Chlorine Spill at Dalecarlia Plant Deemed Not a Risk

The Dalecarlia Water Treatment Plant has taken a look at the risk presented by chlorine stored at the plant and concluded the toxic chemical used for disinfecting the water does not present a threat to the neighboring Palisades.
The chlorine, which is trucked into the plant in one-ton, thick-walled steel cylinders, is stored in a brick building that sits next to the Crescent Trail by the bridge overpass.
At the direction of the EPA, the Washington Aqueduct has been publicizing its Risk Management Plan for dealing with the chlorine, which in its gaseous form can be poisonous.
In the "worst case" accident--one which aqueduct authorities describe as unrealistic because of the strength of the cylinders--one of the cylinders would rupture, releasing its contents within 10 minutes.
In such a case, the chlorine gas could spread as much as nine-tenths of a mile from the treatment plant.
A more plausible scenario, as described by Aqueduct officials, is a break in the one quarter-inch feed line that takes the chlorine from cylinder in the chemical building to the filtration building to be mixed in the water.
In such a case, about 1,750 pounds of chlorine would be released in 25 minutes.
Scrubbers should prevent any release of the chlorine from the chemical building, according to Patty Gamby, an aqueduct engineer.
Even without the scrubbers, it is estimated the chlorine gas would not spread more than one tenth of a mile, staying within the aqueduct land except for a small section of the Crescent Trail near the bridge.
Starting in November 2000, the treatment plant willl shift from chlorine to chloramine -- a combination of one part ammonia and four parts chlorine.
Chloramine is a more persistent disinfectant and doesn't leave slime in pipes. But for the consumer the main advantage is that it eliminates the chlorine taste in the water.
For those with fish tanks or on dialysis, some adjustments will have to be made with the introduction of chloramine.
-- John W. Finney

Dalecarlia Water Treatment Facility Tour Set for May 6

Subj: Palisades Community Leaders/Citizens Tour of Dalecarlia Facility
Date: 3/23/00 10:31:33 AM
From: John Finney
To: Thomas.P.Jacobus

Tom:

We appreciate your generous offer of a tour of the Dalecarlia Plant and accept. Let us set the date for May 6 at 9:30a with rendezvous at the North Gate.
With a signup list at our May 2 membership meeting, we will limit the number to 25. We will place an announcement of the tour in our Palisades Newsletter and on our Palisades Web site (Palisadesdc.org) with note that signup list will be at May 2 meeting.
Our current president (coming to the end of her one-year term) is a gracious, thoughtful, intelligent person by the name of Cary Ridder. She can be reached at caryridder@aol.com or 364-57-95 or Fax 364-5901.
I would love to run those letters on our Listserv.
It might stir up a good discussion within the community.
Your quandary reminds me of the plight of the wildlife office in Dennis, Mass. The geese there were so numerous that they were polluting small estuaries with succulent oysters. The wildlife officers took to shaking the eggs in the nests as a way of goose population control.
That was until the Archbishop in Fall River heard about it, declared it a form of avian abortion, and ordered the practice stopped. Rather than offend the voters of Dennis, where the Catholic Church, next to golfers, is the largest growth industry, the wildlife office complied. (If you like that one, I can make up a few more).
-- John W. Finney