US Nitrogen Pipeline Challenge Heating Up

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A lawsuit challenging the legality of two controversial Greene County pipelines to the Nolichucky River is heating up as landowners are seeking to gather additional evidence that a permit issued by the state was illegal.
The suit filed in Davidson County Chancery Court was first tossed out by one judge but then revived on appeal. It is now before Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle, who has ruled that she will decide the latest issue without hearing oral arguments.
The landowners, including Don Bible, Ann Calfee and Jack Renner, charge that the Tennessee Department of Transportation unlawfully granted the permit to US Nitrogen and the Industrial Development Board of Greeneville and Greene County.
In the motion filed recently the landowners are asking Lyle to allow them to amend their complaint for the third time to raise the issue of whether the two 13 mile pipelines were installed on a lawful right of way, a requirement under state law.
Lawyers for the defendants are opposing the landowners' motion.The case is not scheduled for actual trial until Oct. 22.
The motion states the amendment will enable the landowners to determine "whether a lawful right of way exists" or "whether the pipelines were unlawfully installed on private property."
The motion states that US Nitrogen refused to answer questions about how the right of way was determined while TDOT claimed it was not their responsibility.
"Water quality is relevant to standing for the riverfront owners," the motion states, noting there were recent disclosures of an impact on water quality both above and below where the pipelines reach into the Nolichucky.
"Respondents were not allowed to use the permit until a lawful right of way was established," the motion continues. "They did it anyway."
A copy of the proposed amended complaint states that the pipelines "were forcibly installed with armed guards in willful disregard" of an agreed order in a separate but related case.
The pipelines are being used to pump water from the Nolichucky for use in the manufacture of ammonium nitrate solution, which is then shipped to US Nitrogen's parent, Austin Powder, for use in making explosives.
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