While U.S. Nitrogen LLC’s construction of a new $220 million liquid ammonium nitrate plant is well underway near rural Mosheim, Tenn., having broken ground nearly two years ago, the local water district and wastewater treatment plant will not be sufficient to meet its needs. Initial plans had called for the company to get all of its water from the local district and send it all to the local wastewater treatment plant.
U.S. Nitrogen, a unit of Austin Powder, Cleveland, Ohio, is now seeking permits to build a 10-mile pipeline from the Nolichucky River from which to source its water for its manufacturing process. The line would be built along Greene County existing roadway right-of-ways. Once obtained, the river water would have to undergo the company’s own treatment process before being used. Once used, the water would again need to be treated before going back to the river. When it does, it would add about 20 pounds of ammonia per day to the stream. U.S. Nitrogen says this is within U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards. Environmentalists, however, are concerned as the Nolichucky already has an “impaired” river designation from the EPA. In total, the company now says it will need 1.45 million gallons per day and will pipe 570 gallons back to the river, according to the local Greeneville Sun.
U.S. Nitrogen would still source some potable water from the local water district for its offices. This wastewater from this would go to the treatment plant.
The Sun reported that the local wastewater treatment plant in July 2013 received a notification of violation and the Town of Mosheim was fined $20,000. Reportedly, the facility had not used appropriate sand filters for four years. The small town, population 2,362, was riveted four years ago when two treatment plant employees were killed in a plant accident.
U.S. Nitrogen still has the option of sending its treated river water for disposal in Lick Creek, piggy-backing on water disposed from the local treatment plant. However, the company is concerned about the prospects for the treatment plant’s permit renewal in 2015, as well as the extent of its permit limits.
Actress and environmental activist Park Overall is keeping close tabs on the project and complains that the $20,000 fine essentially shows that the local treatment plant has had no oversight by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and EPA for four years. Overall is also troubled that by late 2013 permit filings for two new plants at the site, one by Yara North America to make calcium nitrate, and another to by an unnamed company to make liquefied carbon dioxide (GM Dec. 16, p. 1). She argues that U.S. Nitrogen should have made its expansion plans known when it made its original filing in 2011.
In the meantime, citizens who were unhappy about the speedy 2011 rezoning and approval of the project by the Greene County Planning Commission and Greene County Commission will soon have their day in court. The citizens say they were not given proper notice of the rezoning. According to the Sun, the case is slated to go to trial March 17. However, in a county with sustained unemployment of over 10 percent, there would be a lot of pressure to continue with the project, which has been under construction since February 2012. It is due to being production this year. The initial project promised some 80 full-time jobs, and the two new plants proposed for the project in late 2013 should add more.