A food waste rendering facility in southern Minnesota has paid the state $12,650 to settle allegations of discharge violations.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said today that the Blue Earth site of Texas-based Darling International Inc. has made several changes in its operations to avoid violations in the future.

According to the MPCA:

During a February 2006 compliance inspection, MPCA staff noted violations of permit limits in water discharged by the facility and identified several shortcomings in its monitoring reports.

In addition, several system overflows were documented between May 2004 and May 2007. The investigators determined that "proper operation and maintenance of the facility could have prevented or reduced the impact of these overflows," the MPCA said in a news release.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482