The Minnesota Department of Transportation and Bemidji-based Northstar Materials Inc. have been fined $235,000 for allowing excess sediment to run off a highway project into local waterways in Koochiching County.
The fine was imposed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for the permit violations that occurred along an 18-mile stretch of road construction in 2010 on Minnesota Highway 11.
MnDOT and the company also took action to prevent the problems from happening again.
The PCA said that by not following the permit's requirements, the excess sediments discharged to adjacent waters had adverse effects on water quality and fish and wildlife habitat between Indus and Frontier along the Rainy River.
After receiving a complaint about possible storm water violations in September 2010, PCA staff conducted five site inspections. Agency inspectors determined MnDOT and the contractor had committed violations of their state construction stormwater permit that regulates discharges to state waterways.
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The violations included discharging excessive amounts of construction-related sediment to surface waters, failing to have or implement a required stormwater pollution prevention plan and failing to implement appropriate erosion- and sediment-control best management practices across the site.
