US Nitrogen Drew 15.2 Million Free Nolichucky Gallons

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

US Nitrogen drew some 15.2 million gallons of free water from the Nolichucky River in September,drawing at least some water from the waterway every day of the month.
Data on the water drawn and discharged to the river was included in a report the company filed with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. The permit for use of the river water was recently renewed by TDEC.
The report shows the Midway chemical firm also discharged nearly 6.8 million gallons of waste water back into the river. Both the discharge and uptake pumps are located at mile 20 of the Nolichucky.
The company drew only a minimal amount from the river on five days during September, including Sept. 29 and Sept. 30. It drew over a million gallons on Sept. 16 and just under one million gallons on Sept. 1 and 2.
The discharge report shows that on five days,including Sept. 6 and 7, the company discharged no waste water in the Nolichucky. On six days during September the company discharged more than 500,000 gallons into the river. The highest single discharge day was Sept. 11, when it nearly hit 600,000 gallons.
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TDEC Approves Praxair Permit

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Tennessee environmental regulators have approved a permit for a Greene County firm that supplies liquefied carbon dioxide to the beverage industry.
The permit was issued to Praxair Inc. which is located in Midway on the same site as US Nitrogen, which is awaiting a federal review of its new permit from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
Previously Praxair and Yara North America, also located on the same Midway property, were covered by a permit issued to US Nitrogen.
Praxair will be using carbon dioxide, a byproduct of US Nitrogen's ammonium nitrate production. Praxair will liquefy the carbon dioxide and then ship it to its beverage industry customers.
Under the permit when Praxair is not in operation, the carbon dioxide from US Nitrogen will be vented into the atmosphere.
The permit caps the amount of liquefied carbon dioxide the company can produce within any 12 month period to 90,789 tons.
Praxair must maintain logs showing the amount of carbon dioxide gas received from US Nitrogen per month and the amount of liquefied carbon dioxide shipped per month. Those records must be maintained for two years.
Other limits in the permit apply to particulate matter emissions and visible emissions.
The company must also notify TDEC of any change in ownership within 60 days of any change.
Yara's permit, which was also approved recently, limits its annual production of calcium nitrate to 100 tons per year. The company also stated that it will use a a scrubber for emission control.
TDEC spokeswoman Kim Schofinski said a parallel permit for US Nitrogen is currently under review by the U.S. Environment Protection Agency. All three permits are technically classified as conditional major operating permits.
Local environmental activist Park Overall has registered her objections to the US Nitrogen permit with the EPA.
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Yara, Praxair Permits Progress

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Tennessee environmental officials have issued a revised permit for another company sharing a Greene County site with US Nitrogen LLC, a subsidiary of an explosives manufacturer.
The conditional major source permit was issued to Yara North America, Inc. which manufactures calcium nitrate for use as a fertilizer. The Yara production facility, located in Midway, has yet to be constructed.
Meanwhile Yara and Praxair Inc., which already is located on the same Midway site as US Nitrogen, have applied for amendments to their permits to eliminate greenhouse gas requirement. Both firms also agreed to limit production to avoid stricter anti-pollution requirements for so called major pollution sources.
Praxair produces liquid carbon dioxide for use in the beverage industry.
"The facility is a true minor (source)," the Praxair submission states.
Both Praxair and Yara are seeking to be categorized as conditional major sources rather than major sources, which require stricter regulation.
Praxair has agreed to limit the annual production of liquefied carbon dioxide to 90,789 tons. If that limit is exceeded the company must report it to the state Department of Environment and Conservation. In addition, exceeding the limit could lead to the company losing its designation as a conditional major source.
Yara's permit limits its annual production of calcium nitrate to 100 tons per year. The company also stated that it will use a venturi scrubber for emission control.
As with Praxair, Yara could lose its categorization as a conditional major source if it exceeds the limits set in the permit.
The permit, signed by TDEC's Michelle Owenby, also sets limits on visible emissions.
The developments on the Praxair and Yara permits come following state approval of permits for US Nitrogen, the original occupant of the Eastern Tennessee site. The US Nitrogen permit has now been submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection for its review.
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24 million Gallons Drawn From Nolichucky

