Enviros, tribes seek to overturn new fert. plant permit

Boise-The Idaho Conservation League, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and the Sierra Club have filed a petition with the Idaho Board of Environmental Quality to protest the state’s issuance of an air quality permit for a $1 billion coal gasification fertilizer plant near American Falls. On Feb. 10, the Idaho Department of Energy issued the permit to Southeast Idaho Energy (SIE), a subsidiary of Refined Energy Holdings of New York, authorizing SIE to construct the plant, which would produce up to 500 st/d of anhydrous ammonia, up to 1,800 st/d of granular urea, and up to 1,600 st/d of UAN. “This single source would amount to 5 percent of Idaho’s annual C02 emissions – a very large step in the wrong direction for Idaho as the country and the world are focusing on ways to significantly cut greenhouse gases,” the groups said in their March 17 petition. The groups ask that the permit be reviewed because their concerns during a public comment period were not adequately addressed. They contend the permit must be invalidated because many of its conditions violate the federal Clean Air Act, its implementing regulations, and Idaho air regulations. They say the permit fails to demonstrate the project will not cause nor contribute to violating fine particulate standards. The groups also accuse IDEQ of failing to use Best Available Control Technology (BACT) standards in setting emission limits for particulates, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides. The IDEQ also failed to consider sulfur dioxide flares, carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gas emissions, they argue. On March 18, SIE agreed with the ICL, the Sierra Club, and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes to stay the contested case process until April 17 so they could work together to address concerns and avoid the need to continue through the contested case process, which “would hinder the opportunity for good faith negotiations to resolve the concerns of the petitioners.” Representatives of the company and the groups met March 24 in San Francisco to try to resolve their differences. Although they did not reach a consensus, participants described the meeting as constructive. Other meetings are likely.