Sioux Falls, S.D. — Minnehaha County officials have confirmed that a suit has been filed against the county for giving the go-ahead for a new $10 million agronomy center (GM Feb. 25, p. 9) to be built by Eastern Farmers Cooperative approximately three miles north of Colton. According to the state attorney’s office in Sioux Falls, Minnehaha County was served with a Notice of Appeal to Circuit Court by Doug and Louise Hanson challenging the decision of the county commission to grant Conditional Use Permit 1308. The Hansons are represented by Rick Ramstad, a Sioux Falls attorney. “All I can tell you is that a case has been filed against the county for issuing the conditional use permit,” County Planning Director Scott Anderson advised Green Markets. Anderson didn’t provide any additional information, saying that at this point the suit falls into the workload of the county’s state attorney, Aaron McGowan, noting that typically no one talks very much about these items when they are being litigated. Anderson didn’t say if he thought the fertilizer emergency that occurred last month in West, Texas, may have had something to do with the South Dakota legal action. Concerns about an accidental release have been raised by a number of residents, since the project would include the capability of handling as much as 30,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain