Northern Iowa Companies Punished for Environmental Violations

OSAGE, Iowa (AP) — The state Natural Resources Department has punished three companies in northern Iowa, saying they violated environmental laws.

The department ordered Smith Ag Inc. of Osage to pay nearly $5,600 for an October 2014 manure discharge into a Little Cedar River tributary.

The department also told Golden Grain Energy LLC to pay $10,000 for air-quality violations at its Mason City-based ethanol production facility. And the department ordered M.G. Waldbaum Co., of Minnetonka, Minnesota, to pay $8,000 for permit violations at its egg processing facility in Britt, Iowa.

The orders were issued to avoid litigation.