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

US Nitrogen, the Greene County chemical company, drew 24.266 million gallons of free water from the Nolichucky River during the month of August, according to a report filed with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
The filing by US Nitrogen shows that the company pumped more than 1 million gallons from the waterway on nine separate days. The highest daily total was 1.2623 million gallons.
In the same report the company reported it dumped or discharged 10.9377 gallons back into the river. The highest daily discharge was on Aug. 30 when 583,300 gallons were discharged from the company's Midway plant. On six days during the month, including Aug.17 and Aug. 18 no waste water was discharged into the river.
The total water withdrawn was slightly higher than the 23 million gallons withdrawn in July, but well below the record 38.7 million gallons withdrawn in December of 2017.
Both the discharge and uptake amounts were substantially lower than the company reported for August. Water withdrawn in August topped 24 million gallons while nearly 11 million was discharged.
TDEC recently renewed the controversial permit that allows the company to use river water to produce ammonium nitrate and other products.
The intake and discharge pumps are located at mile marker 20.8 on the Nolichucky.
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EPA Reviewing US Nitrogen Permit

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Federal officials will have 45 days to review and respond to a proposed permit for a Greene County chemical firm.
The proposed permit along with supporting documents for US Nitrogen LLC was forwarded this week to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
TDEC spokeswoman Kim Schofinski said copies of the proposed permit were also submitted to environmental officials in Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia and Knox County. A copy was also sent to the Eastern Band of Cherokees. Those notifications are required under state and federal regulations.
Schofinski said the EPA has 45 days to review the proposal and the state can't formally issue the permit until EPA notifies TDEC that they will not object to the issuance of the permit, Schofinski said.
Conditional major operating permits are generally issued for 10 years, according to TDEC.
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Scepter Fined $3,000 by TDEC

Tennessee environmental officials have fined a Greene County firm $3,000 for exceeding the emission limits on its permit on 189 days during a period of about eight months.
In an order issued this week, Michelle Owenby, a division director in the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, imposed the fine on Scepter, Inc. The violations related to a secondary aluminum processing operation.
In the order Owenby noted that her agency had the authority to impose a fine of up to $25,000 a day for violating the terms of Scepter's conditional major operating permit. That permit was initially issued on May 12, 2010 and amended in 2016 and 2018.
That permit set temperature limits on two furnaces and capped emissions of gaseous chloride and chlorine.
According to the order issued this week emissions of hydrogen chloride on one stack exceeded the maximum allowable limit on 189 days between Sept. 6, 2018 and May 22 of this year.
Furnace temperatures exceeded the permit limits on 19 occasions between July 1, 2018 and Aug. 30, 2018, according to the order.

US Nitrogen Permit Sent to EPA

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

In a massive filing Tennessee environmental officials have submitted for approval to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a new proposed permit for a Greene County chemical firm which has drawn opposition from some local residents.
The proposed conditional major operating permit, which was the subject of a public hearing in June, would authorize US Nitrogen to continue producing ammonium nitrate and other chemical compounds in Midway for its owner, the Austin Powder Co., an Ohio explosives manufacturer.
The 23-page permit will replace a series of construction permits that were issued by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Protection. The company is seeking to avoid being classified as a major source of pollutants and the stricter requirements that classification automatically triggers.
Instead the permit would set specific limits on such pollutants as carbon monoxide and nitrous oxides.
"The permittee has elected to opt out of being issued a major source operating permit," the TDEC document states, adding that normally it would be considered a major source because of its potential to emit more than 100 tons of both carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide during any 12 consecutive months.
The package, including an 18-page summary of projected emissions, was submitted to the EPA today by Michelle Owenby, head of TDEC's air pollution control division. Copies are also being submitted to other states, including Kentucky, for comment.
TDEC submitted the package without making several changes suggested by an environmental consultant retained by local activist Park Overall and and a representative of the Sierra Club.
The proposed permit does, however, require US Nitrogen to provide photographic or other visual proof that two natural gas burners be permanently disabled.
"The permittee shall submit a written notice, along with photographs or other visual evidence to the division within 30 days following the date on which the piping is removed," the proposed permit states.
In addition to authorizing the production of ammonium nitrate the permit authorizes US Nitrogen to operate a steam generating boiler, cooling towers, an anhydrous ammonia production plant, a nitric acid plant and a gasoline dispensing facility.
The permit requires the company to maintain extensive compliance records and to self report any instances in which permit limits were violated.
"Failure to abide by these limits will not only subject the permittee to enforcement action by the state of Tennessee, but it may also result in enforcement action by the EPA and the loss of being federally recognized as a conditional major source," the proposed permit states.
Other specific limits are set for visible emissions and emissions of volatile organisms compounds.
The new permit changes the frequency of deadlines the company must meet to submit compliance reports. Quarterly reports were required with the construction permits but only semi-annual reports are required under the new permit scheme.
The permit does allow for the sale of the facility to another party, but the state must be notified no later than 30 days after the change occurs. The party taking over the operation must also agree to abide by the terms of the permit.
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