AG Processing Inc. to pay $96,588 civil penalty for environmental violations

KANSAS CITY, Kansas — Ag Processing Inc (AGP), a farmer-owned cooperative involved in the acquisition, processing and marketing of grain products, has agreed to pay a $96,588 civil penalty to the United States for its failure to develop and implement a Facility Response Plan for its soybean processing facility in Mason City, Iowa, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

During an investigation of the Mason City facility in January 2009, EPA found that although the facility has a documented storage capacity of more than 1 million gallons of soy oil and/or fuel oil (actually 5.6 million gallons of capacity) it had not submitted a Facility Response Plan to EPA, as required by the federal Clean Water Act.

The facility also had not developed or implemented a facility response training program or a drill/exercise program, as required by the regulations.