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St. Paul, Minn. — The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and
the United States Environmental Protection Agency have reached a settlement
with the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative over water and air quality
pollution violations. The cooperative has agreed to correct the violations and will
pay more than $1.5 million in penalties. The violations, which occurred over a
period of years at the co-op’s processing plant near Renville, included
excessive hydrogen sulfide emissions, which cause odors and can be harmful to
human health, and wastewater discharges, which resulted in a fish kill in Beaver
Creek.
The agreement reached by the MPCA and EPA is a consent
decree (agreement) filed in district court. It addresses wastewater violations
of the federal Clean Water Act, and of the co-op’s wastewater permit.
Monitoring of discharged water from the plant’s wastewater
treatment system showed numerous, ongoing water quality violations from 2009 to
2015. Violations involved releasing untreated or undertreated wastewater, exceeding
pollution limits, and failures in operation and maintenance.
The agreement requires the co-op to prepare a contingency
plan, conduct regular monitoring and sampling, prepare models to predict
possible violations, submit timely reports, and pay a $1 million penalty. In
addition, the co-op must pay more than $49,000 to the Dept. of Natural
Resources in restitution for the August 2013 fish kill in Beaver Creek.
A separate agreement with the Minnesota Pollution Control
Agency addresses air pollution violations. The company will take additional
steps to curb hydrogen sulfide air emissions, and pay a $485,000 civil penalty.
Beyond the so-called ‘rotten egg’ odor, excessive hydrogen sulfide in the air
is harmful to human health.
According to monitoring data from 2012 through 2014, there were
a total of 780 violations of hydrogen sulfide air quality limits. The emissions
occur primarily from large wastewater storage ponds in the processing plant’s
wastewater treatment system.
According to the company, possible contributing factors
included mild winter weather that allowed the ponds to be active earlier in the
season, lack of rain for dilution, spoiling beet storage piles, and water
transfer between treatment system ponds.
To control hydrogen sulfide emissions under the agreement,
the company will use chemical treatment, manage wastewater ponds to prevent
emissions, and increase monitoring where necessary. The company has through
2016 to revise the management plan if violations persist. By 2017, if
violations continue, there may be additional penalties.
Founded in 1974, the cooperative has more than 500
shareholders that produce about three million tons of sugar beets annually,
raised on more than 100,000 acres in central Minnesota.
When calculating
penalties, the MPCA takes into account how seriously the violations affected
the environment, whether they were first-time or repeat violations, and how
promptly the violations were reported to authorities. The agency also attempts
to recover the calculated economic benefit gained by failure to comply with
environmental laws in a timely manner. For a comprehensive list of enforcement
actions, refer to the MPCA’s Quarterly Summary of
Enforcement Actions
webpage.
Broadcast version
State and federal regulators have reached a settlement with
the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative over water and air quality
pollution violations. The cooperative has agreed to correct the violations and
will pay more than 1.5 million dollars in penalties.
The violations, which occurred over a period of years at the
co-op’s processing plant near Renville, included excessive hydrogen sulfide
emissions, which cause foul odors and can be harmful to human health, and
discharging untreated wastewater, which resulted in a fish kill in Beaver
Creek.
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The mission of the MPCA is to protect and improve the environment and enhance human health.
St. Paul • Brainerd • Detroit Lakes • Duluth • Mankato • Marshall • Rochester • Willmar
www.pca.state.mn.us • Toll-free and TDD 800-657-3864
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