Country Star Co-op - Gardner Branch - Executive Summary |
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Country Star Co-op Inc. - Gardner Country Star Co-op is a farmer owned business serving Crawford and surrounding Counties. We are committed to the safety and well being of our employees, community and the environment. Through regular safety training in areas such as hazard awareness, daily operating guidelines, and worker protection, Country Star employees have minimized any potential risk of a hazardous release due to human error. If an accident were to occur, our emergency response policies would take effect to ensure the proper calls were made and emergency response crews would respond in a timely manner. The Gardner facility is located in Auburn township which is on the north east side of Crawford county. The facility is equiped to handle fertilizer and crop protection products. Anhydrous Ammonia is a fertilizer used by farmers as the most economical source of nitrogen used to grow crops. Two Anhydrous tanks are located at the facility the largest being a 30,000 gallon tank . The worst-case release scenario would be a total release of the entire tank. The contents would be released over a 10 minute period. The total impact of the release would cover an area of 1.12 miles which reaches just into Huron and Richland counties. This release could impact forty some households holding around 125 people. This release could also impact the private water supply of the Celeryville farmers. Although the water is not used for drinking it isused to irrigate crops throughout the area. This water is located just north and east of the facility. The alternative release scenario could be a release of Anhydrous through a transfer hose. The largest hose being two inch would release about 5,954 pounds of Anhydrous a minute. Over a two minute time the release would cover approximately .56 miles. Within this zone approximately 11 homes and 31 people could be affected. Country Star Co-op has never had a release of a Anhydrous storage tank that has caused any deat hs, injuries,or property damage at the facility or to the environment. A written emergency response plan that complies with OSHA 29 CFR 1910.38 has been implemented and is retrained annually. New hires will receive training as part of their new employee orientation. State and local authorities are provided with all pertinent information so that emergency planning and community right-to-know information can be obtained and used, this is known as SARA Title III. It is the policy of Country Star to remain proactive in accident prevention and to minimize any potential loss in the event ofa release. Safety improvement is an ongoing process at the facility. State and local agencies will continue to conduct yearly inspections and repair requirements. Through regular maintenance, and routine inspections we will continue to run a safe business |