Header:
KANSAS ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS
AGENCY 28 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT
ARTICLE 45a. UNDERGROUND NATURAL GAS STORAGE WELLS IN BEDDED SALT
Date:
08/31/2009
Document:
28-45a-11. Emergency response plan and safety and security measures.
(a) Each permittee of an existing underground natural gas storage facility and each applicant for a permit for a proposed underground natural gas storage facility shall prepare an emergency response plan as part of the permit application or the plugging plan. The following requirements shall apply:
(1) Each permittee and each applicant shall maintain the emergency response plan at the facility and at the company headquarters and shall make it available for inspection by the secretary.
(2) Each permittee and each applicant shall make a copy of the plan available to all coordinating agencies or committees involved in emergency response.
(b) Each permittee shall update the plan annually and also shall update the plan whenever new information regarding the requirements for the emergency response plan becomes available.
(c) Each plan shall include a description of the facility's response to the following events:
(1) Spills and releases;
(2) fires and explosions;
(3) cavern subsidence and collapse; and
(4) any other activity that endangers public health and safety, or that constitutes a threat to the environment.
(d) Each plan shall include the following information:
(1) A description of the warning systems in operation at the facility;
(2) a description of the facility's emergency response communication system that includes the following:
(A) A plat showing the location of all occupied buildings within two miles of the facility's perimeter; and
(B) a list of addresses and telephone numbers for all persons to contact within two miles of the facility's perimeter if a release or emergency condition occurs;
(3) the procedures for coordination of emergency response with local emergency planning committees, including emergency notification and evacuation of citizens and employees;
(4) a description of employee training for emergency response;
(5) a plat of the facility, showing locations for the following:
(A) All underground storage wells;
(B) all underground injection control wells;
(C) all monitoring wells;
(D) all brine and product lines, if present;
(E) railroad and transportation routes;
(F) all brine ponds, if present; and
(G) any other appurtenances at the facility; and
(6) a plan map of all man-made surface structures and any construction activities within one mile of the facility's perimeter.
(e) Each permittee shall establish an educational program for community safety and awareness of the emergency response plan.
(f) Each permittee of an underground natural gas storage facility shall provide security measures to protect the public and to prevent unauthorized access. These security measures shall include the following:
(1) Methods for securing the facility from unauthorized entry and for providing a convenient opportunity for escape to a place of safety;
(2) clearly visible, permanent signs at all points of entry and along the facility's boundary, identifying the well or storage facility name, owner, and contact telephone number;
(3) security lighting;
(4) alarm systems;
(5) appropriate warning signs in areas that may contain accumulations of hazardous or noxious vapors or where physical hazards exist; and
(6) a direct communication link with the control room or remote control center for service and maintenance crews.
(g) Warning systems and alarms shall consist of the following:
(1) Leak detectors, fire detectors, heat sensors, pressure sensors, and emergency shutdown instrumentation shall be integrated with warning systems audible and visible in the local control room and at any remote control center;
(2) circuitry designed so that the failure of a detector or heat sensor, excluding meltdown and fused devices, will activate the warning; and
(3) a manually operated alarm, audible to facility personnel.
(h) Each wellhead and storage cavern shall be protected with safety devices to prevent pressures in excess of the maximum allowable operating pressure from being exerted on the storage well or storage cavern and to prevent backflow if a flowline ruptures.
(i) Each wellhead shall be equipped with manual isolation valves. Each port on each wellhead shall be equipped with either a valve or a blind flange. The valve or blind flange shall be rated at the same pressure as that for the wellhead.
(j) Each permittee shall install a supervisory control and data acquisition monitoring system approved by the secretary to monitor storage operations for individual storage caverns. Each of the following instruments shall be connected to an alarm:
(1) Flow indicators for natural gas;
(2) gas indicators; and
(3) pressure indicators on the product lines of the wellhead.
(k) Each permittee shall install emergency shutdown valves on all natural gas lines and, if present, brine or water lines. Each emergency shutdown valve shall meet the following requirements:
(1) Meet either of the following pressure-ratings:
(A) Be rated at least equivalent to 125% of the maximum pressure that could be exerted at the surface; or
(B) meet a pressure-rating standard equivalent to that specified in paragraph (k)(1)(A) and determined by the secretary to be protective of public health, safety, and the environment;
(2) fail to a closed position;
(3) be capable of remote and local operation; and
(4) be activated by any overpressuring in the natural gas system.
(l) Each permittee shall conduct annual inspections of all wellhead instrumentation.
(m) Each permittee shall function-test each critical control system and emergency shutdown valve semiannually.
(n) Each permittee shall perform trip testing of each loop, including the instrumentation, valves, shutdown equipment, and all wiring connections, to ensure the integrity of the circuit.
(o) Each permittee shall ensure that the equipment automatically closes all inlets and outlets to the storage cavern and safely shuts down or diverts any operation associated with the storage cavern, in case of overfilling or emergency.
(p) Each permittee shall ensure that the automatic valve closure times meet the valve design limits for closure times.
(q) Each permittee shall cease operations or shall comply with the instructions from the secretary if the secretary determines that an imminent threat to public health, safety, or the environment exists due to any unsafe operating condition. The permittee may resume operations if the secretary determines that the facility's operations no longer pose a risk to public health, safety, or the environment.
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