A Benton County landfill company, its owner and a construction company have agreed to a proposed federal court settlement that would resolve claims of illegal discharge of fill material and other construction debris into wetlands.
Deal reached over illegal construction debris dumping into wetlands
August 29, 2008 at 3:19PM
According to the civil complaint filed Wednesday in Minneapolis:
In 2003, Gerome G. Henkemeyer, Henkemeyer Landfill Inc. and Riley Bros. Construction Inc. of Benton, Minn., discharged 95,000 cubic yards of fill material into about 6.7 acres of wetlands in Watab Township, north of Sauk Rapids.
The complaint further alleges that defendants failed to obtain a required permit for the discharge.
Under the proposed settlement -- which is subject to a 30-day public comment period and has not been approved by the court -- the defendants agree to restore the wetlands to the maximum extent possible and at their own expense, provide mitigation for the temporal loss of wetland functions, and together pay civil penalties totaling $150,000.
According to the complaint, Riley Brothers contracted with the Minnesota Department of Transportation to haul and permissibly dispose of fill material and other construction debris obtained from reconstruction of an overpass for Hwy. 10 and County Rd. 32 in Benton County.
Riley Brothers also had a separate arrangement with Henkemeyer Landfill allowing Riley Brothers to dispose of the highway project fill into wetlands that surrounded the operational location of the landfill.
--PAUL WALSH
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