Faribault County Register: Corn Plus ethanol and a dirty creek

An ethanol plant in Faribault County has been searched local law enforcement and MPCA officials seeking to get to the source of pollution in a county ditch and local lake, the Faribault County Register repors

Several weeks ago, the Faribault County Register published Is pollution a threat to Rice Lake area?

Grayish, murky-colored water being discharged into a county ditch near Winnebago, and making its way to a local lake, has caught the attention of Minnesota Pollution Control Agency officials.

Lee Ganske of the MPCA in Mankato says his office became involved after being contacted by county landowners.

“This is an issue that’s on the minds of a lot of people. They’re frustrated and they should be. They want this resolved,” Ganske says.

The problem, he adds, has been  occurring in a  “sporadic fashion” for more than a year.

“We have a general sense of what it is. The big mystery is where is it coming from?” asks Ganske. “We are ramping up our efforts to find the source. . . .

. . .Recently, a large number of dead fish were discovered at Rice Lake, located on a state wildlife management area. However, Ganske doesn’t know if the discolored water was the cause.

Corey Wiebusch, a DNR conservation officer, says he was told by state DNR fisheries officials the recent hot temperatures have lowered the lake’s water and oxygen levels, causing the fish kill.. . .

. . . Ganske says the source of the discharge has been narrowed to a few square miles, and, he says, the Corn Plus ethanol plant located is within that area.

“It’s fairly obvious here there’s a violation of state water quality standards,” he says of the discharge. “Fish kill or not, we know we have to remedy the situation.”

Today's article Authorities search Corn Plus describes the search and contents of the warrant:

State and local authorities recently executed a search warrant at the Corn Plus ethanol plant in Winnebago.

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency officials say the ethanol producer is the center of a probe involving water quality violations.

Faribault County Deputy Terry Campbell says four members of the sheriff’s department, two officers from the Winnebago Police Department and MPCA officials executed the warrant at the facility on Aug. 10.

“We served it on the highest ranking official there,” says Campbell. “We watched MPCA officials do what they had to do.”

The warrant was delivered in the early afternoon, says Campbell, and that it took MPCA officials about two hours to gather evidence. . . .

. . . MPCA officials and law enforcement officers were authorized to seize the following items;

• records of discharges of any kind;

• disposal records;

• records of agreements and contracts;

• written policies;

• billing records;

• operational, laboratory and telephone records;• diaries and day planners;

• employee records;

• organizational charts.

In the application, several facts listed explained why a search warrant should be issued.

The MPCA claims that between Oct. 17, 2006, and June 4, 2007, they received numerous citizens’ complaints of visible milky discharges of wastewater to a ditch leading to Rice Lake, as well as odors related to the discharges.

State officials believe Corn Plus has “periodically and intentionally” discharged its wastewater into the county ditch.

“It appears that the company makes such illegal discharges at least in part to avoid the cost of discharging wastewater to the City’s wastewater treatment plant,” was another reason supporting issuance of a warrant. . . .

We'll have more as the story develops. 

Corn Plus was part of a EPA 2002 settlement over air quality violations that arose when standards were changed. Recently, it has sought to become energy self-sufficient, adding wind turbines and a fluid-bed reactor that burns biomass, generating steam needed to run the plant from corn by-products. Corn Plus is locally owned by 750 farmers.

Comments

[MinnesotaCentral]

Greetings Ollie,

My memory is not always 100 %, but I thought that Corn Plus was in the news recently for resolving either MPCA or EPA issues.

Could the comment that Corn Plus is owned by 750 farmers be a little misleading ? Is it a pure cooperative with ever member owning exactly the same amount? Or, do some own more ? I thought Bob Weerts was the head guy ... Corn Plus was on Gil Gutknecht "frequent visitor program" --- unfortunately, Gutknecht's elines are no longer available online, but I thought Gil had Weerts come to Washington to testify on behalf or his 10/10 bill. I suspect that when Gil brought Ag Sec to MSU-Mankato in March, 2006 that Corn Plus was there. But, then again Weerts claimed :

Bending Dubya’s Ear ( http://www.connectbiz.com/stories/bob_weerts.html )

”I was a Minnesota member of an agriculture advisory council for President Bush during the time of his 2004 campaign. Congressman Gil Gutknecht helped me get on. They wanted someone to represent ethanol. I was there to help President Bush’s people with advice and to answer questions about ethanol. I talked a lot on conference calls with people in Washington, D.C.“

Here's some more background on Corn Plus http://www.connectbiz.com/stories/moonshine.html