Austin Powder to build nitrogen complex in Tennessee; to include ANSOL, NH3, and nitric acid

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Austin Powder Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, through a new subsidiary, U.S. Nitrogen LLC, plans to build a new liquid ammonium nitrate plant (ANSOL or ANS) with a capacity of 420 st/d near the small town of Mosheim, in Greene County in Eastern Tennessee. Some five buildings, including an anhydrous ammonia (200 st/d) facility and nitric acid (330 st/d) plant, will be constructed on the 400-acre site. It will include a two-to-three-story cooling tower.

“We are hopeful that the permitting process will go well and that we will be a corporate citizen of Greene County very soon,” said Jim Boldt, Austin Powder vice president and CFO. “The county offers a great workforce, a great business climate, and tremendous transportation accessibility. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the people here.”

Austin says the site is within a 250 mile radius of 70-75 percent of its customers. It plans to ship the product to its manufacturing sites in Ohio and elsewhere for further upgrading into explosives. Austin assured local officials than no actual explosives would be made at the site. The site is about a mile off Interstate 81 and not far from I-40, I-75, and I-74. A Norfolk Southern Railroad track adjoins the property, and a rail link will be built into the plant. The company expects to send some 20 truckloads of product out of the plant each day, and will also ship product out by rail.

Austin said some front-end products for the plant will arrive by railcar and be unloaded at the plant.

The plant will take up about 50 acres of the 400-acre site, allowing plenty of green space between it and neighbors. The site is in a rural area near the intersection of I-81 and Highway 11-E, with a large Walmart Distribution Center close by.

The East Tennessee Gas Co. pipeline is only one mile away and will supply the company’s gas needs. It will procure water (800 gallons per minute) from the local water district and dispose of it in the Mosheim Sewer system.

Annual utility costs are expected to be $23.8 million.

Austin said the plant will have state-of-the-art safety and environmental safeguards to protect workers and the environment.

Austin pegs its total investment at $110 million, with some $35-$40 million in construction. The plant is expected to create some 80 full-time permanent employees in a county with 12 percent unemployment. The annual payroll will be $4 million. S&B Engineers and Constructors, Houston, is the general contractor. The construction phase will require 120 full-time skilled workers.

Austin Powder, in operation since 1833, says its positive treatment of employees has led to an average longevity rate of more than 20 years at its plant in southern Ohio.

The local Greene County Commission on Feb. 22 voted unanimously to approve the site’s rezoning from agricultural and industrial to heavy industrial. Thereafter, Austin joined local and state officials, including Governor Bill Haslam, to celebrate.

The company expects to submit air and water permit applications in March; after an expected four-month review process, construction should start in July or August, with the plant being in production by the end of 2012.

Despite the fast-track approval by local officials, opposition has assembled quickly, saying the approval process was too fast and violated Tennessee’s Open Meetings Act. Notice of the County Commission meeting and the new plant was published in the local paper Feb. 19, just a few days prior to the Feb. 22 commission meeting. As a result, some citizens said that while they may actually support the plant, they do not like the way local officials have rushed to approve it, without hearings, public comment, etc. They have hired a prominent Knoxville attorney, Herbert Moncier, known for taking on high profile cases. Some five citizens against the project, including Moncier, addresse