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The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and Poinsett Rice and Grain, Inc. (“PRGI”) entered into an October 2nd Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing alleged violations of an air permit. See LIS No. 20-180.

The CAO provides that PRGI owns and operates a terminal grain elevator (“Facility”) in Osecola, Arkansas.

A permit for the Facility is referenced as 1207-AR-4 (“Permit”).

DEQ personnel are stated to have conducted a routine compliance inspection on November 19, 2019, of the Facility. The inspection covered the reporting period of November 1, 2017, through October 31, 2019.

The CAO provides (as referenced in Table 1) that calculated rolling 12-month totals for source group SN-07 through SN-15 indicated that the Facility exceeded the grain throughput limit of 50,004 tons of grain per rolling 12 months in December 2017 through November 2018, May 2019, and October 2019. This allegedly violated Specific Condition 8 of the Permit.

The CAO also provides (as referenced in Table 2) that the calculated rolling 12-month totals for source group SN-16 through SN-18 indicated that the Facility exceeded the grain throughput limit of 7,167 tons of grain per rolling 12 months in December 2017 through November 2018 and March 2019 through September 2019. This allegedly violated Specific Condition 8 of the Permit.

The inspection is also stated to have indicated that in July 2018 PRGI constructed and operated a stationary source identified as a barge loadout without obtaining a permit modification.

PRGI stated in correspondence to DEQ that its recordkeeping spreadsheet has been updated and will be kept up to date. Further, on April 6, 2020, the Facility is stated to have submitted a permit modification application requesting that the barge loadout be included in the Permit. The application has been deemed administratively complete and is currently in review by DEQ.

The CAO requires that until DEQ issues a final permitting decision, the Facility operate under the throughput, emission, and operational limits outlined in the administratively complete permit modification application. Further, it is required to keep records to demonstrate compliance with these limits. If the application for permit modification is denied, the Facility is required to immediately cease operation of the barge loadout and continue to operate under the conditions of the current Permit.

A civil penalty of $5,220 is assessed.

A copy of the CAO can be downloaded here.