Dave's Blog

Earlier this year, the company feared that its plan to build a large ethanol plant in this slowly shrinking prairie town was in danger of getting derailed by the state's environmental rules.

Help came fast.

Sheryl Corrigan, then the commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) sent the company a letter it could show to financial backers saying that the agency, which enforces environmental statutes, intended to issue permits for the plant by May 24.

...In Granite Falls, Minn., state officials let a company open an ethanol plant last year knowing that the well water it would need to operate might last only a few years, according to regulators and state records. Now, with the aquifer draining even faster than expected, the company is exploring the use of twice as much water from the Minnesota River so it ostensibly can double production to 100 million gallons of ethanol a year.

In Aberdeen, S.D., a proposal by Glacial Lakes Energy to build a large ethanol plant drew strong opposition from some farmers in the throes of a severe drought. But county commissioners approved a zoning change that enabled several local individuals, including farmer Levern Didreckson, to sell land to the proposed plant's developer.

...The MPCA is taking steps to speed up the time it usually takes ethanol plants to get permits. This spring, Corrigan established a new ethanol team to work with the industry with a " 'We are one' ethic," state records show. The agency also is considering rule changes that could make it easier for plants that do not meet state water-quality standards to get permits.

Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, said the ethanol industry is using the promise of jobs and energy independence as cover to weaken state environmental laws. "Ethanol is big business, and they've got political clout," said Marty, chairman of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee.

Marty said he was disgusted to learn that Corrigan had written a letter on Buffalo Lake Energy's behalf as her staff complained about the company's proposal. "It's absolutely inappropriate," he said.

...Minnesota's point man for ethanol development is Rocky Sisk, who works with a program called BizNice. He's an MPCA employee, but splits his time with the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). Sisk says he advises companies on getting through the permitting process in ways that limit an ethanol plant's impact on the environment.