Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Contact: Stephen Mikkelson, 218-855-5001 Brainerd, Minn. -- Liberty Paper Inc., and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) have reached an agreement that requires the company to pay $14,000 for alleged air quality violations at its cardboard reprocessing facility near Becker, Minn. The violations included building and operating a facility that generates air emissions without a permit, which is in violation of federal and state rules. Records also showed that the facility exceeded its permitted annual volatile organic compound emission thresholds four times from 1998 to 2001. The violations have been corrected and the $14,000 civil penalty has been paid. When calculating penalties, the MPCA takes into account how seriously the violation affected the environment, whether it is a first time or repeat violation and how promptly the violation was reported to appropriate authorities. It 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 by the MPCA, refer to the agency Web site at www.pca.state.mn.us/newscenter/enforcement.html.