Friday, September 27, 2019

EPA Reviewing US Nitrogen Permit


By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Federal officials will have 45 days to review and respond to a proposed permit for a Greene County chemical firm.
The proposed permit along with supporting documents for US Nitrogen LLC was forwarded this week to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
TDEC spokeswoman Kim Schofinski said copies of the proposed permit were also submitted to environmental officials in Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia and Knox County. A copy was also sent to the Eastern Band of Cherokees. Those notifications are required under state and federal regulations.
Schofinski said the EPA has 45 days to review the proposal and the state can't formally issue the permit until EPA notifies TDEC that they will not object to the issuance of the permit, Schofinski said.
Conditional major operating permits are generally issued for 10 years, according to TDEC.
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Thursday, September 26, 2019

Scepter Fined $3,000 by TDEC




Tennessee environmental officials have fined a Greene County firm $3,000 for exceeding the emission limits on its permit on 189 days during a period of about eight months.
In an order issued this week, Michelle Owenby, a division director in the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, imposed the fine on Scepter, Inc. The violations related to a secondary aluminum processing operation.
In the order Owenby noted that her agency had the authority to impose a fine of up to $25,000 a day for violating the terms of Scepter's conditional major operating permit. That permit was initially issued on May 12, 2010 and amended in 2016 and 2018.
That permit set temperature limits on two furnaces and capped emissions of gaseous chloride and chlorine.
According to the order issued this week emissions of hydrogen chloride on one stack exceeded the maximum allowable limit on 189 days between Sept. 6, 2018 and May 22 of this year.
Furnace temperatures exceeded the permit limits on 19 occasions between July 1, 2018 and Aug. 30, 2018, according to the order.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

US Nitrogen Permit Sent to EPA


By Walter F. Roche Jr.

In a massive filing Tennessee environmental officials have submitted for approval to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a new proposed permit for a Greene County chemical firm which has drawn opposition from some local residents.
The proposed conditional major operating permit, which was the subject of a public hearing in June, would authorize US Nitrogen to continue producing ammonium nitrate and other chemical compounds in Midway for its owner, the Austin Powder Co., an Ohio explosives manufacturer.
The 23-page permit will replace a series of construction permits that were issued by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Protection. The company is seeking to avoid being classified as a major source of pollutants and the stricter requirements that classification automatically triggers.
Instead the permit would set specific limits on such pollutants as carbon monoxide and nitrous oxides.
"The permittee has elected to opt out of being issued a major source operating permit," the TDEC document states, adding that normally it would be considered a major source because of its potential to emit more than 100 tons of both carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide during any 12 consecutive months.
The package, including an 18-page summary of projected emissions, was submitted to the EPA today by Michelle Owenby, head of TDEC's air pollution control division. Copies are also being submitted to other states, including Kentucky, for comment.
TDEC submitted the package without making several changes suggested by an environmental consultant retained by local activist Park Overall and and a representative of the Sierra Club.
The proposed permit does, however, require US Nitrogen to provide photographic or other visual proof that two natural gas burners be permanently disabled.
"The permittee shall submit a written notice, along with photographs or other visual evidence to the division within 30 days following the date on which the piping is removed," the proposed permit states.
In addition to authorizing the production of ammonium nitrate the permit authorizes US Nitrogen to operate a steam generating boiler, cooling towers, an anhydrous ammonia production plant, a nitric acid plant and a gasoline dispensing facility.
The permit requires the company to maintain extensive compliance records and to self report any instances in which permit limits were violated.
"Failure to abide by these limits will not only subject the permittee to enforcement action by the state of Tennessee, but it may also result in enforcement action by the EPA and the loss of being federally recognized as a conditional major source," the proposed permit states.
Other specific limits are set for visible emissions and emissions of volatile organisms compounds.
The new permit changes the frequency of deadlines the company must meet to submit compliance reports. Quarterly reports were required with the construction permits but only semi-annual reports are required under the new permit scheme.
The permit does allow for the sale of the facility to another party, but the state must be notified no later than 30 days after the change occurs. The party taking over the operation must also agree to abide by the terms of the permit.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Disputed Permits Defended by TDEC


By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Citing decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Tennessee environmental officials have issued two official responses defending the issuance of disputed permits in Greene County.
The two nearly identical five page documents were in response to objections to the permits raised at public hearings held in June in Greeneville. The permit applications were submitted by Praxair Inc and Yara North America, two firms operating from the same site in Midway, Tenn.
Praxair's facility produces liquid carbon dioxide for use of the soft drink industry. The Yara facility has yet to be built, but it will produce calcium nitrate, which is used in fertilizer.
That same site is the location of U.S. Nitrogen which recently had its permit applications approved.
Objections to all three permits were raised in person and in writing by the Sierra Club of Tennessee and Park Overall, an environmental activist who lives near the Greene County industrial site.
Scott Banbury of the Sierra Club wrote to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation objecting to the permits questioning the decision to issue separate permits to the three companies. Previously they operated under a single permit.
In the five-page response, TDEC cited a decision by the EPA involving two Pennsylvania firms, Meadowbrook Energy LLC and Keystone Sanitary Landfill. In the April 30, 2018 decision the agency concluded that two firms could be combined for certain permits only if they were under "common control."
EPA, TDEC stated, determined that common control exists when "one entity has the power or authority to restrict another entity's choices."
Applying that ruling to the Greene County firms, TDEC concluded that US Nitrogen, Praxair and Yara, were separate corporations and not under common control.
"The division has concluded that US Nitrogen, Yara North America and Praxair are separate sources," the TDEC document states.
Banbury also challenged TDEC's decision to exempt the three firms from permit restrictions based solely on estimates of greenhouse gas emissions.
TDEC, however, cited a June 23, 2014 U.S. Supreme Court decision that barred environmental agencies from being declared as a "major source"of pollutants for permitting purposes solely on the basis of greenhouse gas emissions.
TDEC also cited a March 11, 2015 declaration by the Tennessee Air Pollution Control Board directing Tennessee environmental officials to comply with the Supreme Court decision.
Referring to the Praxair permit, TDEC concluded, "The facility is a true minor facility."
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Thursday, September 5, 2019

