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The Tennessee Air Pollution Control Board (“Board”) issued a February 6th Technical Secretary’s Order and Assessment of Civil Penalty (“Order”) to Jones Fiber Products, Inc. (“JFPI”) See Case No. APC17-0166.

The Order describes the JFPI facility as operating a cotton batting materials product process with a natural gas thermal bonding oven drum in Morristown, Tennessee.

The facility is stated to have been issued an operating permit on March 6, 2013. Condition 6 of the operating permit states:

Visible emissions from this source shall not exhibit greater than twenty percent (20%) opacity except for one six-minute (6) period per one (1) hour or more than twenty four (24) minutes in any twenty four (24) hours. Visible emissions from this source shall be determined by EPA Method 9, as published in the current 40 CFR 60, Appendix A (six minute average).

The Division of Air Pollution Control (“Division”) is stated to have received a citizen complaint regarding the facility on August 23, 2017. The complaint alleged that JFPI was “covering the area with smoke.”

A Division inspector is stated to have conducted a visible emissions evaluation (“VEE”) on or about August 29, 2017, at the JFPI facility. It is further stated that during the VEE, the facility had two periods of six-minute averages in excess of the 20% opacity standard. The two six-minute average periods were stated to be 35% and 33.96%.

A “follow-up” VEE was stated to have been conducted at the JFPI facility on or about September 5, 2017. The second VEE is stated to have included two periods of six-minute averages in excess of the 20% opacity standard. The two six-minute average periods were stated to be 40.83% and 40.63%.

A follow-up inspection on December 21, 2017, by Division personnel determined that all operations were running and visible emissions from the facility were in compliance with Condition 6 of the permit.

The Order assesses a civil penalty of $1,500.

A copy of the Order can be downloaded here.