Maine Prairie residents and a co-owner of the asphalt plant on 150th Street north of Kimball carried out an informal meeting Monday to address complaints residents had on the plant. Residents living by the plant had initially brought forward their complaints at a township board meeting the previous week. Many had complained of the excessive smoke that was being emitted from the plant, owned by Mid-Minnesota Hotmix, and oil spills from the plant’s machinery. Some even questioned whether the operational hours of the plant were in full compliance with the time allocated by the township. Tom Sieben who lives right next to the asphalt plant complains that at times the smoke released doesn’t go up into the atmosphere, but lingers above the ground and eventually spills over to his house. “My house has been so smoky you can’t see across the room,” Sieben said. “I have been getting major headaches two to three times a week because of the smoke.” Other residents have similar complaints. “It is a constant stink,” said Leo Donabauer. “When it comes it is unbearable.” Steam, not smoke Tim Ferrell, co-owner of the plant, assured residents that it was not smoke they were seeing and smelling, but steam. “What comes out of the smoke stack is steam,” Ferrell said. “Everything else has been filtered out.” He further explained that the gravel is wet when it comes out of the ground and the odor in the steam is the result of asphalt mixed with gravel. That constant stink Donabauer had complained about is the smell of asphalt. “I’m not a doctor, but asphalt has been around forever. If there is something bad about the asphalt fumes, we would have heard of it by now,” Ferrell said. Some residents like Sieben and Donabauer had also suggested the plant’s smokestack be higher so that the steam would not scatter over to their houses. “When I stand on the roof of my house, I can see that the smokestack is lower than my house,” Sieben said. But Ferrell said that building the smokestack higher might have none of the impact desired by the residents. “The people we talk to say that it wouldn’t make a difference,” Ferrell said. “It seems the wind is always wrong here.” As far as oil spills were concerned, Ferrell said that it was impossible to not have any. Generally the amount that does spill, he said, is very little and is cleaned up by the plant’s workers. “The PCA (Pollution Control Agency) rule is it is not a spill if it is not five gallons,” Ferrell said. Operational hours The other complaint many residents had was the plant’s operational hours. Under the township’s guidelines, the plant may only operate between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Tom Sommers, who lives right across the plant, said that he usually hears it start up as early as 6:15 a.m. and that it sometimes closes later than 5 p.m. Ferrell explained that the early start was needed so that the machines in the plant would be warmed up by 7 a.m. and ready to go. Jim Unterberger, Maine Prairie Township supervisor, and the residents then reached an agreement with Ferrell to have the plant’s machines start no earlier than 6:30 a.m. As for the closing time, Ferrell said that at times there were projects that needed to be completed, and the plant would stay as much as half an hour past 5 p.m. “If there was a project that needed more time, there was some leeway (from the township) for that,” Ferrell said. “The bright side is that we’re not here everyday and this does not happen five times a week.” While most of the issues were settled, there was still the issue on whether the asphalt fumes are harmful. “I want to make sure the air I’m breathing is OK,” Sommers said. He may not have to wait long to find out. Ferrell informed the residents that the PCA was going to hire a private independent company to come out in August to find out if the plant is in full compliance with the PCA’s regulations. If it isn’t, the plant will have to shut down and reopen only when it does comply with PCA regulations. But Ferrell is optimistic. “I am confident the tests are going to come out with good results,” Ferrell said.
