I suspect there are two main drivers for operating at 2000lbs/hr/processor until the SW permit is officially amended.
1. I suspect the biggest driver is risk management. JB is smart enough to not make his daily business function dependent on a regulatory process he has no control over. If JBI ran at double the rate right now and burned up its alotted plastic for a quarter before a quarter ended, what would JBI do if the amendment takes longer than expected? What if something completely unrelated to JBI or their amendment brings the NYDEC to a crawl, such as the fracking issue pulling even more personnel away from their regular responsibilities? JBI would have to go idle and that would be bad, bad, bad on several levels.
2. I think a second logical reason to do 2000lbs/hr right now is ramp up. The new and improved machine just got running and this will be the first time the plant runs at commercial production rates regularly. So, why would JB be dumb enough to run the plant at maximum capcity right off the bat? The answer is he wouldnt be. I am sure his position is lets run at the 2000 rate for a few weeks and get all the pieces of the daily process running flawlessly, with no kinks, before moving up to 4000lbs/hr.
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