US Nitrogen "Believes" It Didn't Violate Limit

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

US Nitrogen says it does not believe it exceeded air quality limits during its ongoing start up efforts, but cannot prove it based on the requirements in its permit.
US Nitrogen Plant Manager Andrew Velo told Tennessee environmental officials this week that despite the lack of required proof, "(W)e believe we did not exceed the daily average hourly emission rate of 3.42 pounds of nitrous oxide."
Velo made the disclosure in a three page letter responding to a request for further information from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
Velo's letter and the TDEC request stem from US Nitrogen's recent voluntary disclosure that it violated state pollution control regulations during the start up of its ammonia production plant in Midway. The company blamed the violation on an apparent misinterpretation of state requirements for the use of Selective Catalytic Reduction  equipment during a startup.
A subsidiary of Ohio based Austin Powder, US Nitrogen is gearing up to produce ammonium nitrate which the parent company will utilize in the production of explosives.
In his Tuesday letter to TDEC, Velo wrote that based on the specifications of the ammonia production facility, he concluded that the nitrous oxide emissions were no higher than 2.67 pounds per hour, "well below the 3.42 pound limit."
According to the letter only one of two ammonia production systems have been in operation and the company did not produce any commercially viable ammonia prior to June 19.
The state asked for the additional information to determine whether US Nitrogen could qualify for an exemption from any fines or penalties due to the violation.
Velo reported the violation in an Aug 3 letter to the agency.
"I write to voluntarily disclose a violation of Tennessee environmental regulations," Velo stated in the five-page letter.
He said that the company discovered the violations during a late July compliance review with US Nitrogen's consulting firm, EnSafe.
The discovery came shortly after TDEC inspectors had completed a nearly three week inspection of US Nitrogen's Midway complex.
A subsequent inspection report listed multiple violations but concluded that the company was generally operating within its permit requirements.
US Nitrogen subsequently submitted a 21-page action plan responding to each of the inspection findings.
That action plan calls for training and retraining of company employees on record keeping and other requirements, reseeding of eroded areas on the site and replacement or repair of equipment. The company also said it would be performing its own onsite acidity tests  on water being discharged to the Nolichucky River. Previously the task was outsourced.
In another related development US Nitrogen reported that during the month of July it pumped nearly two million gallons of water from the Nolichucky River. It discharged about a quarter of that total into the river during the same period.
A subsidiary of Ohio based Austin Powder, US Nitrogen is gearing up to produce ammonium nitrate which the parent company will utilize in the production of explosives.
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