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The Little Fork River Watershed covers nearly 1.2 million acres, the main stem flowing 160 miles through north-central St. Louis County and heading northwest into Koochiching County. It flows more northerly until it reaches its confluence with the Rainy River about 11 miles west of International Falls.
Counties and solid waste management districts around the state are required to prepare and implement detailed plans for solid waste management.
The MPCA and its many partners collect a wide variety of data on environmental conditions and pollution sources.
From 2023-2025, Northshore Mining released recycled water to the ground seven times and water relating to mining processes four times. Its largest unpermitted release was nearly 400,000 gallons of recycled water. Northshore Mining has documented equipment failure as the reason for the 11 releases.
MPCA investigation found that Rainy Lake Oil failed to repair a pipe that was leaking diesel fuel underground for more than four months in 2024.
According to a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) enforcement investigation, Elliott Auto Supply Co. improperly stored hazardous waste, allowed them to accumulate and leak inside its vehicle fluid manufacturing facility in St. Paul, Minn.
Carver County and Valley Paving Inc. failed to properly install and maintain erosion and sediment controls during a highway safety improvement project in the fall 2022 and spring 2023 near Watertown, Minn. This caused significant erosion and sediment to impact several area surface waters.
Failed to obtain a construction stormwater permit prior to beginning construction and allowed sediment to discharge to wetlands as they built The Meadows housing development in Otsego, Minnesota.
Louisiana-Pacific has been fined $15,775 for stormwater and wetland violations according to a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) enforcement investigation. Louisiana-Pacific operates a wood-board manufacturing facility in Two Harbors, Minnesota.
American Peat Technology paid a penalty of $12,468 for failing to properly maintain and inspect equipment designed to monitor and reduce air pollution.
Volunteers can search for a lake or stream site that works for them and sign up to monitor it.
The MPCA had at least $1 million to support projects that will build lasting capacity to preserve standing tree stock and manage increasing volumes of wood waste.
A transport truck released fugitive lime dust that drifted and deposited on area school playground equipment, vehicles, and vegetation near its paper production facility in International Falls, Minn., in October 2023.
An August 2023 MPCA inspection confirmed failures to conduct weekly inspections and train staff to properly handle and store hazardous waste at its residential and commercial cabinet production facility in St. Cloud.
Heartland Corn Products failed emission stack tests in November 2021 and February 2022 for volatile organic compounds and particulates at its ethanol production facility in Winthrop, Minn.
MPCA investigation confirms discharges sediment-laden water into the Long Prairie River, in addition to other violations, during construction of CSAH 56 & 38.
The city of Duluth will pay a $12,000 fine and spend $190,000 in compensation for a 2024 incident that led to a fish kill in Tischer Creek.
Collaboration and engagement have been keys to progress in the St. Louis River AOC.
Industrial Finishing Inc. violated several water quality permit conditions relating to required sampling, training, reporting and inspections at its industrial equipment coating and finishing facility in Deer Creek, Minn.
East Side Jersey Dairy Inc., doing business as Prairie Farms Dairy Inc., had several liquid sugar spills they failed to report to the Minnesota Duty Officer in 2022 and 2023. The spills created a potential for harm to the environment and aquatic life had they reached wetlands near the company’s facility in Woodbury, Minnesota.