Nearly 20 Million Gallons Drawn From River

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Nearly 20 million gallons of water were pumped from the Nolichucky River last month, according to a report filed with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
Some 19.44 million gallons was pumped from the river by US Nitrogen, the company based in Greene County Tennessee. According to the report that total was reached despite the fact that on five days during the month no water was taken by the chemical manufacturer.
The monthly report shows on five other days in May the company pumped over one million gallons for its use in the production of ammonium nitrate.
Less than half the 19.4 million gallon total or 7.7 million gallons,was pumped back into the river by US Nitrogen, the report states.
The water is drawn and discharged through dual 12 mile pipelines that end at the company's Midway facility. The pipeline was built under a permit issued by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. The legality of the permit is being challenged in a suit pending in the Davidson Chancery Court.
In a related development US Nitrogen notified TDEC that, due to a recent pronouncement from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, it is seeking to have a new and separate permit under state and federal laws .
Currently a single permit is in place for the entire Midway site, which will eventually include two other companies, Yara North American and Praxair.
Yara already has petitioned the state for a separate permit for the same reason.
The EPA recently issued a statement indicating that multiple entities operating under a single permit must be controlled by the same parties.
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