US Nitrogen Gets TDEC Permit

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Tennessee environmental regulators have issued a new operating permit to a Greene County chemical firm that will allow the company to continue manufacturing till April 1, 2029.
The conditional major operating permit was issued by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to US Nitrogen, an ammonium nitrate manufacturer located in Midway in Greene County. The action followed public hearings in which the Sierra Club,local activists and an environmental consultant all called for stricter limits and additional reporting and record-keeping requirements.
In November the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also recommended additional record-keeping and reporting requirements.
Under the revised permit the company is required to limit the emission of nitrous oxides and carbon monoxide to 100 tons each in any continuous 12 month period.
If the company exceeds those limits through required monitoring it must self report it to TDEC within 15 days of its discovery.
Limits also are placed on the opacity of emissions, set at 20 percent. Local activist Park Overall recently sent TDEC photos showing plumes of smoke emitting from the US Nitrogen plant.
The opacity limits do not apply to startup and shutdowns, but US Nitrogen must take steps to limit emissions and opacity during startups, shutdowns and malfunctions.
The permit states that if the company exceeds the agreed limits it faces the possible loss of its permit and penalties and action by the EPA.
The permit sets various deadlines for the company to submit reports including two that become due in April of next year.
Other limits in the permit include a cap of 5.8 million tons of ammonia production in any 12 month period. Limits also apply to particulate emissions and heat input. The permit also requires the use of natural gas in production processes.
The action on the operating permit follows TDEC approval of a series of related permits, some of which apply to two other companies, Praxair Inc. and Yara North America Inc., that share the same Greene County site.
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US Nitrogen's River Use Plunges

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

The use of water from the Nolichucky River by a Greene County chemical firm dropped substantially in November, according to a report filed with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
US Nitrogen reported that it drew 12.3 million gallons from the Nolichucky in the month down from the 21.7 million gallons of river water it used in October. The report shows that on 10 days during last month a minimal amount was drawn for use in the company's production of ammonium nitrate and related product.
On only on two days, Nov. 24 and 25, the company pumped a little over one million gallon from the waterway.
The amount of water the company discharged back in to the Nolichucky also decreased with the total reaching 4.8 million gallons. That was less than half of the 10.9 million discharged in October. The largest day of discharge, more than 500,000 gallons. came on Nov. 20. Minimal discharges were reported on four days.
The company draws water from the river through an 11 mile pipeline running from the river to its Midway plant. A permit allowing the installation of the pipeline alongside two state highways was issued by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Another permit, which was recently renewed by TDEC, authorizes the use of the river water by US Nitrogen..
Both permits drew opposition from local residents and were the subject of lawsuits. One such suit filed by landowners who charged that the pipeline trespassed on their property was settled under terms that were not made public.
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Judge Boosts US Nitrogen Verdict

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A federal judge has reversed himself and boosted the award to US Nitrogen LLC to a little under $2.8 million in a suit brought against the company that performed engineering work on a Tennessee factory.
In a seven-page ruling U.S. District Judge Michael L. Brown, sitting in Atlanta, ruled that Weatherly Inc. must pay US Nitrogen $2.759 million, an increase of nearly $600,000. Brown had earlier ruled that the maximum amount of the award was $2.2 million.
The latest action follows a September trial in which a jury awarded US Nitrogen $5.75 million. Brown subsequently reduced the award to $2.2 million citing a 15 percent cap in the contract between the two firms.
But the judge reversed himself following a December hearing in which lawyers for Weatherly argued that the $5.75 million jury award was excessive and should be reversed. US Nitrogen's lawyers sought an increase in the verdict.
Weatherly performed engineering services for the construction of US Nitrogen's Midway TN. ammonium nitrate manufacturing facility. In the original suit US Nitrogen sought $30 million, charging that errors by Weatherly substantially delayed the start up of the plant and forced millions of dollars in added construction costs.
According to the ruling US Nitrogen was billed $18.395 million by Weatherly and a provision in the original contract capped any damages at 15 percent of the contract price.
Brown had previously ruled that the cap applied to the original contract price of $14.692 million, but in the latest ruling he concluded that the cap should be applied to the final price.
Citing language in the original contract, Brown wrote that it was clear that both parties understood that the price could increase.
"That the parties used a percentage rather than a definite figure indicates their expectation and intention for the price and Weatherly's liability cap to increase with the needs of the project," Brown wrote.
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Expert Pleased By EPA Permit Comments

