PLAINVIEW, Minn. – A dairy co-op was fined $17,800 for discharging milk-laden industrial wastewater into a tributary of the Whitewater River. The state Pollution Control Agency, which issued the fine, discovered the discharges too late to test whether fish were affected. The Whitewater is a protected trout stream. Plainview Milk Products Cooperative, which is owned by 200 farmers, released the wastewater twice in 2022, the pollution control agency said. The co-op failed to report the discharges, as required by law. The agency found also that the co-op kept sloppy records and had an inadequate system to monitor its wastewater going back to 2019.
On Plainview West End. The dairy, established in1899, specializes in sweet cream salted butter and foam-dried non-fat milk powder.
Officers
Becky Pearson, general manager; Bob Tullis, operations manager; Jim Hennessy, quality assurance manager.