US Nitrogen Clarifies "Insignificant" Request

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Officials of US Nitrogen have told Tennessee regulators that two rail cars that will be utilized in processing millions of gallons of a new chemical on its Green County site should not be considered as stationary sources under state and federal air pollution regulations.
In a letter sent to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, newly appointed US Nitrogen plant manager Dylan Charles said the rail cars were not a stationary source but should be considered as "rolling stock."
Previously, however, the company had told TDEC that the rail cars would be on site 24-hours-a-day and seven-days-a-week as part of a new process to produce a volatile chemical called RDT-8.
In the prior letter to TDEC the company disclosed that the new production operation would involve the mixing of oil and an emulsifier and would require the use of four tanks with a combined capacity of 128,400 gallons.
According to the original request, the company plans to produce some 43.8 million gallons per year of RDT-8.
Disclosure of US Nitrogen's plans brought protests from some area residents who have called on the state to hold public hearings on what they consider to be an entirely new operation.
In the latest letter the company said that classifying the rail cars as "rolling stock" rather than a stationary source is part of their contention that the new operation should be considered an insignificant source not needing a permit.
The most recent notice, the letter continues, "was not intended to be an application but to notify the state of the intent for constructing stationary sources and request a concurrence that the activity is considered insignificant."
Charles wrote in the letter to Doug Wright of TDEC's air pollution control that inclusion of information on rail car emissions was meant only to provide the "most information" to the agency but should not be considered as an application.
In another development TDEC informed US Nitrogen that its application to have limits on greenhouse gas limitations is now considered complete. The company is asking that the limits be eliminated in light of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling and a subsequent new policy statement issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
TDEC had previously advised the company its application was considered incomplete, but now the agency says sufficient information has been submitted and the application will be processed.
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