US Nitrogen Complaint "Up in Smoke"

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

On Feb. 15 of this year Park Overall, a Tennessee resident and environmental activist, filed a complaint along with photos on an orange smoke cloud she witnessed emanating from a chemical manufacturing plant near her Afton home.
Without mentioning the source The state Department of Environment and Conservation subsequently reported such a complaint had been filed on Feb. 15. "No Violation found," TDEC records show in the result column for the complaint.
Now, weeks later, apparently TDEC is not so sure.
Emails just released last week and posted on the TDEC web site show there is an ongoing inquiry on the events of Feb 15 at the US Nitrogen LLC plant in Midway.
Emails between TDEC officials and US Nitrogen show several requests for additional data on conditions at the ammonium nitrate plant in and around Feb 15. "Please find the requested data regarding the Feb. 15, 2022 complaint," a US Nitrogen wrote in a recent email to TDEC.
"It most definitely is the one I made," Overallsaid after learning of the TDEC complaint record.
TDEC data requests to US Nitrogen include everything from weather conditions at the plant on Feb 15 to company operational data on emissions from the facility during the time period.
"As discussed, US Nitrogen did not undergo any startup activities or malfunctions on Feb. 15, 2022. Also I have attached the cooling tower story board," Kim Ryans of US Nitrogen wrote in an email to TDEC.
Overall said that the mishandling of her complaint included the apparent disappearance of two of the three photos she submitted to back up her claims of excess visible emissions.
Stating that she had been told that computer files can sometimes be corrupted, Overall said,"Oddly, that's not at all what I think happened!"
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