State Denies Public Hearing for Industrial Air Permit | The Locally Times
Missouri's DNR will not hold a public hearing for Superior Industrial Solutions' air permit application, a procedure also used for a Scott City grain facility's permit in January 2026.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is accepting public feedback on a new air pollution permit for Superior Industrial Solutions Inc., but residents will have no opportunity to ask questions or state their concerns in a public forum. According to state public notices, the window for submitting written comments on the company's draft intermediate operating permit closes on March 8, 2026. The notices specify that no public meeting or hearing has been scheduled. The decision confines public participation to written submissions, a one-way process that prevents the dialogue and direct questioning of regulators that public hearings are designed to facilitate. The state’s review of the company’s application to emit pollutants into the air will proceed without this traditional avenue of public scrutiny, placing the burden on residents to navigate a complex regulatory process with limited information. ## Notices Lack Key Data on Location, Pollutants The public notices from the DNR provide minimal information about the permit, omitting details essential for an informed public assessment. The records do not specify the physical location of the Superior Industrial Solutions Inc. facility. Without a location, it is impossible for residents to know which neighborhoods, schools, or vulnerable populations are in proximity to the potential new source of air pollution. The notices also fail to describe the nature of the company’s industrial processes or the specific types and quantities of air pollutants that the draft permit would allow the company to release. Furthermore, the state’s documentation does not define what an intermediate operating permit entails or explain how its requirements might differ from a standard or major source air permit. This missing context leaves the public unable to gauge the scale of the operation or the stringency of the environmental oversight, making it difficult to formulate substantive comments on the permit’s potential effects. ## Process Mirrors Other Recent Permit Reviews The procedure for the Superior Industrial Solutions permit is not an isolated case. A review of the DNR’s public notices reveals a similar process was used for another recent industrial air permit. State records show that Consolidated Grain and Barge in Scott City also sought a draft intermediate operating permit under the Air Pollution Control Program. That permit’s public comment period ran from January 30, 2026, to March 1, 2026. As with the Superior Industrial Solutions permit, the public notices for Consolidated Grain and Barge specified that no public meeting or hearing was scheduled. The use of this procedure for at least two separate intermediate operating permits suggests a pattern in how the DNR handles this class of air quality regulation, limiting public engagement to written feedback. ## Burden of Analysis Falls to Residents By forgoing public hearings, the state’s regulatory process places the full weight of investigation on individual citizens. Residents are expected to find the public notice, seek out complex permit application documents that are not included with the notice, and provide analysis in writing without a forum for clarification or direct dialogue with regulators. Comments are submitted into a system with no guarantee of a specific public response. As the March 8 deadline for the Superior Industrial Solutions permit approaches, residents are left with a limited ability to influence a decision that could directly affect the air they breathe. The public records do not indicate what steps follow the close of the comment period or when the DNR will make a final decision on the permit.