Ethanol producer fined for polluting lake

Star Tribune

Last update: October 28, 2009 - 8:32 PM

An ethanol producer in south-central Minnesota has been nicked for $150,000 for discharging polluted wastewater into a lake, violating the federal Clean Water Act.

In sentencing Tuesday in federal court in St. Paul, Corn Plus of Winnebago, Minn., was fined $100,000 and ordered to make a $50,000 community service payment to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to benefit the Rice Creek Watershed.

Judge Jeanne Graham also required Corn Plus to implement an environmental compliance plan and a code of conduct as well as retain a full-time environmental health and safety manager.

"The defendant's negligent discharge of polluted wastewater posed a risk to aquatic life in Rice Lake," said Randy Ashe, special agent in charge of the EPA's criminal office in Chicago. "This conviction sends a message to potential violators that if you break the law, you will be prosecuted."

In August, Corn Plus, which produces 49 million gallons of ethanol annually, pleaded guilty to failing to prevent wastewater that contained biological oxygen demand, a pollutant, from entering a drain on company property and emptying into Rice Lake.

The $50,000 community service payment will be matched by the Reinvest in Minnesota Critical Habitat Match Program. The money will be used to buy 25 acres that include an outlet to Rice Lake. Ducks Unlimited will then install a fish barrier at the outlet, which is necessary to keep unwanted fish species out of the lake. Funding for the Reinvest in Critical Habitat Program comes from proceeds generated by critical-habitat license plate sales.

PAUL WALSH