Controversial US Nitrogen Permit Renewed

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Tennessee environmental officials have renewed a controversial permit that allows a Greene County chemical firm to dump millions of gallons of its wastewater into the Nolichucky River.
The permit, which will remain in effect till Jan. 31, 2025, was granted to US Nitrogen which also uses millions of gallons of water from the river under a separate permit.
The permit was granted despite considerable. opposition expressed at a Nov.19 virtual public hearing and in over a dozen written comments.
In issuing the permit, offficials of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation concluded that the discharges into the Nolichucky "will not cause degradation above a de minnimis level."
Several of those submitting comcments had asked that TDEC at least delay the renewal till March when additional bio-assessment data is scheduled to be available.
In its notice of approval TDEC stated, "Permit re-issuance is not dependent on bioassessment data."
Local environmental activist Park Overall who testified at the November hearing and submitted extensive written comments, said she was not surprised by TDEC's decision.
"All they have done is run violations, make people sick, killed animals, added to an already legally impaired Stream and river," she wrote in an email response to the renewal.
In its decision TDEC acknowledged that US Nitrogen had failed to complete bioassessments that should have been submitted in October, but noted that the company has agreed to perform two assessments, one this year and the other in 2025.
"There is no reason to believe that any species has been impaired," the approval notice states, adding that the tests should show if the effluent is causing damage to water fleas and fathead minnows.
The permit states that the amount of effluent the company can discharge at mile marker 20.8 of the Nolichucky is based on the production of 200 tons per day of ammonia, 600 tons per day of nitric acid and 840 tons per day of ammonium nitrate solution.
A subsidiary of Ohio based Austin Powder, US Nitrogen's products are used in the manufacture of explosives.
The permit does set a series of regular reporting requirements including monthly reports on the actual volume of wastewater discharged into the Nolichucky.
The company is also required to notify TDEC of any violations of the permit limits including notice within 24 hours of any violation that poses a threat to the public water supply.
The permit also requires US Nitrogen implement a Best Management Practices plan to limit or prevent any chemical spills.
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