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

An environmental consultant who has reviewed the proposed operating permit for a major Greene County chemical firm says he was somewhat surprised and pleased by comments from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calling for some changes in the permit.
Howard Gebhart of Air Resource Specialists, who was brought in by local environmental activist Park Overall, said the EPA comments reiterated one of his primary concerns, that the proposed permit lacks sufficient requirements to ensure that US Nitrogen operates in compliance with requirements.
The EPA, in a Nov. 5 letter to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, recommended additional monitoring and record keeping requirements be added to the permit.
But while Gebhart said he was pleased with the EPA comments, he said the agency could have gone further in calling for specific additional requirements in the conditional major operating permit to be imposed on the ammonium nitrate manufacturing company.
"I would have liked it more had EPA also identified more of the items listed in my comments, but I guess that we will take what we can get. I really wasn't expecting EPA to weigh in at all," Gebhart wrote in an email response to requests for comment.
Gebhart, who testified at a June public hearing on the proposed permit, said he was particularly pleased that the EPA raised the issue of opacity testing on US Nitrogen's nitric acid plant.
He noted that the plant has been a continuing source of problems including incidents of permit violations.
While he said he was particularly pleased that EPA cited the plant's opacity monitoring as a deficiency,"Unfortunately the EPA didn't offer a real solution in their comments," he added.
The consultant said he "would certainly expect TDEC to make some changes to the permit that would address the EPA comments."
"Overall we should get a permit that is more protective of public health," he concluded.
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US Nitrogen Ups River Use

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

US Nitrogen upped its use of water from the Nolichucky River in October and also discharged more than one million gallons of waste water back into the river on two successive days, according to a monthy report filed with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
The Greene County firm reported it drew 21.7 million gallons from the Nolichucky River during the month of October. It drew at least some water from the waterway every day of the month, but on the last three days only a minimal amount was withdrawn
According to the report the company discharged a total of 10.9 million gallons into the Nolichucky during the same period. On Oct. 26 and Oct. 27 the company reported for the first time discharging a little over one million gallons back into the river on both days.
The October totals show a substantial increase over the September totals. The company drew 15.2 million gallons from the Nolichucky that month. Discharges to the river in that month totaled 6.8 million.
The company obtained a permit from the state allowing it to utilize the river water without charge for use in the production of ammonium nitrate. It was recently renewed. A separate permit authorizes discharges to the Nolichucky.
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EPA Urges USN Permit Changes

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Citing the need for additional monitoring, reporting and record-keeping, federal environmental regulators are recommending a series of changes in a controversial Tennessee permit for a major Greene County chemical manufacturer.
The permit, known as conditional major, sets environmental requirements for US Nitrogen, the Greene County manufacturer of ammonium nitrate. It was sent in draft form for comment nearly two months ago to the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency.
In a detailed response to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, EPA's Atlanta regional office recommended about a half dozen changes covering everything from visible emissions to setting annual limits on natural gas consumption.
In a cover letter EPA officials said they looked forward "to working with you to address any questions you have regarding our comments regarding the monitoring, record-keeping and reporting requirements."
"We consider our comments to be recommendations to ensure compliance with Title V of the Clean Air Act," the Nov. 6 letter states.
The EPA recommended that the permit be amended to set reporting and record-keeping mandates for monitoring visible emissions at the nitric acid plant. EPA noted that as written the permit does not include a compliance method for meeting opacity standards.
In addition EPA noted that the draft permit does not include any record keeping requirement.
While Tennessee officials had stated that provisions of a state law allow for excess emissions when they are "necessary and unavoidable," EPA recommended "that the permit require monitoring of opacity as appropriate" along with additional record-keeping.
At US Nitrogen's steam generating plant EPA urged the addition of a requirement for the company to record the amount of natural gas used and to limit natural gas consumption to 990 million standard cubic feet per year "and to keep a record of 12 month rolling average of the natural gas combustion."
For the company's anhydrous ammonia plant EPA recommended that US Nitrogen be required to keep a log of heat input on a monthly basis. In addition the permit should require the company to record the amount of natural and purge gas used, according to the EPA.
For the flares used at various points in the manufacturing process, the EPA is urging that there be a five minute limit on the use of flares at the steam generating boiler. Noting that TDEC had stated that weekly monitoring would be inappropriate, EPA said it was unclear from the permit how or when the company would monitor the flares.
EPA recommended that the permit be amended to require "a monitoring frequency appropriate for the source" which could include monitoring the flare only during startup and shutdown.
At the nitric acid plant EPA recommended that the permit require US Nitrogen to maintain electronic records that show the ammonia concentrations.
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US Nitrogen Verdict Slashed

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A $5.7 million jury award to a Greene County chemical firm has been slashed to less than half in accordance with an order by the federal judge presiding over the case.
Records in U.S. District Court in Atlanta show the award against Weatherly Inc. was reduced to $2.2 million as ordered by U.S. District Judge Michael L. Brown.
US Nitrogen sued Weatherly charging that errors by the engineering firm had caused the chemical firm to sustain some $30 million in damages.
Weatherly provided engineering services for the construction of US Nitrogen's ammonium nitrate manufacturing plant in Midway, Tenn.
A jury heard testimony in the case in September and voted to award US Nitrogen $5.75 million, but Brown already had ruled that based on contract between Weatherly and US Nitrogen, the maximum recovery was $2.2 million. Court records show that the $5.75 million was subsequently reduced to $2.2 million.
Following the reduction US Nitrogen filed a motion to have the reduction eliminated. US Nitrogen also disputed the calculation of the recovery cap citing added fees incurred in the construction after the contract was signed.
Weatherly replied by stating that the arguments being raised by US Nitrogen had already been considered and rejected by the judge.
A court hearing has been requested by lawyers involved in the case but the judge has yet to act on the request.
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