SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Today, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency announced intentions to issue Sanimax USA a $55,000 civil penalty for a series of air permit violations at its South St. Paul rendering plant. The MPCA found the company failed to, among other violations, seek a required major air permit amendment and conduct air emissions modeling before changing its pollution control equipment systems.
Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL – South St. Paul) – who represents South St. Paul, St. Paul Park, and Newport residents impacted by the plant’s odor – applauded the sanction.
“When polluters fail to follow the law and meet expectations allowing neighbors to have a decent quality of life, the only path to meaningful change is accountability,” Rep. Hansen said. “Today’s penalty is a positive step forward for my constituents who have been forced to deal with the plant’s unbearable stench for years. Now it’s time for Sanimax USA to follow through on the corrective actions the MPCA has laid out and for the agency to use its authority to ensure families can have the clean, healthy air they deserve.”
In May 2023, an MPCA inspection discovered Sanimax had taken required pollution control equipment offline and rerouted emissions to unpermitted equipment while failing to conduct air quality modeling before making these changes. The company also failed to consistently perform daily emissions checks or report excessive deviations in pressure drop and water flow rates for its pollution control equipment.
In addition to the fine, the MPCA’s ruling requires Sanimax to reactivate required pollution control equipment, submit plans to ensure future compliance with modeling requirements and conduct daily monitoring to keep equipment within permitted limits.
Driven largely by Sanimax’s continued odor emissions and urging by community members, during the 2023 legislative session, Rep. Hansen successfully authored legislation authorizing odor management plans for certain businesses in the Metro area. The measure – passed as part of 2023’s Environment and Natural Resources budget bill – requires MPCA to investigate complaints and develop management plans for facilities that have been found to emit objectionable odors.
In 2018, a group of residents settled a class-action lawsuit with Sanimax requiring the company to pay $750,000 into a fund for residents – over 1,500 of whom submitted claim forms – affected by the smell, and spend $450,000 toward projects reducing odors.
South St. Paul has enacted a series of city ordinances aimed at addressing odor from the plant, including a 2019 zoning modification and a 2020 measure allowing the city to issue citations against businesses emitting ongoing nuisance odors that refuse to work with the city to address them. After a federal lawsuit from Sanimax, the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ordinances earlier this year.