News releases

The MPCA needs volunteers to measure water clarity in hundreds of streams — including 676 high-priority sites — and 2,857 lakes, then report back to the agency.

In Minnesota, there are about 1,600 municipal and industrial wastewater treatment facilities.

The new pipe’s discharge point to the Mississippi River will be in Otsego.

The company will pay a civil penalty of $4.5 million, take corrective actions at their site, conduct air monitoring for several years valued at roughly $1 million, and conduct two supplemental environmental projects valued at least $1.5 million.

MPCA Commissioner Laura Bishop looking forward to collaborating with fellow state agency leaders and citizen board members as the newly appointed chair of the state Environmental Quality Board (EQB).

There are two primary sources of concern for E. coli entering the Minnesota River: livestock from unpermitted animal feeding operations, and septic systems that represent public health threats.

In all of 2018, the MPCA completed 194 cases, totaling $1,062,440 in penalties.

The MPCA and local watershed partners are recommending stream and ditch restoration projects, and that landowners implement voluntary management practices to reduce water pollution in the watershed.

During a public comment period, citizens raised concerns about the potential for groundwater contamination.

Recommendations include projects to restore streams, ditches and wetlands, and voluntary land management practices by landowners to restore and protect waters in the watershed.

The public information meeting will be on Jan. 2 at Lansing Township Hall

Citing the need to address elevated levels of nitrate in drinking water in the karst region of southeast Minnesota, MPCA Commissioner John Linc Stine is announcing his decision to deny a general permit for the proposed Catalpa swine facility in Fillmore County near Mabel, Minn.