Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Transcription

1 Minnesota Pollution Control Agency STATE OF MINNESOTA Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Public Comment Period Begins: June 20, 2013 Public Comment Period Ends: July 22, 2013 INDUSTRIAL DIVISION PUBLIC NOTICE OF INTENT TO MAJOR MODIFY STATE DISPOSAL SYSTEM (SDS) PERMIT MN Current Permit Issued: February 17, 2012 Current Permit Expiration Date: January 31, 2017 Name and Address of Permittee: Facility Name and Location: Corn Plus Corn Plus 711 6th Ave SE 711 6th Ave SE Winnebago, MN T104N, R28W, Section 36, Winnebago, Faribault County, Minnesota Description of Permitted Facility The facility is permitted to produce up to a maximum of 51 million gallons/year (mgy) of fuel grade (denatured) ethanol. Approximately 20 million bushels (approximately 0.55 million tons) per year of corn feedstock is processed through dry milling. In addition to ethanol, the facility produces livestock feed: the facility can produce approximately 178,000 tons of dried distiller s grain with solubles (DDGS) per year or approximately 105,000 tons per year of wet cake or any combination thereof. The facility also extracts corn oil as a coproduct. The major processes at the site include product receiving and storage, ethanol production, unused material storage, and shipping. The fuel for the facility is supplied by natural gas and by corn syrup to the facility fluid bed reactor. The makeup water for the facility is supplied by DNR permitted appropriated wells by three production wells (#s 1, 3 and 4), located within the St. Peter and Prairie du Chien aquifers; and under emergency situations, from the facility s stormwater storage system. The water management process is summarized in the flow diagram below for a denatured ethanol production level of 40 mgy; the flow values would increase proportionally by approximately 20 percent for the 51 mgy denatured ethanol production level capacity. (The diagram does not reflect the subsequent removal of the Titan heat transfer system from the facility.) The well water supply is treated with multimedia filters, and then used for process water and cooling tower feeds. Some of the filtrate is additionally treated by ion exchange softeners and reverse osmosis, and then used for boiler and cooling tower feeds.

2 Page 2 of 8 The following combined waste streams generated by the facility are routed, at average and approximate maximum rates of 0.15 and 0.25 million gallons per day, to the city of Winnebago publicly owned treatment works (POTW): domestic wastewater, laboratory drains, multimedia filter backwash (from both influent well water and cooling tower blowdown treatments), ion exchange softener regenerate, reverse osmosis reject brine and boiler and cooling tower blowdowns. The Fluid Bed Boiler floor drainage is routed to the Whole Stillage Tank, and the other boiler building floor drainage is routed to the POTW. The POTW is covered under NPDES/SDS permit MN Water that is drained from the boilers (with the exception of the Fluid Bed), before cleaning and residuals generated by the cleaning activities (including the cleaning of heater and condenser tubes/fins) is routed to the POTW. The wastewaters generated by the ethanol, stillage and DDGS production processes (including beer/distillation bottoms, washdown waters, floor drainage and wet air emission control wastewaters) are normally recycled and contained within the production process systems; certain of these process wastewaters may be spray irrigated according to the requirements of this permit. Clean in place (CIP) and hydroblasting activities are conducted periodically for the facility as maintenance; wastewaters, sediments and other residuals from CIP, hydroblasting and the other non utility waste streams noted above are returned to the ethanol production process (i.e., closed loop ), which leads to the ultimate generation of ethanol, stillage, wet cake and DDGS byproducts, except for certain tank sludges that are reused as compost, and/or later disposed at a landfill. The management of containerized totes, wet cake, fluid bed reactor ash and truck and rail fuel loading sites is the only outdoor handling and storage of raw materials, intermediate and finished products, byproducts and solid wastes at the facility. The storage and disposal of the ash generated by the facility fluid bed reactor is covered under MPCA Case Specific Beneficial Use Determination UT0038. During maintenance or shutdowns, the waste refractory/sand generated by the facility fluid bed reactor is disposed of at a landfill authorized to accept the waste. The corn storage areas are covered. The wet cake is placed on a concrete pad and then loaded onto trucks for shipping as livestock feed off site. This storage area is partially walled and partially covered with a roof to minimize stormwater from mixing with the wet cake; any accumulated drainage is collected and returned to the plant process. DDGS is stored indoors within the DDGS Building prior to being shipped off site. None of the facility stillage, syrup, wet cake, DDGS or other byproducts is land applied. Steel aboveground storage tanks (ASTs) are used to store bulk ethanol and denaturant (gasoline) products outdoors. The storage tanks are covered under AST Major Facility Permit #54974; this AST permit covers the tank secondary containment drainage, which includes flows from the facility truck and rail fuel loading sites. The drainage that accumulates in the fuel tank farm secondary containment area is inspected and tested for the absence of fuel related contaminants before being routed to the plant area stormwater collection system. No tank condensate is generated. Drainage from the facility rail yard (rail car staging area) is routed to swales that eventually drain to tiles to Judicial Ditch 17. The railcar unloading area is drained back into the tank farm secondary containment area. The facility does not release non stormwater flows to the stormwater collection and storage system. Station WS011 monitors drainage from the cooling towers area, into plant area Culvert 21. The facility stormwater collection system routes flow through box valve station WS012 to Pond #2 (station WS006), sized with a design capacity of approximately 1.2 million gallons. Additional surge capacity is provided by Pond #1 (station WS005), with a design capacity of approximately 310,000 gallons, and, if necessary, by certain permanent aboveground stainless steel tanks at the facility. Pond #s 1 2 have polyurea/geotextile liners, and include aerators.

