US Nitrogen Seeks Permit Change

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A Greene County chemical company has requested approval from Tennessee environmental officials for a change or clarification in one of its permits to operate a plant producing anhydrous ammonia.
In a recent letter to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Protecion, Stephen Wallace of US Nitrogen said the change was being sought to eliminate confusion over what emission standard the company must maintain.
The proposed change would make it clear that the standard is based on an initial performance test performed at the Midway facility on Nov. 21 and Nov. 22 of 2016.
The standard in question involves the levels of nitrous oxide allowable under the permit.
The apparent confusion surfaced when the chemical firm announced plans to undertake a series of performance tests.
In a separate but related action a TDEC official has notified US Nitrogen that it has reviewed recent submissions by the company detailing emissions for the last quarter of 2018 and 2019.
Bryan Parker of TDEC wrote that the records showed US Nitrogen did not exceed the emissions limits for nitrous oxides during the time periods in question.
Parker wrote that the data for the anhydrous ammonia plant and the nitric acid plant "achieved the required 95 percent operational availability level" for the time periods.