NCS000156_Spill Report_20240802

ACOOO.
Acme Facility
SYNTHETICS 333 Neils Eddy Road
Riegelwood,NC 28456-9570
August 2, 2024
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
DEMLR Stormwater Program
1612 MSC
Raleigh, NC 27699-1612
SUBJECT: 7 Day Follow Up
Bakelite LLC Permit Number: NCS000156
Riegelwood, Columbus County, NC
The Bakelite Synthetics (Bakelite) Acme facility is providing this seven day response to the release of
storm/ process pre-run rinse water tank from the #3 cooling tower basin containing trace amounts of
ammonia and formaldehyde which occurred on July 2911, 2024, in accordance with NPDES Permit
NC000156 . In the initial report,the facility reported a release of a solution outside secondary containment
due to a valve that was not in the complete shut position from the cooling tower basin to process water
storage tanks (regen tanks #1 and #2). The initial estimated quantity of formaldehyde at the time was 60
pounds.
The site immediately began the incident investigation on July 29th at 2200 when a member of site
management arrived on site and began evidence collection. The investigation identified loss of primary
containment of a process line due to a partially opened valve. This allowed a solution containing a
preliminary estimated 0.06% formaldehyde to spill from the line going to the process water storage tanks
(Regen tanks#1 and#2))which then flowed towards the site's stormwater outfall 004 via a lined channel.
The outfall 004 was bermed by operators to stop discharge of the release offsite.The next morning, a site
remediation company, SR&R Environmental, was brought in to help with the cleanup. They used 3,000 of
city water and washed the spillway, collected this water, and pumped it back into the #3 cooling tower
basin. As part of the investigation, it was determined the concentration of the formaldehyde in the solution
was 0.06% and the quantity released outside of secondary containment to be 60 pounds which is less
than the reportable quantity for formaldehyde. The air release due to evaporation was determined to be
less than 2 pounds based on Evaporation Pool Dispersion Model.
The causal factors identified in the investigation listed below:
• An abandoned line was removed from service and the valve was left in the line.The line and valve
should have been demolished.
• The operator did not recognize that the valve was partially open prior to the transfer.
The corrective actions identified from the incident investigation listed below:
• Walk all lines in this system to verify valve and capped. Verify all bleed out points are located in a
contained area.
• Educate the operators on walk the line process and response to no level changes when making
transfers.
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BA K E L ITE Acme Facility
SVNTHEMS 333 Neils Eddy Road
Riegelwood.NC 28456-9570
If you have any additional questions, please reach out to me at(910)212-0669 or at
Ronald.BazinetL bakelite.com.
Sincerely,
Ronald Bazinet
Manufacturing Director
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