Several businesses and a community fire department agreed to pay civil penalties to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for water quality, air quality, waste, stormwater and wastewater violations in the first half of 2024.
More than 100 penalties were handed out.
Penalties are calculated using several factors, including harm done or potential for harm to the environment, the economic benefit the company gained by failing to comply with environmental laws, or how responsive and cooperative a regulated party was in correcting problems.
Local penalties were:
• The Henderson Fire Department will pay $10,813 for failing to obtain a burning permit and remove prohibited materials, including asbestos, prior to conducting a training burn project in 2022.
• Heartland Corn Products in Winthrop will pay $11,200 after tests showed the ethanol facility emitted both volatile organic compounds and particulate matter above what is allowed by its permit.
A carbon dioxide scrubber failed an emission stack test for emitting volatile organic compounds at a rate of 37% above the permitted limit. The investigation confirmed that due to a misinterpretation of pretest numbers, operating levels for the scrubber had been set too low. Another stack test on this scrubber, two months later, demonstrated compliance.
A filtering baghouse also failed a stack test for emitting particulate matter or PM, small particulate matter or PM10, and very small particulate matter or PM2.5 at a rate of 120% above permitted limits. Additional investigation showed that one of the bags in the baghouse was not properly installed, leading to a decrease in the control efficiency of the baghouse. The company corrected the problem and a stack test the following month demonstrated compliance.
Heartland Corn Products has completed all required corrective actions.
• Agropur Inc., doing business as Le Sueur Cheese Co., applied too much industrial byproduct to the land, resulting in rates of nitrogen and phosphorus that exceeded the allowed limits by more than 10%. The violations occurred in 2022 near its cheese production facility in Le Sueur.
MPCA staff said the company also filed false or inaccurate information on annual reports, failed to issue reports in a timely manner to the MPCA, failed to keep adequate records and to collect and analyze soil samples every three years.
The company is paying a $11,823 civil penalty and has completed a series of corrective actions.
• Stickney Hill Dairy will pay a nearly $15,000 fine and take corrective steps for improperly discharging industrial waste into a city curb and gutter stormwater system in Nicollet.
An MPCA investigation found that the dairy discharged an undetermined amount of raw goat milk product on April 11, 2023, and May 19, 2023.
• Alliance Building Corp. had construction stormwater violations at Sleepy Eye Apartments after failure to prevent liquid washout of waste and failure to identify corrective actions.
An MPCA staff inspection in summer 2023 confirmed other violations including, failing to document the estimated quantities of soil erosion prevention and sediment control best management practices for the project.
The Sauk Rapids company will pay a $14,475 civil penalty and has completed a series of corrective actions.