Contact:Rebecca Helgesen, 651-757-2421
Toll-free, 1-800-657-3864
Saint Paul, Minn. — The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has announced the 2009-10 winners of the Governor’s Awards for Pollution Prevention. The 19-year-old award program honors superior environmental achievement by Minnesota businesses, nonprofits, government and institutions.
Two independent panels of judges reviewed 26 applications and selected the six winners. The judges evaluated organizations based on innovative pollution and waste prevention, resource efficiency and sustainable practices.
The 2009-10 winners are:
East Metro Clean ‘n’ Press, West St. Paul: A large dry cleaners and shirt laundry, East Metro made use of heat exchangers to increase energy efficiency and offer excess heat to a neighboring business in the winter. They cut energy use by replacing boilers with higher efficiency boilers and replacing all lights with energy-efficient bulbs. Customers also returned 126,000 hangers to be reused. East Metro saves $15,000 a year with the changes.
Sappi Cloquet LLC, Cloquet: Sappi Fine Paper North America’s Cloquet Mill is an integrated pulp and paper mill that produces bleached kraft pulp and coated fine paper. Sappi implemented changes in the pulping process that reduced the amounts of several sulfide compounds being emitted. These reductions resulted in better odor control for the community, as well as improved treatment of methanol, a byproduct of the sulfur compounds. Sappi will save more than $225,000 per year.
City of Buffalo: Buffalo’s wastewater treatment facility uses innovative technology to serve a rapidly growing population while nearly eliminating land-application of bio-solids. Bio-solids are instead turned into fuel for the facility, allowing the city to cut the plant’s natural gas consumption by 80 percent. Energy savings in the first year are expected to exceed $90,000.
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources - Alternative Energy and Energy Conservation Initiative: The DNR recently completed several energy conservation projects. These include the Camden State Park Contact Center, the DNR’s first energy net-zero building, which makes use of both wind and geothermal energy. The McQuade Public Water Access is the DNR’s first major photovoltaic installation, using solar energy to produce roughly 2,500 kWh of energy annually. Itasca State Park’s Douglas Lodge has been outfitted with a geothermal system to supply heating and cooling to the building, reducing the need for propane. The DNR also makes use of Neighborhood Electric Vehicles instead of gasoline vehicles to handle routine maintenance in 19 state parks.
City of St. Anthony: The city of St. Anthony collects filter backwash water, which is waste byproduct from the city’s wastewater treatment and stormwater runoff. This water is used to irrigate a 20-acre site that includes a municipal park and City Hall. Prior to this project, the city used five million gallons from the treated municipal water supply each year to irrigate the area. The volume of water discharged from the site has been cut by more than 90 percent during the growing season. Phosphorus is reduced because it is captured by plants instead of running off as pollution. This project will be a demonstration site for future water reuse projects.
Community Clean-ups for Water Quality, Minnesota River Valley: Thirteen organizations partnered in this innovative water quality project that teaches citizens to keep grass clippings, leaves and runoff out of the Minnesota River. Community Clean-ups are conducted in the critical time period from March 15 to April 15, between snow melt and heavy rains. Sixty-six clean-ups have been held in the past seven years, resulting in the removal of 8,400 pounds of phosphorus and 47,000 pounds of trash from the river and its watershed.
The application process is now open for the 2010-11 Governor’s Awards for Pollution Prevention. To apply, go to www.pca.state.mn.us/govaward. The deadline for 2010-11 applications is Wednesday, Sept. 15 by 4:30 p.m.
