ERMUSR MISC MEMO 02-12-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Is ethanol tapping too much water? ~ As the industry expands, Minnesota's groundwater supply is under greater pressure. By TOM MEER5MAN • meersman~a startribune.com With a flood of ethanol plants headed toward Minnesota, there's growing concern about wheth- er there will be enough groundwater to satisfy the booming industry's thirst. The issue was brought into focus last year in Granite Falls, where an ethanol plant in its first year of operations deplet- (( WE'RE ed the groundwater so much that it had to be- DEALING WITH gin pumping water from the Minnesota River. GROUNDWATER It takes between four and five gallons of wa- THAT'S ter to produce a gallon of ethanol at a biofuel PROBABLY 5,000 plant, and with 17 etha- nol plants now operat- YEARSOLD, AND ing in the state, six under construction and 10 more WE DON'T GET IT proposed or in the plan- Wing stages, the threat of BACK ... )> more drains on under- ground water are rising. Jeff Broberg, licensed This week, the Min- geologistand president nesota Environmen- ofthe Minnesota Trout tal Quality Board .will Association convene an interagen- cy group as the first step toward looking more closely at ethanol and groundwater availability. The board accepted a re- questtwo weeks ago from the Minnesota Pollution. Control Agency, which regulates ethanol plants. The MPCA Citizens' Board wants more informa- tion about total groundwater supplies in the state, as well as whether current and future ethanol plants could consume it faster than it can be replenished. ':The industry is consuming about 2 billion gal- lons of groundwater per year, according to state estimates. Ethanol continues: Even when ethanol plant devel opens test aquifers, results can be misleading. A6 -