Heron Lake BioEnergy LLC, a 50 MMgy ethanol plant in Heron Lake, Minn., will pay a $66,000 fine to resolve alleged violations of its environmental permits. The alleged violations of air quality and water quality permits, including reporting issues, date back to when the plant started construction and began commissioning in the fall of 2007, said Bob Ferguson, CEO of the plant.
On the air quality side, the violations include exceeding permitted emissions limits, failure to conduct required monitoring, failure to maintain emissions-control equipment and failure to report or certify data, according to a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency press release. In addition, the company had water quality violations, including failure to obtain approval for the use of chemical additives in wastewater, failure to provide samples with specified holding times, failure to monitor for specified pollutants at the required frequency, exceeding permitted effluent limits and failure to install or maintain flow-monitoring equipment before discharging.
Heron Lake BioEnergy will pay a civil penalty of $66,000. According to the agreement, up to $12,000 of that will be used for an environmental project agreed upon by the company and MPCA. In this case the plant will complete a fugitive dust emissions feasibility study, examining the dust at the plant, especially the grains receiving and load-out areas for distillers grains, Ferguson says. The study will help determine how to capture dust emissions at the facility and will eventually help determine dust emission capture plans at other plants in the state, he added.
The company has also agreed to a schedule of corrective actions, the MPCA said. This includes submitting plans on how the company plans to comply with its environmental permit limits and prevent future violations.

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Heron Lake BioEnergy LLC, a 50 MMgy ethanol plant in Heron Lake, Minn., will pay a $66,000 fine to resolve alleged violations of its environmental permits. 

Heron Lake plant agrees to $66,000 penalty

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Heron Lake plant agrees to $66,000 penalty