FHRPineBend.com - The Refinery: Waste Permits

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State Hazardous Waste Management Permit
FHR manages hazardous waste at the refinery before it is shipped off to licensed, permitted hazardous waste processing and/or disposal facilities. Prior to 1990, FHR applied some hazardous wastes to a "land farm" in a southern portion of refinery property under the hazardous waste management permit in effect at the time. Prior to the creation of the MPCA or US EPA, FHR disposed of wastes at the refinery. FHR is currently cleaning up the land farm and former waste disposal sites at the refinery.

These operations are regulated under a hazardous waste management permit issued by the MPCA under US EPA rules. FHR provides annual reports to the MPCA and US EPA on the amount and manner of waste managed.

The MPCA inspects the refinery's waste management operations at least annually, though the primary role of inspection is handled by Dakota County.

Dakota County Hazardous Waste Generator License
Dakota County has the primary responsibility for enforcing day-to-day management of hazardous waste, and has issued FHR a license to manage that waste. The license requirements basically mirror the MPCA permit requirements, and Dakota County inspects the refinery at least quarterly. FHR also submits an annual report, identical to the report provided to the MPCA, to Dakota County.

Click here to go to the Dakota County website.

Aboveground Storage Tank Permit
In 1998, the MPCA issued FHR an Aboveground Storage Permit, which allows FHR to continue to store petroleum products, crude oil and other substances in large above-ground tanks. It sets a schedule for FHR to test and improve those tanks by adding:

Internal liners
Corrosion protection
Product level and overflow alarms
Improved secondary containment

FHR is also required to test and improve below grade piping. FHR's Aboveground Storage Tank permit was updated in 2005.

Download a copy of the AST permit (File Size: 2.7 MB)

Administrative Orders and Consent Decrees
1998 MPCA Multi-Media Agreement
In August, 1997, an FHR employee noticed petroleum products coming out of a spring near the backwater wetlands of the Mississippi River on FHR property. The product was coming from the refinery, from leaks from tanks, underground piping, and spills dating back to the time the refinery began operations.

The MPCA subsequently conducted several inspections of the refinery, and discovered concerns regarding wastewater operations and waste management, as well as the storing of petroleum products. In 1998, FHR and the MPCA entered into a Multi-Media Consent Decree (MMCD), which required, among other things, that FHR:

Clean up the soil and groundwater contamination resulting from leaks and spills
Improve the use of firewater and firewater storage basins
Improve stormwater management
Improve and monitor underground sewers
Reduce the number of shutdowns/breakdowns and startup of processing equipment
Reduce flaring

The MMCD also required FHR to upgrade tanks and below-grade piping, but these requirements are now contained in the AST permit.

FHR has completed over 300 requirements under the 1998 MMCD. FHR continues to improve the stormwater system and sewer system.