TN to Renew US Nitrogen River Permit

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Tennessee environmental officials plan to renew a permit that allows a Greene County chemical firm to discharge millions of gallons of wastewater into the Nolichucky River.
In a notice issued today the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation provided a draft copy of the massive permit it intends to issue to US Nitrogen LLC.
The 52-page document includes the 23 page permit and several appendices. The permit won't expire until 2025. The current permit expires on Oct. 31.
"The department has determinewd that the activity will not cause degradation above a de minimus level," the permit states.
According to a cover letter sent to US Nitrogen Plant Manager Dylan Charles, members of the public will have 30 days to ask for a public hearing. The company will also have 30 days to object to any of the limits set out in the permit.
The permit is one of two key state permits that enable the company to utilize more than a million gallons per day from the Nolichucky in the production of ammonium nitrate and related chemicals. The permit to draw water from the Nolichucky was renwed last year.
The permit requires US Nitrogen to monitor the composition of the waste water being pumped into the river. Monthly reports must be filed with the state and the company is required to notify TDEC if monitoring shows any limits have been exceeded.
The company is required to take samples both upstream and downstream of the pumping station located at mile marker 20.8 on the Nolichucky.
The permit notes that the facility is designed to produce 200 tons of ammonia per dat, 600 tons of nitric acid per day and 840 tons of ammonium nitrate solution daily.
In a related development the company filed its monthly report showing the amount of water pumped from and back in to the Nolichucky during the month of September.
According to the report the company pumped 21.68 million gallons of water from the river with more than a million gallons drawn on 12 separate days. During the same time 8.5 million gallons of wastewater was dumped back into the river. On three days more than 500,000 gallons were discharged into the river.
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