(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
This story was originally published by Iowa Capital Dispatch and is unaltered.
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State fines farmers co-op for air quality violations [1]
['Jared Strong', 'More From Author', '- July']
Date: 2023-07-19
A north-central Iowa farmers cooperative site is facing a $6,000 fine for violations related to air quality, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
The NEW Cooperative site in Duncombe increased its storage capacity to more than 2.5 million bushels in 2019, which reclassified it as a grain terminal elevator and triggered new emissions testing and dust limits.
However, the facility failed to conduct the tests for more than a year, a recent DNR order said. Further, a compliance test in October 2021 showed that its new grain receiving system was emitting too much dust.
Federal requirements for those systems are strict: there is a 5% air opacity limit. That means that the dust created cannot block more than 5% of light transmission in nearby air.
A trained observer determined that dust from the receiving system in Duncombe resulted in an average of 8.26% opacity.
A 40% opacity limit is common for other major sources of air pollution, said Mark Fields, a unit leader of the DNR’s air quality bureau.
“It is a violation, but those limits are pretty low limits to keep the emissions of dust down,” he said.
The Duncombe facility did not test its other grain handling equipment at that time because the equipment was not operating at its maximum rate — a requirement for the testing.
Fields said testing at the facility is somewhat at the whim of uncontrollable circumstances. Maximum operation happens when there is a steady stream of grain loads coming into the facility, which is most likely to occur during the peak of harvest season.
A recent DNR order fined the facility $6,000 for testing delays and the receiving system’s ongoing air quality violations. Fields said testing is set to happen next week.
If, during that testing, the equipment is not operating at maximum capacity, another test will be required before the end of the year, the DNR order said.
NEW Cooperative must also submit a plan to prevent future opacity violations. Dust can be controlled by oiling grain or installing equipment to remove dust from the air, Fields said.
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https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/07/19/state-fines-farmers-co-op-for-air-quality-violations/
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