Buffalo Lake Energy ethanol plant fined $285K for air, water pollution
In Minnesota, Buffalo Lake Energy has been fined $285,000 for air and water pollution violations at its ethanol production facility in Fairmont by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. The agreement covers violations that occurred since the facility began production in June 2008. On numerous occasions the company’s operations violated the conditions of both its air quality and water quality permits.
The most significant source of the water quality violations was that the company built and operated a different wastewater treatment system than was permitted by the MPCA. The system did not perform adequately to ensure that pollutants discharged from the facility met the permit’s effluent limits. The facility discharged wastewater to Center Creek which violated its permitted limits for toxicity, a measure of potential harm to aquatic organisms.
Also, when the facility’s water quality permit was issued, it was granted variances from several water quality standards. The permit required the company to investigate treatment technologies that would enable it to meet standards without the variances, and the company failed to adequately investigate treatment options.
Finally, the water quality portion of the agreement covers a number of other violations involving record keeping, failure to report spills and unauthorized discharges, failure to properly operate the wastewater treatment system, late submittals of monitoring data to the MPCA, improper storage of byproduct, and failure to monitor in accordance with the schedule required by the permit.
Category: Fuels