3 Page 3 of 8 The stormwater ponds and tanks do not directly discharge to surface water. The ponds and tanks provide treatment and storage, followed by disposal of the collected stormwater through spray irrigation (hose station WS001). Tiles installed under Pond #s 1 2 route drainage to a collection sump, which is then: pumped back, through station WS009, into the ponds without connection to other tiles; or directed, through station WS014, to the 8 inch tile header (upstream of station GW012) according to the permit conditions. Monitoring wells (stations GW008, GW009, and GW010) monitor the groundwater around Pond #s 1 2 and the cooling towers; monitoring wells GW001 and GW007 provide additional information to assess groundwater quality upgradient of the facility wastewater storage and spray irrigation sites. Occasional plant upsets make it necessary to periodically purge certain waste process wastewaters from the system. This permit authorizes the spray irrigation of the following upset mixed process wastewaters (station WS002): fermentation carbon dioxide scrubber discharge; distillation scrubber discharge; stripper column discharge; and condensed vapors remaining following the evaporation of the thin stillage. During periods when immediate spray irrigation is not practical, these upset process wastewaters are recycled back through the plant until they can be spray irrigated in compliance with this permit, or stored until the upset is rectified without the need for waste disposal. These upset process wastewaters are stored at the facility in the PC Tank and/or certain permanent aboveground stainless steel tanks and/or tanks located within the principal secondary containment area authorized under AST Major Facility Permit # No chemical additives enter the waste streams monitored by spray irrigation stations WS001 and WS002. These waste streams are spray irrigated using a center pivot. The facility has three permittee owned fields available to spray irrigate. Spray Site No. 1 (station LA301) is located immediately to the south. Spray Site No. 2 (station LA302) is located immediately east of the stormwater ponds and south of the Continental Carbonics facility. Spray Site No. 3 (station LA303) is east of spray irrigation area No. 2 and Continental Carbonics. Sites 1, 2 and 3 are planted in reed canary grass. The three sprayfields are underlain by a network of field tiles. There are no surface tile inlets on the three spray sites. The tiles from the three fields discharge to Judicial Ditch 17, which leads to Rice Lake (class 2B, 3C, 4A, 4B, 5 and 6 waters) through tile station GW011 (T2), located on the 8 inch tile drain header upstream of this point just east of the east boundary of spray irrigation site No. 3; station GW012 (T1) monitors this 8 inch tile header downstream of spray irrigation sites Nos. 1 and 2, and upstream of the tile drainage from Continental Carbonics and spray irrigation site No. 3. No dust control chemicals are applied at the facility. The locations of the designated monitoring stations are shown below. Monitoring station SW001 is located in Judicial Ditch 17, at 375th Av (County Road 107).

