US Nitrogen Seeks Nolichucky Permit Renewal

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

US Nitrogen LLC, the Greene County chemical firm, is seeking to renew the permit that allows the company to discharge some 500,000 gallons of wastewater per day into the Nolichucky River.
The 45-page submission, including several appendices, lists dozens of pollutants, some of which the application states, are believed to be present when the wastewater is pumped into the river.
The permit is one of two highly controversial to be granted by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
The permit that allows the company to draw some 1.9 million gallons of water per day from the Nolichucky was renewed last year following a sparsely attended public hearing.
The discharge renewal application was submitted along with a one-page cover letter from Dylan Charles, US Nitrogen's plant manager. The current permit expires Oct. 31.
As the application states, the company's primary product is ammonium nitrate, which is used by US Nitrogen's parent company, Ohio based Austin Powder, in the production of explosives. The explosives are manufactured at a different site.
According to the application some 573,000 gallons of wastewater per day will be pumped from US Nitrogen's Midway manufacturing facility to mile marker 20.8 on the Nolichucky. In its latest monthly report to TDEC, the company reported discharging 9.4 million gallons into the Nolichucky in March
Among the chemicals the company says it believes to be present in the wastewater are bromide, fecal coliform, chlorine and molybdenum.
Copper, according to the application, is believed to be present because it is used as a treatment chemical.
In a past report the company reported that it believed that thallium was present in the water. A subsequent investigation by TDEC, however, found no trace of the chemical.
The application states that the company had two different tests performed by an outside laboratory for acute or chronic toxicity. The tests were submitted on April 30, 2017, but the application does not indicate the outcome.
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US Nitrogen Files Compliance Report

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

US Nitrogen LLC has told Tennessee officials it fully complied with the provisions of its permit in the production of tons of nitric acid at its Greene County manufacturing facility.
The massive Annual Permit Compliance Report, complete with hourly reports on emission levels, shows that on nearly 100 days between January and August in 2019, no nitric acid was produced.
In fact, the daily production report shows that in many months, there was no nitric acid production on 20 or more days.
In March of 2019, for instance, there was no nitric acid production from March 7 to March 29. In June there was no nitric acid production from June 4 to June 24.
The data was sent as an attachment to a letter from US Nitrogen Plant Manager Dylan Charles to Michelle Owenby, head of the air pollution control division of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
In the letter Charles disclosed that there was only a four period in February where emissions monitoring equipment was not in operation. The Feb. 25 gap, according to the letter, was due to routine maintenance.
According to Charles, the company complied with various limits set out in the permit, including limiting nitric acid production to 600 tons per day. Other limits include the emission of no more than 54.8 tons of nitrous oxides per year.
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US Nitrogen Tests to Begin

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Tennessee environmental officials have disclosed key tests at a Greene County chemical firm will take place next week with state officials due to be in attendance.
According to an email from an official of the state Department of Environment and Conservation the tests will get under way on Monday with preparatory work by AMP Cherokee, the company brought in by US Nitrogen. The tests will be conducted on the company's two ammonia trains, key elements in the production of ammonium nitrate, one of the company's main products.
According to the email sent to Park Overall, a local environmental activist, actual tests on the first ammonia train will begin at mid-morning on Tuesday. Overall has been pressing state officials for details on the timing of the tests.
Tests on the second ammonia train will take place Wednesday.
A critical part of the tests will be the startups of the two trains and the level of emissions recorded during each step of that process. The company has encountered problems in some previous start ups.
In a related development Overall has challenged the methodology proposed by US Nitrogen in setting standards for the production of anhydrous ammonia, a separate product produced by the Midway firm.
In a April 7 letter to TDEC official Michelle Owenby Overall wrote that the method proposed by US Nitrogen could result in the company underestimating the projected emissions.
The company has proposed that the standard be based on the results of a test conducted on Nov. 21 and 22 of 2016.
Overall, however, proposed that TDEC should also consider the latest test results and apply the higher standard, either the 2016 test results or the latest tests.
The higher factor should apply, Overall wrote.
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US Nitrogen Nearly Doubles River Use

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

US Nitrogen LLC nearly doubled the amount of free water it pumped from the Nolichucky River in the month of March, according to a report filed today with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
The report by the Greene County chemical firm shows a total of 18.65 million gallons were pumped from the river, nearly double the 9.9 million the company used in February.
In a related matter local environmental activist Park Overall has called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to hold a public hearing on US Nitrogen's production of anhydrous ammonia at its Midway facility.
Her request was prompted by US Nitrogen's recent request for a clarification and amendment to its permit to produce anhydrous ammonia.
In her letter Overall wrote that long after it first announced plans to build an ammonium nitrate plant in Tennessee "US Nitrogen has still not decided what it's going to make."
She said a hearing was necessary because of the increased risk to the local community from anhydrous ammonia production.
In its monthly report to TDEC, US Nitrogen reported it drew over 1 million gallons from the Nolichucky on 10 separate days. On March 9 it drew 1.9 million gallons, the highest of the month.
On six days it drew a minimal amount from the river. On March 4 and March 6 no water was withdrawn.
The company report shows a total of 9.4 million gallons were discharged back into the river in March, compared to the 5.8 million discharged into the river in February.
On 11 days of March US Nitrogen discharged more than 400,000 gallons into the Nolichucky. On four days a minimal amount was discharged to the river.
Under its state permits US Nitrogen is required to file monthly reports on its river water use.
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