The story of How a Nebraska ethanol plant turned seeds into toxic waste in 2021 prompted concerns about the same sort of irresponsible use of treated seeds (rather than wholesome corn one could feed to cows and other livestock prompted an attempt by the Minnesota Legislature to regulate or ban that use in 2022 as I reported in MNHouse Ag Committee approves proposed rules for disposal of pesticide-treated crop seeds.
That measure didn't make it into law, but in 2023, another version of the bill (HF1317 Hansen) made it into the Omnibus environment bill that aimed to ‘correct past wrongs, prepare for future,’ committee chair said.
Not that the bill didn't have its opponents, as the Minnesota House Info Services YouTube of March 22, 2023 hearing of the bill in the House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee 3/22/23 illustrates:
Following the passage of the omnibus bill, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) began working on rule making for Waste treated seeds, as Bluestem noted last December in MN Pollution Control Agency makes 2nd request for comments on waste treated seed rules .
Judging from the industry in the summer 2023 Comments received in response to Request for Comments (sw-rule3-02b) on those rules, one would guess the seed industry and commodity groups could never do anything to harm water, pollinators or humans in disposing of waste pesticide-treated seeds.
Jeepers.
How then, with such eco-saints moving among us, does this news release appear on the MPCA's "News and Stories" page: KODA Energy fined $18,125 for burning waste-treated corn as a waste-to-energy incineration facility?
KODA Energy violated its air permit in Scott County from June 2023 to February 2024, according to a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) enforcement investigation. The investigation found KODA energy was burning waste-treated corn and should have submitted a major permit amendment before burning an industrial solid as a waste-to-energy incineration facility.
In addition to paying the $18,125 civil penalty, KODA Energy agreed to complete a corrective action. KODA Energy is submitting a statement that they will no longer burn waste-treated seed without first applying for and being issued a major permit amendment that allows the burning of an industrial solid waste at their facility.
MPCA rules and regulations are designed to protect human health and the environment by limiting pollution emissions and discharges from facilities. When companies do not fully comply with regulatory requirements, the resulting pollution can be harmful to people and the environment.
When calculating penalties, the MPCA considers how seriously the violations affected or could have affected the environment, and whether they were first-time or repeat violations. The agency also attempts to recover the economic benefit the company gained by failing to comply with environmental laws in a timely manner.
My, my.
What is KODA Energy? On the company's website, visitor's read on the Koda Energy Facts page:
Koda Energy is an innovative combined heat and power plant which burns agricultural byproducts, virgin wood waste, and urban tree trimmings to create energy in the form of electricity and heat. The project gets its name from the word “Koda”, which means “friend” in the Dakota language.Koda Energy is the only combined heat and power facility in the United States which burns exclusively natural, non-manmade materials in suspension.
Koda is owned and operated by Rahr Malting Company ( Rahr ).
The burning of byproducts from malting and food processing along with raw materials like wood chips, grain dust, chaff, and other plant seed material is used to generate electricity and thermal energy at Koda Energy.Electrical power generation averages 19.7 megawatt hours, with a net electrical output of approximately 16.7 megawatt hours on average. This relies on the production of 220,000 lb/hr of high pressure steam produced at 900 degrees F. Electricity generation fluctuates, based on the needs of thermal energy by Rahr, which is cyclical in nature.
I'm guessing the treated corn slipped in under "other plant seed material" category but who knows.
Photo: Waste left over from processing ethanol sat in piles outside the AltEn Ethanol plant near Mead. The heaps created a strong odor in the area and left people and pets sick, residents said. Photo by Anna Reed, Omaha World-Herald.
Related posts
- Omnibus environment bill aims to ‘correct past wrongs, prepare for future,’ committee chair says
- MN Pollution Control Agency makes 2nd request for comments on waste treated seed rules
- MNHouse Ag Committee approves proposed rules for disposal of pesticide-treated crop seeds
- Ag budget agreement moves forward in House minus treated seed language, Market Bucks
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