Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Contact: Ralph Pribble, 651-296-7792 St. Paul, Minn. -- The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has completed an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) for a proposed ethanol plant near Erskine, in Polk County, Minn. The public comment period for the EAW ends Jan. 17, 2008. Agassiz Energy is proposing to build the corn ethanol production facility near Erskine, with the capacity to produce 70 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol annually, using coal for steam generation. As a by-product, the facility would also produce up to 228,545 tons of dried distillers grains a year, or, alternatively, up to 714,202 tons of wet distillers grains. The plant would use a maximum of 783 gallons of water per minute from groundwater sources. The facility would not discharge wastewater. A public informational meeting on the EAW will be held on Dec. 19, 2007, at 7:00 p.m., at the Win-E-Mac school in Erskine. MPCA staff will also be available 30 minutes prior to the meeting to answer questions in an open house format in the school commons area. The EAW is a preliminary environmental review of how a proposed project could potentially affect the environment. The EAW also helps the MPCA determine if an Environmental Impact Statement, a more in-depth environmental review, is needed. The EAW is necessary for the MPCA to issue permits for the project. The MPCA may make changes to the permits based on input it receives during the EAW public comment period and/or on new information gathered as part of its own review of the project. Comments on the Agassiz Energy ethanol project EAW must be submitted in writing by Jan. 17, 2008, to Mike Rafferty, MPCA, 520 Lafayette Road, St. Paul, MN 55155-4194. Copies of the EAW are available for review on the Web at www.pca.state.mn.us/news/eaw/index.html, as well as the following locations:
·: MPCA Detroit Lakes office, 714 Lake Avenue
· MPCA St. Paul office, 520 Lafayette Road North
To request a copy of the EAW, contact Mike Rafferty at the MPCA, 651-297-7173, toll-free at 1-800-657-3864, or by e-mail at michael.rafferty@pca.state.mn.us. Additional information on the environmental review process is available on the Web at www.pca.state.mn.us/news/eaw/index.html.