By Jane Friedmann
A Wahpeton, N.D., company was fined $70,000 for polluting water that flows into a Minnesota river and for improperly burning solid waste, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency announced last week.
Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative took corrective action and paid the fine, the MPCA said.
The agency had responded to a complaint of "smelly, polluted waters" in the Rabbit River watershed in Wilkin County.
An investigation tracked the source of the polluted runoff to three of the company's sugar beet storage facilities.
During inspections, the MPCA found that plastic and other solid waste was burned in violation of state regulations. The agency also found that the company made "material errors in reports" to the agency.
