on the public; and

4. provides training to local emergency response groups on the proper tactics to follow to mitigate an anhydrous ammonia release incident.
   

Materials and Methods

• A complete safety manual for anhydrous ammonia facilities that includes chapters on physical properties of anhydrous ammonia, general safety information, equipment standards, transfer operations, testing and inspection guidelines and emergency response procedures.

• 500 copies of the instructional video "Anhydrous Ammonia: The Incident" for distribution to all anhydrous ammonia facilities in Illinois. It is a detailed instructional video about agricultural anhydrous ammonia and shows several release scenarios followed by demonstration of proper emergency response to the scenarios. We asked the facility managers to provide each response group in their territory with a copy of the video and also keep a copy at their ammonia facility so that employees can review it annually.
  

Results

In January 2000, IFCA distributed the videos to all ammonia facilities in Illinois. They were well received and many facilities reported back that they had provided a copy to their fire departments and personally reviewed the information in the video, relating it to their own facility. In September 2000, IFCA mailed the RMP Compliance Binders to all ammonia facilities, ensuring that information on emergency response, facility maintenance and safety procedures is documented.

Footnotes

¹Lloyd Burling is President, Lisa Muirheid Martin is Communications Director, and Jean Trobec is Government Relations Director, Illinois Fertilizer & Chemical Association.

Back to 2001 Index

Department of Crop Sciences University of Illinois Extension College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Illinois Fertilizer & Chemical Association Illinois Department of Agriculture

Design by: Crop Sciences Computer and Web Support Group Copyright © 2005 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Email site problems to the webmaster