US Nitrogen Disables Auxiliary Burners

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

US Nitrogen LLC has sent photographic proof to Tennessee environmental officials that they have disabled two pipes feeding natural gas to auxiliary burners in its manufacturing operations.
The chemical company was required to submit the photos under the provisions of a revised permit from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
The submission was one of several developments this week at the Greene County facility which produces ammonium nitrate and related products for use by its Ohio parent, Austin Powder.
The company also submitted a report showing that it withdrew 13.1 million gallons of water from the Nolichucky River during the month of January.
In a third development TDEC officials sent a letter to Park Overall, a local resident and environmental activist, stating that after an investigation the agency concluded that a large visible plume emanating from US Nitrogen on Jan. 18 did not violate the company's opacity limits set in one of its state permits.
"There was no finding of non-compliance," Ron Wilhoit wrote in the letter to Overall, who had sent photos of the plume to the agency.
Wilhoit added that the plume consisted of water vapor and "such a plume would not be considered a visible emission subject to this permit's opacity limit."
In yet another development, US Nitrogen has recommended a language change in one of its state permits to clarify the limits on carbon monoxide emissions and the requirements for compliance testing to confirm compliance.
The apparent confusion surfaced recently when the company and TDEC officials exchanged emails about the upcoming performance testing.
The permit change would limit carbon monoxide emissions to 8.32 pounds per hour or 36.44 tons in any 12 month period.
The river water report submitted to TDEC shows that the company pumped more than 800,000 gallons from the Nolichucky River on nine days during January, with the highest amount on Jan. 22. On eight days only a minimal amount was pumped from the river.
The company discharged 7.7 million gallons of water back in to the river. On nine days in the month the discharges totaled more than 400,000 gallons. On five days including Jan. 1 and Jan. 2 only a minimal amount was discharged.
In its last report covering the month of December US Nitrogen reported drawing 12.7 million gallons from the river and discharging about 6 million. The monthly reports are required under one of the company's permits.
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