Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Contact: Anne Moore, 218-302-6605 Duluth, Minn. -- The Cook County Highway Department and Northland Constructors of Duluth, LLC, have paid a $22,000 civil penalty to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) for alleged water quality violations and performed all stipulated activities. During fall 2008 road construction work near Town Ditch/Nature Boy Brook in Grand Marais, a Cook County planning and zoning inspector observed discolored, sediment-laden stormwater flowing from the site into the ditch and extending approximately 1,300 feet along the Lake Superior shoreline. The Cook County Highway Department was installing stormwater infrastructure and repaving approximately 7,000 feet of roadway within Grand Marais city limits. The work was conducted under a state-issued National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System/State Disposal System (NPDES/SDS) permit. Minnesota law requires facilities that have NPDES/SDS permits to maintain and operate temporary and permanent erosion- and sediment-control best management practices to protect surface waters from impacts caused by stormwater-related erosion and runoff. For a comprehensive list of enforcement actions by the MPCA, refer to the agency Web site at hhref="/newscenter/enforcement.html.