Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative of Wahpeton, North Dakota, has paid a 70-thousand-dollar fine and aggressively taken corrective steps to address problems identified at several Minn-Dak sugar beet piling sites in Minnesota following an investigation by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

M-P-C-A staff investigated after receiving a complaint of smelly, polluted waters in drainage areas leading to the Rabbit River in the

spring of 2011. Investigators determined the pollution came from polluted runoff from Minn-Dak’s Lyngaas, Yaggi and Hawes sugar beet piling sites. Inspections also found problems with company reporting practices, land application of waste beets, and disposal of solid waste on site by burning.

Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative has completed numerous actions to address the deficiencies and violations identified during the inspections conducted in May and June of 2011.

For a comprehensive list of enforcement actions by the M-P-C-A, go to the agency’s website at www.pca.state.mn.us.