By Nancy Huddleston, Editor

Fabcon Inc. has been slapped with a hefty fine for releasing sediment-laden storm water into a wildlife wetland in the Minnesota River Valley along the city’s northern border.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has fined the pre-cast concrete panel manufacturer with a $32,623 civil penalty and a $320,000 Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEP) directive. The company agreed to donate $20,000 to the Scott County chapter of Pheasants Forever to fund a wetland restoration project in the county. The other $300,000 will be put towards installing water-conservation equipment at the company’s site on Highway 13.

In response to the MPCA’s findings, Fabcon contracted with Barr Engineering to complete upgrades to the pre-treatment and storm water systems at the plant.

“When we were informed of the problem, we immediately took action to eliminate the impact to the local wetland and environment,” said Tony Markgraf, regional vice president of Fabcon. “Our new processes exceed the requirements established by the state, and we remain committed to being a leader in protecting the environment through our products and operations.”

The fines stem from inspections in 2005 where MPCA staff found that a water recycling system installed by the company in 1994 occasionally discharged water used in manufacturing through an outflow pipe onto the facility grounds near an unprotected storm water drain.

Eric Peterson, who was the lead in the enforcement case, said although Fabcon is located next door to the Savage Fen Wetland Complex, the water did not go into the state-protected calcareous wetland.

“The fen is upstream from Fabcon and the fen’s water actually goes under and through their property. It was to that water that the Fabcon storm water went,” Peterson said.

The storm water went into one of two streams that pass under Fabcon, Peterson explained, and once in the stream, the storm water goes north and under Highway 13, train tracks and a service road and then outlets into a marsh near Continental Grain, which is part of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service land.

At MPCA’s request, Fabcon immediately dismantled the overflow pipe and upgraded the recycling system to eliminate the problem. Fabcon also applied for and received a storm water permit from the MPCA to fix plugged storm water drains and install an approved storm water management system.

Fabcon now complies with wastewater and storm water regulations, according to the MPCA.

Levying civil penalties is one of MPCA’s tools to encourage compliance with environmental laws. When calculating penalties, the MPCA takes into account how seriously the violation affected the environment, whether it is a first-time or repeat violation and how promptly the violation was reported.

The MPCA has classified the fine handed down to Fabcon as larger than normal. The original recommended fine was $162,000, but it was negotiated down to the civil penalty and the SEP.

SEPs are intended “to provide ‘extra’ environmental and public health benefits and are environmentally beneficial projects which a defendant or respondent agrees to undertake in the settlement of an enforcement action, but which the defendant or respondent is not otherwise legally required to perform,” according to the MPCA.

 Nancy Huddleston can be reached at editor@savagepacer.com.