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Cities fined over $12,000 apiece for municipal wastewater violations
Central Specialties Inc., based in Alexandria, violated several air permit conditions between 2021 and 2023 for its mobile hot-mix asphalt facility stationed at various locations around the state. Violations included failing to properly maintain pollution control equipment and inadequate recordkeeping and reporting.
Wastewater treatment plant in Elk River paid a $15,000 fine for consistently discharging fecal coliform and phosphorus into nearby Tibbets Brook.
MPCA investigation found that Shearer’s Foods operated without an air permit and submitted incomplete applications during the permit process.
The Meadows Mobile Home Park discharged untreated sewage to the ground in two separate violations in 2025.
Sandblasted material from a construction site was deposited on a parking ramp next door.
Volkswagen settlement funds are helping MPCA clean up air pollution and invest in cleaner transportation to support a healthy environment and reduce emissions in Minnesota, especially in communities most impacted by vehicle pollution.
Failed emissions performance stack tests on two boilers in the fall of 2023 at its sugar beet processing facility in Moorhead, Minnesota.
An MPCA investigation determined that General Mills violated state rule at its oat processing facility in Fridley on several occasions from 2019 through 2023.
Al-Corn Clean Fuel, LLC, an ethanol plant in Dodge County, paid $40,427 in fines for air permit violations.
BNSF Railway Company paid a fine of $20,000 for industrial stormwater and wastewater permit violations at its Willmar facility.
The MPCA's air monitors continually measure pollutants. With this data, the agency can track pollution trends over time and show if outdoor air meets air quality standards and health benchmarks.
Sugar beet processing facility emitted higher levels of hydrogen sulfide and particulates than its permit allows between 2020 and 2022. The Polk-Norman-Mahnomen Community Health Board will receive 40% of the $350,000 penalty according to a new Minnesota statute enacted in 2023.
The Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative emitted higher levels of hydrogen sulfide than allowed from its Renville facility, resulting in a $1.15 million fine following an MPCA investigation.
The MPCA regulates the design, construction, and operation of treatment facilities for municipal and industrial wastewater in Minnesota.
SkyWater Technology violated federal laws and Minnesota rules, operating a semiconductor plant without an appropriate air permit in Bloomington, Minnesota.
An MPCA investigation found that Benson Municipal Utilities failed to conduct required carbon monoxide tests within their permit deadline for their five generators providing emergency power services to the city.
Tailings basin piping leaked wastewater and about 11,500 cubic feet of tailings materials over nearly half an acre, including a nearby wetland in May 2023 due to inadequate operation and maintenance of the tailings basin pipeline at the company’s facility in Virginia, Minn.
The MPCA fined Caledonia feedlot owner Mike Ingvalson $10,000 for multiple violations related to improper manure application and discharges as well as an unpermitted building.
The fines stem from a release of sediment-laden water into a county ditch, and subsequent failures to notify, repair, and report on the incident.