The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality (DAQ) has issued an air permit for International Tie Disposal, LLC, a wood and railroad tie pyrolysis and biochar production facility in Richmond County. After a comprehensive outreach process, including a public meeting and public hearing, DAQ added permit requirements to address concerns raised by the community.
Division staff thoroughly reviewed the comments received on the draft permit during the public hearing and comment period. DAQ requested additional information and reviewed air quality modeling submitted by the facility. The modeling analysis included an assessment of the facility’s emissions and incorporated nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from a nearby facility. The analysis showed the facility could operate in compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
The final permit includes several additional conditions to address issues raised during the public process:
- Restrictions of operations to no more than 62 kilns conducting pyrolysis at any one time.
- Documentation of each batch start and end times.
- Verification of emissions during initial testing with side-by-side comparison to permit application emission factors.
- The facility must request and gain approval from DAQ prior to reducing the testing frequency to every 3 years.
The testing and documentation conditions will be used to confirm the facility is operating as represented in the permit application, meeting the thresholds of the synthetic minor permit category and in compliance with the terms of the permit.
The final permit, final permit review, hearing officer’s report, Director’s memo, and environmental justice report are available on the department’s webpage here.