![Beet Co-op to Pay $1.5M to Settle Pollution Violations](http://townsquare.media/site/67/files/2012/01/Polluted-water.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Beet Co-op to Pay $1.5M to Settle Pollution Violations
ST. PAUL -- The Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle air and water quality violations.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the settlement Thursday.
The co-op near Renville also has agreed to correct the violations, which happened over a period of years. Those violations included excessive hydrogen sulfide emissions - which cause foul odors and can be harmful to human health - and discharging untreated wastewater, which resulted in a fish kill in Beaver Creek in 2013.
The cooperative said in a statement that it takes its responsibilities to the state and the region "very seriously." The co-op has more than 500 shareholders who produce about three million tons of sugar beets annually.
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