New Orleans Cold Storage (NOCS) Safety Record

Summary

From their Executive Summary in their Risk Management Report submitted 7/13/2004, New Orleans Cold Storages states ‘their philosophy is "To do the job safely is to do the job right.” The primary concern is the health and well being of the employees and the preservation of assets. No task is so urgent or important that we cannot take the time to do it safely and correctly, the first time.'

In direct contrast to the previous statement, of the four locations that New Orleans Cold Storage has operated, all 3 have been cited by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality for not following the law with respect to safety and the four location had an ammonia leak due to a ruptured pipe that evacuated the facility. The most consistent of the charges filed against them has been the failure to develop safety protocols including routine inspections of the equipment and train employees on the equipment and safety protocol and procedures.

This data was compiled from information provided by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality via their website.

Airline Highway

Timeline

12/27/2001 – LA DEQ Site Survey found 11 violations of law relating to safety

06/21/2002 – LA DEQ Compliance Order to fix violations

07/03/2002 – NOCS Request for hearing. Letter states “The purpose of this request is to dispute all allegations of negligence being unduly claimed against our client.”

07/19/2009 – NOCS Response to Compliance Order where they admit to the violations

07/24/2002 – LA DEQ Denial for hearing based on the fact that NOCS provided no reasons for appeal of the violation as required by law.

2002 - Violations

• Failure to provide employees and their representative s with access to the Process Hazard Analysis and the documents to develop the PHA.
• Failed to provide initial and refresher training courses for employees. Failed to document that workers at the facility prior to the implementation of the RMP were properly trained and qualified to perform their duties. Failed to prepare records identifying the employee, date of training and means used to verify that employees understood the training.
• Failed to issue hot work permits when work is conducted on or near the covered process
• Failed to establish a system to track the resolution of recommendations found in the May 1994 process Hazard Analysis
• Failed to update and revalidate the PHA since May 1994
• Failed to retain information regarding materials of construction for process equipment in lieu of the original technical information
• Failed to include properties and hazards of chemicals in the covered process, precautions necessary to prevent exposure or control measures to be taken if explosion occurs.
• Failed to annually certify operating procedures
• Failed to prepare and implement procedures to maintain the on-going mechanical integrity of the process equipment
• Failed to perform inspections and tests on the process equipment
• Failed to document each test performed on the process equipment

Alvar Street

Timeline

08/13/2003 – LA DEQ Facility Inspection Report found 4 violations

08/19/2003 – LA DEQ Surveillance Report (Internal Report to Enforcement Division)

09/25/2003 – LA DEQ Warning Letter regarding violations. Violations had not been remedied by the time of this report.

02/12/2004 – NOCS Letter stating that “they do not possess the proper formal documentation” relating to the previous audits.

02/16/2004 – LA DEQ Notice of Corrective Action

2003 – Violations

• Failure to provide a written schedule for resolution of “open” PHA action items
• Failure to provide documentation for employee refresher training
• Failure to provide mechanical integrity inspections
• Failed to retain the two most recent compliance audits

Nashville Ave

TimeLine

07/24/1998 – LA DEQ Accident Report – Ammonia Release. Pipe ruptured and released ammonia gas into warehouse

09/27/2004 – LA DEQ Closure – Facility out of business as of 8/31/2003.

Jourdan Road

Timeline

10/17/2002 – NOCS Requesting No Air Permit for Ammonia Emissions based on the fact that the release due to normal maintenance is insignificant for permitting “since ammonia is known to be a biodegradient.”

08/13/2003 – NOCS Accident Prevention Program Registration Form

06/06/2004 – LA DEQ Site Inspection found 10 violations of law relating to safety

04/13/2004 – LA DEQ Inspection Report (internal document)

07/13/2004 – NOCS Risk Management Report Data

10/27/2004 – LA DEQ Compliance Order to fix violations

11/22/2004 – NOCS Reply to Compliance Order where they admit to the violations

2004 Violations

• Failure to develop a written schedule or completion date of when PHA recommendations are to be completed
• Failure to train any employees of the Jourdan Road facility in an overview of the process, operating procedures where appropriate or safe work practices
• Failure to establish inspection frequencies for any inspections
• Failure to establish written procedures for mechanical integrity
• Failure to train process operators in the procedures applicable to their job tasks
• Failure to confirm prior to startup that a process hazard has been performed and that the recommendations had been resolved or implemented. Failure to confirm prior to startup that training of each employee involved in operating a process had been completed
• Failure to have any procedures for the use of emergency response equipment or for its inspection, testing and maintenance. Failure to train employees in the relevant procedures or in the use of the emergency response equipment.
• Failure to submit an RPM prior to the introduction of a covered chemical as required