More US Nitrogen Testing OK'd

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Tennessee environmental officials have approved plans for additional testing at a Greene County chemical firm after the results of April testing were judged inconclusive.
The testing at US Nitrogen LLC is now scheduled for July 30 and July 31.
Bryan Parker, environmental manager at the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, notified US Nitrogen of the approval.
Parker also wrote a response to an environmental consultant who raised questions about the April testing results and whether US Nitrogen was in violation of its permit.
The two days of testing, according to Parker's letter, will "establish a range of ammonia injection rates at varying gas fuel rates that ensure compliance with nitrous oxide emission limits."
According to Parker the two days of testing will have 24 steps and include three different fuel injection rates.
"The division agrees with the test plan as written," Parker wrote in the letter to Stephen Wallace, a US Nitrogen manager.
Stating that TDEC will have a representative present to witness the testing, Parker added that any changes in the test plans will have to be approved by TDEC.
Parker, in a separate letter to D. Howard Gebhart, disputed the environmental consultant's conclusions about US Nitrogen's compliance with its permit.
Gebhart was retained by local opponents of the ammonium nitrate plant, including Park Overall.
"The bulk of your letter consists of extrapolating the ammonia emissions reported from these brief duration engineering tests. This is not a technically valid approach," Parker wrote, adding that the April tests were not intended to be official performance testing.
Parker charged that Gebhart's conclusion were based on the assumption that the plant would be in full operation all year.
"It is physically impossible for synthetic ammonia plants to operate continuously during a year," Parker concluded.
Parker did not address Gebhart's concerns that the April tests revealed that US Nitrogen was operating for an undetermined length of time with contaminated anti-pollution equipment.
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