Both facilities exceeded permitted effluent limits numerous times during the review period. Industrial wastewater - At its East Grand Forks, Minn., facility, the company failed to monitor for total and dissolved mercury four times per year during 2020 and had eight unauthorized wastewater discharges between 20. The district operates a domestic wastewater treatment facility near Warroad, Minn. Municipal wastewater - Springsteel Island Sanitary District discharged phosphorus at levels that exceeded its permit on more than 30 occasions since 2013. Solid waste - The company failed to operate the facility to minimize contamination of soils from solid waste and to prevent pollution of groundwater and surface water by the intentional release of diesel fuel and burned prohibited materials. These construction stormwater violations can lead to excess sediment and other pollutants leaving a construction site and negatively impacting area wetlands, streams, or rivers. The company also missed deadlines for testing pollution emissions and submitting those results to the MPCA.Ĭonstruction stormwater - The company failed to install measures required to stabilize soil, prevent erosion, and contain sediment at the Cardinal Pines II construction project near Staples, Minn. The developments, known as Winkler Crossing 3rd and 4th additions, are located in Carver County, near Cologne, Minn.Īir quality - The company exceeded air emissions limits for small and very small particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) by up to 60 percent above permitted limits at its metal shredding facility in Becker, Minn. Louis Park, Minn.Ĭonstruction stormwater - During 20, repeat stormwater violations at two housing developments owned by Loomis Homes, LLC, created potential for environmental harm. The fuel flowed into a stormwater culvert and entered nearby Battle Creek, which is on the MPCA's impaired waters list for threats to aquatic life.Īboveground tanks - In May 2022, approximately 300 gallons of fuel spilled from an above ground storage tank when the company failed to comply with safety practices for fuel transfer at POET Biorefining's ethanol production facility in Glenville, Minn.Īir quality - The company installed and modified equipment without authorization and failed a number of record-keeping requirements at its Nordic Ware brand cookware and bakeware manufacturing facility in St. Industrial stormwater - In July 2021, several hundred gallons of diesel fuel spilled from a punctured locomotive fuel tank at the Saint Paul switchyard operated by Soo Line Railroad Co., dba Canadian Pacific. The violations occurred at the company's ethanol production facility in Luverne, Minn. $5.02 million (includes $2.625 million toward environmental projects)Īir quality - The company exceeded air pollutant emissions and failed to keep required equipment testing and maintenance records. Net penalty amounts of $5,000 or more Public dateĬonstruction stormwater - The MPCA investigation found that Enbridge Energy violated a series of regulations and requirements during construction of the Line 3 pipeline replacement including discharging construction stormwater into wetlands and inadvertently releasing drilling mud into surface waters at 12 locations from June 8 to Aug. More details on all 153 cases completed during the second half of 2022 can be found on the MPCA’s Compliance and Enforcement web page. Agency staff continue to provide assistance, support, and information on the steps and tools necessary to bring any company, individual, or local government back into compliance. Imposing monetary penalties is only part of the MPCA’s enforcement process. 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. Environmental enforcement investigations often take several months, in some cases more than a year, to complete the investigation and issue final enforcement documents to regulated parties. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) closed 153 enforcement cases for water quality, air quality, waste, stormwater, and wastewater violations in the second half of 2022.
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