TDEC Cites US Nitrogen for Overflow

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Tennessee environmental officials have charged US Nitrogen LLC with multiple violations of one of its permits when a retention pond on its Greene County site overflowed for six days in a row.
In a letter dated March 15 a division manager in the state Department of Environment and Conservation wrote that the overflow began on Feb. 20 and ended on Feb. 25.
"This discharge consisted of process wastewater mixed with storm water and was stated to be caused by a large rain event," wrote Jessica Murphy, manager of the TDEC Compliance and Enforcement Unit.
"These unpermitted discharges are a violation of the Tennessee Water Quality Act of 1977 and the NPDES permit requirements," she added.
As the two-page letter noted, the chemical company had self-disclosed the violation in a letter dated Feb. 25, the last day of the overflow.
Murphy noted that the company could be liable for separate fines for each day of the violation. The TDEC letter did not indicate how large a daily fine could be imposed.
In the notice Murphy stated that the company must respond to the notice within 30 days giving exact details on the cause of the violations "as well as a thorough corrective action plan to prevent future occurrences of noncompliance."
She wrote that the company must also include any information relating to the violation previously disclosed to the state, the estimated quantity of the discharge in gallons, and should indicate if the discharge reached the waters of the state."
The letter was addressed to Dylan Charles, the plant manager for US Nitrogen and the official who authored the March 25 disclosure letter.
Charles told TDEC the overflows were first discovered at 1:30 a.m. on Feb. 20 and lasted until 2:15 p.m. on Monday Feb. 25.
Charles told TDEC the overflows in the company's North Retention Pond were triggered by "days of excessive rain."
The ammonia levels recorded ranged from 5.2 parts per million to 8.5 parts per million.
While the levels of nitrates in the spillover water ranged from 8.4 parts per million to a high of 11 parts per million. The pH level (a measure of acidity) of the spillover water ranged from 7.46 to 7.87, Charles reported to TDEC.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com