Contact: Ralph Pribble, 651-757-2657
St. Paul, Minn. - The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) announced today that Buffalo Lake Energy LLC has agreed to pay a $285,000 penalty to resolve alleged violations of the company’s state-issued environmental permits at its ethanol production facility in Fairmont, Minn.
The agreement covers violations that occurred since the facility began production in June 2008. On numerous occasions the company's operations violated the conditions of both its air quality and water quality permits.
The most significant source of the water quality violations was that the company built and operated a different wastewater treatment system than was permitted by the MPCA. The system did not perform adequately to ensure that pollutants discharged from the facility met the permit’s effluent limits. The facility discharged wastewater to Center Creek which violated its permitted limits for toxicity, a measure of potential harm to aquatic organisms.
Also, when the facility’s water quality permit was issued, it was granted variances from several water quality standards. The permit required the company to investigate treatment technologies that would enable it to meet standards without the variances, and the company failed to adequately investigate treatment options. Finally, the water quality portion of the agreement covers a number of other violations involving record keeping, failure to report spills and unauthorized discharges, failure to properly operate the wastewater treatment system, late submittals of monitoring data to the MPCA, improper storage of byproduct, and failure to monitor in accordance with the schedule required by the permit.
On the air side, the company applied for an air emissions permit in 2006, and then applied twice in 2008 for an amended permit. The first amendment was to update design changes made during construction. The second amendment was to increase emissions limits. The MPCA issued a permit in July 2008 which incorporated the first amendment, and required performance testing within 180 days after startup to measure emissions and verify compliance with permitted emission limits. The second amendment was not issued until April 2009. Testing conducted from the fall of 2008 into the winter of 2009 showed the emissions did not comply with the limits for particulates and nitrogen oxides in effect at that time. After the new limits went into effect in April 2009, the emissions were in compliance.
To resolve the violations, Buffalo Lake Energy will pay a civil penalty of $285,000. In addition, the company agreed to a schedule of corrective actions to achieve compliance, including specific plans on how it will be sure to comply with the facility’s environmental permit limits and prevent reoccurrence of the violations. Failure to comply with the schedule in the agreement will result in further specified penalties.
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 they were reported to appropriate authorities. Penalties also attempt 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, go to the agency’s Web site at www.pca.state.mn.us/newscenter/enforcement.html.
