Minn. Agency, Scrap Company Expect to Sign Agreement

Schartzman Co., a scrap metal recycling facility located in Anoka, Minn., is expected to sign a consent agreement with the state of Minnesota’s Pollution Control Agency within the next several days. The decision to sign the agreement comes with the Anoka County District Court setting a deadline of Sept. 16 for a plan to be hammered out between the two parties. The issue at hand is the large amount of auto shredder fluff on the Schwartzman property. The company, which operates an auto shredder on site, reportedly has accumulated 45,000 cubic yards of shredder fluff on site. Additionally, the site has an additional 20,000 cubic yards of fluff that it is using as a berm for the facility.

According to Jeff Connell, a spokesman for the MPCA, the consent agreement if fairly straightforward. The company is required to have a minimum of 10 trucks a day hauling the shredder fluff off the site. The average can be spread over a two-week period.

Additionally, Connell said that any auto shredder fluff must be stored on a concrete pad.

According to local press reports, this past July the MPCA filed an injunction with the court asking the court to force the company to halt the shredder’s operations, based on what the government felt was incomplete compliance.

One step the agency is developing is working with auto shredders in the state to jointly develop procedures for removing auto fluff generated by the machines. Connell said that the MPCA expects Schwartzman to be a part of the collection.

Much of the issue between the scrap recycler and the state agency began after a fire at the scrap yard last September. Soot and smoke from the fire could be seen from a long distance.