The Department of Agriculture is charged with managing the response and cleanup of sudden fertilizer and pesticide (herbicide, insecticide, etc.) spills.
All agricultural chemical releases or threatened releases must be reported to the State Duty Officer immediately upon discovery. The duty officer is available 24 hours a day to receive your spill notification at 1-800-422-0798 (greater Minnesota) or 651-649-5451 (Twin Cities Metropolitan area). [There is a limited exemption for reporting small spills by licensed applicators.] Failure to properly report an incident may jeopardize eligibility for partial reimbursement from the department's Agricultural Chemical Response and Reimbursement Account (ACRRA) and is a violation of law.
All reports of incidents received by the State Duty Officer are forwarded to the MDA spills team. The spills team is available 24 hours a day and is responsible for directing and assisting with the state response and cleanup of agricultural chemical incidents. In most instances an on-site response is usually performed by either MDA office or field staff.
If the incident is stable but requires additional investigation, the spills team will transfer case management to MDA technical staff. The incident will than be prioritized and addressed by the staff of the Comprehensive Facility Investigation / MERLA program or the Agricultural Voluntary Investigation and Cleanup (AgVIC) program.
If an incident is discovered where a responsible party is not present or is unwilling to take responsibility for the incident, the MDA spills team has the authority to hire a state contractor to take steps necessary to prevent adverse affects on the environment.
Learn more
Related Guidance Documents
Power Point Presentations
External Links
|
