MPCA taking comments on new 3M discharge permit
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is taking public comments on a new wastewater discharge permit for 3M Co.'s Cottage Grove manufacturing facility.
The MPCA says the permit sets new discharge limits for one of the chemicals in a family known as PFCs that were the source of ground-water contamination discovered in 2005 in parts of the eastern metro area. PFCs had gone into Scotchgard and other products.
Maplewood-based 3M quit making PFCs in 2002, but traces are still measured in the Cottage Grove facility's discharges.
A stretch of the Mississippi River below the facility is listed as "impaired" under federal rules because one PFC, known as PFOS, is found in fish there. The new limits are designed to keep the facility's discharges from contributing further to the problem.
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The MPCA hosts a public meeting on the revised permit Jan. 26 in Cottage Grove.
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Online: MPCA Public Notices
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