US Nitrogen Passes TDEC Compliance Inspection

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

US Nitrogen was found in compliance with its state permits during a recent annual inspection but the company conceded that there had been errors in their calculations on nitrous oxide emissions.
The August inspection by officials of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation included a detailed review of company records and an actual inspection of some of the company's Greene County manufacturing facilities.
According to the inspection report a US Nitrogen official, Kim Ryans, acknowledged the company had made errors in computing the three hour rolling nitrous oxide emissions.
"Ms. Ryans agreed with the inspector that there had been an error in how they had adjustd this data to account for start-ups," the report states.
The company submitted corrected data on Aug. 27, according to the report.
TDEC reported that "due to the pandemic records were reviewed on Aug. 6 via Microsoft Teams.
Going through the various conditions in the company permits, the inspectors reported that they found no violations and that the company had properly compiled and retained various reports.
The report state that seven complaints against US Nitrogen were logged during the past year and all of them involved "visible emissions" or opacity. The report states that none of those complaints resulted in a finding that the company violated its permits.
In addition the inspectors reported that they observed no visible emissions other than water vapor.
"Records are maintained as required," the report states.
"The company appeared to be adhering to this condition during the plant walk-through and records were available back to the source's stafrt up," the report states referring to another permit requirement.
However, the report does state that some of the data collected during the inspection is still being evaluated by TDEC.
In a related development TDEC approved amendments to the permit granted to Praxair, Inc., a company that shares the same Midway location. The company produces liquid carbon dioxide for the beverage industry.
The amendments correct typographical errors in the permit issued in January. Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com