SCIOTO COUNTY, Ohio — The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is moving to reauthorize operations at a major Southern Ohio chemical plant, advancing a proposed Title V permit renewal that locks in legal emission limits for hundreds of tons of hazardous air pollutants and fugitive gases.
The proposed renewal grants ALTIVIA Petrochemicals, LLC the continued legal authority to operate its complex network of oxidation, distillation, and wastewater treatment units. Currently under a 45-day review window by the U.S. EPA, the 147-page document reveals the exact thresholds of airborne toxins the Scioto County plant is permitted to release into the surrounding community.
The Fugitive Footprint: Sanctioned Leaks
According to the company, the facility utilizes heavy-duty pollution control devices to incinerate chemical byproducts, the permit renewal authorizes massive allowances for “fugitive emissions”—the uncaptured, unintentional leaks of hazardous gases that escape directly into the atmosphere from thousands of valves, pumps, and flanges across the property.
Under the renewed limits, the facility is permitted to leak up to:
187 tons per year of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).
193 tons per year of Ammonia.
80 tons per year of Acetone.
Combustion and Process Releases
To manage the bulk of its chemical waste, the ALTIVIA plant routes vapors from its manufacturing units—including the Cumene Oxidation, Phenol II, and Phenol Wastewater Treatment plants—into a shared Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer (RTO). The RTO operates at a minimum of 1,476 degrees Fahrenheit to destroy at least 99% of the routed VOCs.
However, the destruction process is not absolute. The renewed permit explicitly caps the RTO’s exhaust stack releases at:
27.04 tons per year of VOCs (including acetone).
33.11 tons per year of Carbon Monoxide (CO).
7.25 tons per year of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx).
3.0 tons per year of Particulate Matter.
A separate Catalytic Oxidizer serving the Phenol III process unit is authorized to emit 12.64 tons per year of VOCs, 7.54 tons per year of NOx, and 0.90 tons per year of Acetone.
The permit also establishes limits for emissions that bypass the oxidizers entirely. For example, the Phenol Wastewater Treatment unit is permitted to release up to 34.95 tons per year of VOCs, 33.82 tons per year of Ammonia, and 4.33 tons per year of Acetone directly from its holding tanks and biological treatment basins. Non-oxidizer equipment within the Phenol II unit is capped at 38.04 tons per year of VOCs, while the AMS Distillation and AMS Hydrogenation units are limited to 11.03 tons and 3.05 tons of VOCs, respectively. Additionally, the facility’s 267.65 MMBtu/hr natural gas boiler is restricted to emitting 0.0336 pounds of NOx and 0.073 pounds of CO per million British Thermal Units of heat input.
Federal Consent Decrees and 2027 Deadlines
The renewal also incorporates structural changes stemming from a November 2022 federal consent decree (United States v. Altivia Petrochemicals, LLC), which legally forced the company to implement new controls, such as routing the VOC emissions from a specific oxidation reactor feed surge drum (Vessel 202-F) directly into the RTO. In 2022, the United States government required Altivia to pay a $1,112,500 civil penalty and improve leak detection and repair work practices to settle violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA).
The permit also outlines a looming regulatory cliff. The document notes recent revisions to the federal Hazardous Organic NESHAP (HON) rules, granting the plant a grace period until July 15, 2027, to comply with stricter federal mandates regarding pressure relief valve releases, bypass line monitoring, and closed-vent system requirements.
