Contact: Anne Perry Moore, 218-302-6605
Duluth, Minn. — Hibbing Taconite Co. has agreed to pay a $15,250 civil penalty for alleged air quality violations at its taconite-production facility near Hibbing, and will take actions to return the facility to compliance, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) announced today.
Hibbing Taconite’s facility mines and processes taconite ore, producing taconite pellets by grinding, magnetic separation, pellet forming and pellet firing in production furnaces. The facility is regulated by an MPCA air quality permit issued in 2010.
The permit requires daily average observations and recordings of air-pollution-control devices’ operating parameters. The permit also requires the company to correct problems when operating parameter rates deviate from permit-specified limits. The company’s wet scrubber monitoring reports for the second half of 2010 documented many exceedances of these parameter rates. Also, submitted documents included an emission unit’s performance test failure in January, 2011. The unit was retested in February and demonstrated compliance with the applicable federal emission limitations.
To resolve these problems, Hibbing Taconite agreed to investigate corrective actions and establish new operating rates while maintaining compliance with particulate emission limits.
Stipulation agreements are one of the tools the MPCA uses to achieve compliance with environmental laws. When calculating penalties, the MPCA takes into account how seriously the violation affected the environment, whether it is a first-time or repeat violation, and how promptly the violation was reported to appropriate authorities. It also attempts 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 /pyri3c4.
Minnesota law requires owners and operators of facilities with the potential to release air pollutants to have MPCA permits. They must also carefully monitor and maintain equipment because emissions exceeding state standards can degrade air quality. The MPCA offers outreach and training to help facilities meet their permit requirements. For more information on air quality permits and emission standards, visit the agency’s website at http://www.pca.state.mn.us or call Bob Beresford, MPCA air quality inspector, at 218-302-6600 or toll-free at 800-657-3864.
