6/5/2019

03/09/2000: KOCH PETROLEUM GROUP SENTENCED

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KOCH PETROLEUM GROUP SENTENCED FOR MINNESOTA
POLLUTION

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Release Date: 03/09/2000
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2000
KOCH PETROLEUM GROUP SENTENCED 
FOR MINNESOTA POLLUTION
Koch Petroleum Group (Koch), which operates a refinery in Rosemount, Minn., was
sentenced on March 1 to pay a $6 million criminal fine and pay an additional $2 million in
remediation costs to the Dakota County Park System in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.
This is the largest federal environmental fine ever paid in Minnesota. The defendant was
also ordered to serve three years probation. Koch previously pleaded guilty to violating the
Clean Water Act (CWA). Koch admitted that it negligently discharged aviation fuel into a
wetland and an adjoining waterway. Even though Koch was aware of the problem, it did
not develop a comprehensive plan to recover between 200,000 ­ 600,000 gallons of
released fuel until June 1997. In addition, the establishment of the system to recover the
fuel destroyed a portion of the surrounding ecosystem and wildlife habitat. In a separate
offense, Koch dumped a million gallons of wastewater with high ammonia content on the

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ground between November 1996 and March 1997 and also increased its flow of wastewater
into the Mississippi River on weekends when Koch did not monitor its discharges. These
actions allowed Koch to circumvent the weekly monitoring and reporting requirements of
its wastewater discharge permit. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation
Division, the FBI and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and was prosecuted by the
U. S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota.
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Last updated on 6/5/2019

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