Minnesota Firms Penalized for Pollution

Six northwest Minnesota businesses and one city have been penalized so far this year after the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency completed its latest round of enforcement investigations

In total, the agency finished 58 investigations in the first quarter of 2015. The cases spanned 34 counties with fines totaling $346,736.

The investigations seek to determine if an entity is not complying with state law and permits, MPCA spokesman Stephen Mikkelson said.

The cases can start as the result of regular inspections, complaints from the public or from self-reporting measures required of certain permits or programs.

Violations can ranges from minor infractions such as recordkeeping mistakes to major ones such as failing to obtain a permit or having odorous wastewater ponds that make residents sick.

Seven of the cases involved companies and one city in Beltrami, Clearwater, Crow Wing, Koochiching and Polk counties, all of which included water quality violations involving wastewater, stormwater or feedlots. The penalties imposed in those cases totaled nearly $15,700.

Local cases

The city of Erskine's wastewater treatment plant received the highest penalty in the area from the agency at $4,773 for a water quality violation.

An administrative penalty order from the MPCA sent to city officials notes the city was penalized for a wastewater violation.City staff did not respond to a request for comment from the Herald.

The penalty was the second the city has incurred in the past five years, according to MPCA enforcement records. The previous incident was a solid waste violation with a penalty of $2,625.

Another area case involved theAmerican Crystal Sugarfacility in East Grand Forks, which was penalized $3,650. The penalty order notes the organization failed to notify the state following an overflow of discharge from its wastewater pit on Feb. 27, 2013. It also did not take "immediate action to minimize or abate pollution to waters of the state," the order said.

That violation is the third that facility has incurred in the past five years, with prior cases wrapping up in 2012 and 2014 including penalties of $24,943 and $5,625 respectively. Both of those violations were for air quality violations.

American Crystal Sugar officials did not return the Herald's request for comment.

Other area cases closed the first quarter of 2015 were investigating Anderson Contracting Inc. in Solway, East Koochiching Sanitary Sewer District in International Falls, Rolfson Farms in Bagley and Lakes State Bank and Vanman Architects and Builders Inc., both in Baxter.

Over the course of the past five years, at least 42 enforcement cases have been completed in northwest Minnesota.

Source: Grand Forks Herald

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• Sludge Separation
• Water Law
• Pollution