Sludge Being Applied To USN Property

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Up to 200 tons of sludge per year is apparently being applied to some 8 acres of Greene County property owned by US Nitrogen LLC based in Midway.
Officials of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation say the ground application of the sludge generated by US Nitrogen's water treatment plant is currently the only legal method for the company to dispose of the sludge.
Previously the chemical company had obtained a permit to dispose of the sludge at the Iris Glen landfill in Johnson City.
TDEC spokeswoman Kim Schofinski said that permit issued in 2019 expired and the company never applied for a renewal.
Schofinski said TDEC did approve USN's request to apply the sludge to 8.6 acres of its' Greene County property.
The so-called "Beneficial Use" determination "provides the necessary approval for US Nitrogen to apply water treatment sludge," she wrote in an email response to questions.
Other TDEC records show the Midway company anticipated the water treatment plant would generate up to 200 tons of sludge per year.
The sludge is generated from a water treatment plant which US Nitrogen uses to process water from the Nolichucky River prior to its use in the manufacturing of ammonium nitrate.
The TDEC approval, called "an agricultural soil amendment" gives the company the right to apply the sludge on site. It was issued on May 20, 2019 with some conditions including an annual "fertility analysis" of the sludge being applied. An analysis for metals is required every five years.
US Nitrogen, however, also applied for a permit to dump up to 200 tons of sludge per year at the Iris Glen Environmental Center, a facility owned by Waste Management Inc.\.
That permit required that the sludge not be "a hazardous waste nor contain a hazardous waste."
"The sludge was analyzed initially and is required to be analyzed on a set frequency by the facility," Schofinski said. Schofinski said it was that permit that expired and was not renewed. Under state regulations US Nitrogen would need prior state approval to bring the sludge to any other site. No such approval has been sought.
"This means that they currently do not have approval to dispose of the waste in a landfill," she wrote. US Nitrogen did not respond to requests for comment on the volume of sludge deposited on site or at the Jefferson City landfill.
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