According to a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) enforcement investigation, in May 2022, approximately 300 gallons of fuel spilled from an above ground storage tank when the company failed to comply with safety practices for fuel transfer at POET Biorefining’s ethanol production facility in Glenville, Minn.
The spill happened while a delivery truck was filling the storage tank and fuel began flowing out of the tank’s roof vents. A synthetically lined containment area prevented the spilled fuel from reaching any surface waters or soils.
The storage tank’s capacity had been reduced following repairs to it several years earlier but the gauge readout in a process control room was not recalibrated to reflect the decreased capacity, leading staff to believe there was more available space than actually existed. The investigation also discovered that a high-level warning alarm in the process control room had been deactivated and a separate warning alarm was never installed outside the building.
In addition to paying the $19,757 civil penalty, POET Biorefining was required to:
- Create operational procedures to ensure gauges are recalibrated as needed.
- Prevent alarms from being disabled.
- Install an outdoor alarm within hearing of delivery drivers to prevent such spills in the future.
MPCA rules and regulations are designed to protect human health and the environment by limiting pollution emissions and discharges from facilities. When companies do not fully comply with regulatory requirements, the resulting pollution can be harmful to people and the environment.
When calculating penalties, the MPCA takes into account how seriously the violations affected or could have affected the environment, and whether they were first-time or repeat violations. The agency also attempts to recover the economic benefit the company gained by failing to comply with environmental laws in a timely manner.
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