Public Notice
Mississippi Environmental Quality Permit Board
P. O. Box 2261 | Jackson, MS 39225
515 East Amite St. | Jackson, MS 39201
Telephone No. (601) 961-5171

Public Notice Start Date: June 11, 2025	MDEQ Contact: Chappell Ford

JP Oil Company LLC, Lake Como Field, located at 95 County Road 2337,   in Bay Springs, MS, (601) 433-0946 (S. King), has applied to the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) for the following permitting action(s):  Ref. No. 1320-00017. The applicant's operations fall within SIC Code 1311.  A Statement of Basis has been prepared that contains a discussion of the decision-making that went into the development of the permit and provides the permitting authority, the public, and other government bodies a record of the technical issues surrounding issuance of the permit. The Statement of Basis also addresses any changes to emissions and/or discharges resulting from any modification of the facility.  
J.P. Oil owns and operates a typical oil and gas production facility that treats production from Smackover 5-1, Smackover 9-1, Smackover 8-1, and Smackover 8-2. The facility primarily recovers crude oil and natural gas and separates them into marketable products. 
The wells use a power-fluids lifting system in which injected fluid is pressurized at the surface via electric pumps and sent downhole to lift production from the wells. Production is routed to individual low pressure separators. Gas from the separators is routed to a control flare. Oil from Smackovers 5-1 and 9-1 are routed to a gun barrel tank before being pumped downhole to lift production from the wells. Any oil that is not used is routed to a tank for storage until hauled off-site by tank truck. Oil from the separators associated with Smackovers 8-1 and 8-2 is routed to a gun barrel before being used to lift production from the wells. Any unused oil is routed to individual on-site tanks until hauled off-site by truck for sales. Vapors associated with the tanks are routed to the control flare except during sampling from the thief hatch. Water from the separators is routed to an on-site tank for storage until pumped to a facility for disposal.
The facility’s uncontrolled potential-to-emit (PTE) exceeds the Title V major source threshold of 100 tons per year (tpy) for each of the following criteria air pollutants: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and Sulfur Dioxide (SO2).  Thus, the facility will route all produced gas to a flare with a destruction efficiency of 98%. The destruction of the produced gas will lead to the formation of SO2 emissions, potentially causing the facility to have the potential of becoming subject to the PSD program. The facility will implement a crude oil production throughput limit of 98,185 barrels per year and produced gas limit of 113.76 MMscf per year to restrict SO2 emissions to below the PSD threshold but greater than the Title V major source threshold.
The facility’s uncontrolled potential-to-emit hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) exceeds the Title V major source thresholds of 25 tpy of total HAPs and 10 tpy for any individual HAP. The facility will limit any individual HAP and total HAP emissions to below the major source thresholds by routing all produced gas to the flare.
The staff of the Permit Board has developed this draft permit based on information submitted to the Permit Board by the applicant, appropriate State and Federal agencies and other interested parties. The staff of the Permit Board is soliciting all relative information pertaining to the proposed activity, including public comment, to ensure that the final staff recommendation on the draft permit complies with all State and Federal regulations. Public review and comment on the draft permit and supporting documentation is an important element in the staff evaluation and resulting recommendation to the Permit Board. The draft permit conditions have been developed to ensure compliance with all State and Federal regulations but are subject to change based on information received as a result of public participation.
Persons wishing to comment upon or object to the proposed determinations are invited to submit comments in writing to Chappell Ford at https://www.mdeq.ms.gov/Ford-Chappell/ or to the Permit Board address shown above, no later than the end of the thirty (30) day public notice. All comments received by this date will be considered in the formulation of final determinations regarding the application(s).  A public hearing will be held if the Permit Board finds a significant degree of public interest in the proposed permit(s). Persons wishing to request a public hearing may do so by submitting that request in writing to Chappell Ford at https://www.mdeq.ms.gov/Ford-Chappell/ or to the Permit Board address shown above.  The Permit Board is limited in the scope of its analysis to environmental impact.  Any comments relative to zoning or economic and social impacts are within the jurisdiction of local zoning and planning authorities and should be addressed to them.
After receipt of public comments and thorough consideration of all comments, the staff will formulate its recommendations for permit issuance and a proposed permit if that is the recommendation. The Title V Permit to Operate is a permit that is required by Title V of the Federal Clean Air Act and the Mississippi Air and Water Pollution Control Law. The Title V permit is a Federally-enforceable permit as well as a State permit.  Therefore, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will also be allowed an opportunity to review the application, proposed permit, and all comments received during the public comment period prior to Permit Board action on the application. 
The status regarding EPA’s 45-day review of this project and the deadline for citizen’s petitions can be found at the following website address:  https://www.epa.gov/caa-permitting/mississippi-proposed-title-v-permits 
Additional details about the application, including a copy of the draft permit, are available by writing or calling the Public Records Request Officer at the above Permit Board address and telephone number or by completing the form at the following website:  https://www.mdeq.ms.gov/about-mdeq/public-records-request/public-records-request-form/.  Additionally, a copy of the draft permit and statement of basis may be found on the MDEQ’s website at: https://opc.deq.state.ms.us/publicnotice.aspx. This information is also available for review at the office of the MDEQ at the Permit Board address shown above during normal business hours. Please bring the foregoing to the attention of persons whom you know will be interested.