An application of ARIPAR methodology to manage the risk and the environmental impact in the industrial area of Gela

This paper is focused on safety and environmental issues and analyses the problems connected with chemical processes and the transport of hazardous goods. During recent years incidents in chemical plants have shown that there are serious problems regarding their reliability, safety and environmental impact. Great attention is now paid to the serious risks associated with industrial processes, the transport of hazardous substances and the storage of fuels and chemicals. The aim of this work is to study the safety and environmental problems associated with the industrial activity in the area of Gela. In order to evaluate the risk connected by sea and land transportation of hazardous materials and to chemical processes in the industrial area of Gela the methodology of Quantified Area Risk Analysis has been applied. A complete inventory of dangerous substances, was the basis of a complete risk analysis, whose results, obtained by means of the ARIPAR-GIS code, have been analysed and discussed. The results data shows that the major contribution to the risk is due to the sea and land transport of ammonia. The impact of ammonia dispersion can involve highly populated areas of the city of Gela and this paper aims to find suggestions to manage the risk connected with ammonia transport.