US Nitrogen Responds to Violations Notice

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A Greene County chemical company has responded to some but not nearly all of a series of issues raised by state environmental following an inspection of the facility.

In an eight-page letter sent to the state this week US Nitrogen Plant Manager Andrew Velo also provided copies of several of  the company's Standard Operating Procedures and a timetable for implementing changes.

In response to seven specific issues however, Velo repeated his request for a meeting with officials of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

The responses are the latest volley in a battle of words between TDEC officials and US Nitrogen over the critical compliance inspection report. In its initial response US Nitrogen denied that the inspection had actually turned up any evidence that the company was in violation of any of its permits.

TDEC responded by stating that there were indeed permit violations.

TDEC Manager Chris Rhodes wrote that "any failure to comply with permit requirements is a violation."

In its latest response US Nitrogen agreed to provide TDEC with documents relating to a new emulsion facility and the emulsion product being produced but said it had not yet decided whether to produce another new product, aqueous ammonia.

"If US Nitrogen decides to produce AN-20, we will notify the division before production," the letter states.

As for alterations in a retention pond that TDEC had questioned, Velo described changes as minor modifications but also provided a water flow schematic requested by the state.

But for a series of questions raised by TDEC, Velo wrote, "US Nitrogen requests a meeting with division personnel regarding regulatory reporting to ensure complete understanding of protocols going forward."

Velo added, "US Nitrogen would like to thank TDEC for clarifying that US Nitrogen did not impact Nolichucky River water quality."

In its initial inspection report, TDEC had stated that both upstream and downstream readings in the river showed a failure to meet target standards.

"Thus both stations showed some impact to water quality," the report stated.

The report did not attribute the negative impact to US Nitrogen or any other party, though some published reports drew that conclusion.

In other responses, US Nitrogen agreed to "re-evaluate" the drainage within a drainage basin "to confirm that there is no discrete conveyance of storm water within facility boundaries."

Velo also told TDEC the company was revising its sludge management plan and promised to provide a copy of that plan by July 31. But he wrote that the company was unable to locate past transformer inspection reports requested by the state.

"Improvements have been implemented to maintain transformer inspection reports," the letter concludes.

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