(54cf) Experience with Conducting a Series of Building Siting Studies per API 752/753

Over the past several years, Plains All American Pipeline, LP (Plains) and Quest Consultants Inc. (Quest) have collaborated on conducting building siting studies per API RP 752 and 753 for a range of facilities in the United States. This paper summarizes the approach developed (from consequence analysis to risk analysis), the types of facilities evaluated, results generated, and the mitigation measures applied to those facilities when required.

The 15 building siting studies that are the subjects of this paper include Plains facilities which range from remote LPG transfer terminals to fully functioning gas plants. As the intent of API RP 752 is on occupants of permanent buildings, the technical approach to identify the hazards and risks associated with the occupancy of such buildings is considerably different than the approach often used to evaluate the hazards and risks to persons outdoors.

This paper also describes how the studies were developed to include potential hazards and risks to occupants of permanent buildings (API RP 752) and portable buildings (API RP 753) that are not addressed in the API documents. While the API recommended practices may not address the full range of hazards a building occupant could experience, other codes such as 29 CFR 1910 do require their evaluation under the “general duty clause” and the Process Safety Management (PSM) program.