Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Media contact: Mark Sulzbach, 651-296-7768 Technical contact: Amrill Okonkwo, 651-296-7009 St. Paul, Minn.-The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) will hold a public information meeting on Tuesday, June 28, to explain the proposed air emissions permit for Flint Hills Resources' Pine Bend refinery located in Rosemount, Minn. The meeting will be from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Administration Center of the Dakota County Government Complex located at 1590 West Highway 55, Hastings, Minn. It will give the public the opportunity to ask questions about the air permit proposed for this highly complex facility. The public comment period for the proposed permit began May 19 and will run through July 8, 2005. Flint Hills' Pine Bend refinery currently has separate permits for each emission source at the facility. The company has applied to the MPCA for a federal Title V or Part 70 permit, which has stricter requirements than the permits the facility currently operates under. The Title V permit also gathers all of the applicable federal, state and local air pollution regulations of the facility into one permit and ties them to specific pieces of equipment at the refinery. Permits contain a wide range of requirements to minimize the impact of air emissions. The Title V permit must be renewed every five years. Draft documents for the permit are available online at/news/data/index.cfm?PN=1 and by looking under "May 2005." For additional questions or comments about the permit, contact Amrill Okonkwo of the MPCA at 651-296-7009.