No Fine for US Nitrogen Violation


By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Tennessee regulators say they will not impose a fine on a Greene County chemical firm despite the fact that the company violated a condition of its permit for four months in a row.
In a two-page letter to US Nitrogen, Amanda Davis, a division manager for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, wrote that she had elected to "take no further action at this time."
But, she continued, "Be advised that the technical secretary may be less lenient of any future violations."
In the letter to US Nitrogen plant manager Dylan Charles, Davis indicated the violation surfaced in an annual compliance visit to the Midway facility. While the state permit limits the amount of natural gas used for the company's steam boiler to 380 million cubic feet in any 12 month period the cap was exceeded in April, May, June and July.
The monthly totals in that period ranged from 392 million cubic feet to 446 million cubic feet, Davis noted in the letter.
Davis did note that a re-check of the data did slightly lower the amounts, but not enough to eliminate the violations. She also acknowledged that US Nitogen had requested that the fuel cap be eliminated from the permit altogether.
Citing the revised data, Davis wrote, "Based on this information the division believes that no serious environmental or health impacts likely occurred to the general public as a result of the natural gas fuel usage exceedance for the steam generating boiler."
"By failing to comply with Condition 7, you have violated the Tennessee Air Pollution Control regulation," the letter states.
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Sunday, September 1, 2019

US Nitrogen Issued Five Permits


By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Acting on the eve of a long holiday weekend Tennessee regulators have issued five key permits to a Greene County chemical firm assuring its continued operation for two more years.
The permits were issued late Friday to US Nitrogen LLC by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. The agency largely refuted or ignored more than a dozen suggested changes to the permits submitted by an environmental consultant and the Sierra Club.
Calling one of the changes neither necessary or required the state agency also issued a 23-page summary of the proposed changes and the agency response.
TDEC did agree to a handful of small changes including requiring US Nitrogen to submit photographs demonstrating that a boiler at the Midway plant actually had been disconnected.
The permits were the subject of sparsely attended June public hearings at which the Sierra Club, Park Overall and her consultant, D. Howard Gebhart, testified. Gebhart also submitted written comments.
The permits cover US Nitrogen's plant, an ammonia nitrate plant, cooling towers, flares and a steam generating boiler. They are categorized as conditional major permits and they replace a series of construction permits issued when the ammonium nitrate manufacturer first went into operation.
By agreeing to the limits the company avoided stricter regulations under a major source operating permit.
A key element in the new permit scheme is that US Nitrogen is now operating under its own permits and two other firms on the same site, Praxair Inc and Yara North America, are operating under their own separate permits. The initial construction permits covered all three operations.
The Sierra Club had argued against the permit separation, but TDEC, citing the fact that the three firms are under separate control, rejected that argument.
Under the permits US Nitrogen agrees to operate within certain set limits on annual emissions.
For instance nitrous oxide emissions cannot exceed 3.4 tons per year and carbon monoxide emissions are capped at 2.54 tons per year. The annual emissions limit for volatile organic compounds is set at 1 ton.
Gebhart, who submitted written comments, argued that the proposed permits did not include adequate requirements to ensure the company was complying with the agreed emission limits. He also argued for monitoring of air quality in the community.
TDEC did agree to include a requirement that US Nitrogen certify on an annual basis that it was operating within the prescribed limits.
The agency also added a provision "to make it clear" that emissions of nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide are less than five tons per year each.
TDEC acknowledged that under the new permit US Nitrogen will be allowed to increase its natural gas use in the steam boiler by 18 percent. The company recently disclosed that it had exceeded the current limit in four successive months.
TDEC said that under the new limits the annual limit on particulate matters is 16.35 tons per year, .56 tons for sulfur dioxide, 90.82 tons of nitrous oxide and 69.2 tons of carbon monoxide.
"Thus even with the slight increase in allowable emissions, the facility is still a non-major source for all pollutants," the TDEC document states.
Though Gebhart had argued that further modeling was required before allowing any increases, TDEC said modeling done before the initial permit, which also included the Praxair and Yara operations, was more than adequate.
TDEC said it did add a requirement that US Nitrogen conduct "performance testing" to assure compliance with carbon monoxide limits.
As for ambient air monitoring, TDEC asserted it was "neither required or necesary."
Also rejected was the proposal that additional monitoring be required during the start-ups of the nitric acid plant, which have been the source of community complaints.
In rejecting the request for community monitoring, TDEC cited US Nitrogen's recent disclosure of a "process change that significantly improved the startup opacity levels."