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5 Page 5 of 8 Location of Monitoring Stations

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7 Page 7 of 8 Preliminary Determination on the Draft Permit The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Commissioner has made a preliminary determination to major modify this SDS permit for a term of approximately five years. The proposed permit modification is described above. A draft permit is available for review at the MPCA office at the St. Paul address listed below, at the Rochester regional office and on line at A copy of the draft permit will be mailed to you if the MPCA receives your written or oral request at this office. If you have questions about this draft permit or the Commissioner's preliminary determination, please contact Jim D. Strudell at Written Comments You may submit written comments on the conditions of the draft permit or on the Commissioner s preliminary determination. Only comments or petitions concerning the proposed modification portions of the permit will be considered. Written comments must include the following: 1. A statement of your interest in the permit application or the draft permit. 2. A statement of the action you wish the MPCA to take, including specific references to sections of the draft permit that you believe should be changed. 3. The reasons supporting your position, stated with sufficient specificity as to allow the Commissioner to investigate the merits of your position. Petition for Public Informational Meeting You also may request that the MPCA Commissioner hold a public informational meeting. A public informational meeting is an informal meeting that the MPCA may hold to solicit public comment and statements on matters before the MPCA, and to help clarify and resolve issues. A petition requesting a public informational meeting must include the following information: 1. A statement identifying the matter of concern. 2. The information required under items 1 through 3 of Written Comments, identified above. 3. A statement of the reasons the MPCA should hold a public informational meeting. 4. The issues that you would like the MPCA to address at the public informational meeting. Petition for Contested Case Hearing You also may submit a petition for a contested case hearing. A contested case hearing is a formal evidentiary hearing before an administrative law judge. In accordance with Minn. R , the MPCA will grant a petition to hold a contested case hearing if it finds that: (1) there is a material issue of fact in dispute concerning the application or draft permit; (2) the MPCA has the jurisdiction to make a determination on the disputed material issue of fact; and (3) there is a reasonable basis underlying the disputed material issue of fact or facts such that the holding of the contested case hearing would allow the introduction of information that would aid the MPCA in resolving the disputed facts in making a final decision on the draft permit. A material issue of fact means a fact question, as distinguished from a policy question, whose resolution could have a direct bearing on a final MPCA decision.

8 Page 8 of 8 A petition for a contested case hearing must include the following information: 1. A statement of reasons or proposed findings supporting the MPCA decision to hold a contested case hearing according to the criteria in Minn. R , as discussed above. 2. A statement of the issues proposed to be addressed by a contested case hearing and the specific relief requested or resolution of the matter. In addition and to the extent known, a petition for a contested case hearing should also include the following information: 1. A proposed list of prospective witnesses to be called, including experts, with a brief description of proposed testimony or summary of evidence to be presented at a contested case hearing. 2. A proposed list of publications, references, or studies to be introduced and relied upon at a contested case hearing. 3. An estimate of time required for you to present the matter at a contested case hearing. MPCA Decision You may submit a petition to the Commissioner requesting that the MPCA Citizens Board (Board) consider the permit issuance. To be considered timely, the petition must be received by the MPCA by 4:30 p.m. on the date the public comment period ends, identified on page 1 of this notice. Under the provisions of Minn. Stat , subd. 6(4), the decision whether to issue the permit and, if so, under what terms will be presented to the Board for decision if: (1) the Commissioner grants the petition requesting the matter be presented to the Board; (2) one or more Board members request to hear the matter before the time the Commissioner makes a final decision on the permit; or (3) a timely request for a contested case hearing is pending. You may participate in the activities of the Board as provided in Minn. R The written comments, requests, and petitions submitted on or before the last day of the public comment period will be considered in the final decision on this permit. If the MPCA does not receive written comments, requests, or petitions during the public comment period, MPCA staff as authorized by the Board, will make the final decision on the draft permit. Comments, petitions, and/or requests must be submitted in writing on or before the end date of the public comment period identified on page 1 of this notice to: Jim D. Strudell, 5 th Floor Industrial Division 520 Lafayette Road St. Paul, MN 55155