News Releases from Region 07

EPA Reaches Settlement with Big Ox Energy – Siouxland, LLC for Alleged Clean Air Act Violations

12/05/2017

Contact Information:

David W. Bryan, APR (bryan.david@epa.gov)

913-551-7433

(Lenexa, Kan., Dec. 5, 2017) - Big Ox Energy – Siouxland, LLC has agreed to work with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the state of Nebraska to prevent future chemical releases like those that occurred at the company’s Dakota City, Neb., facility in 2016.

As a result of a settlement agreement between Big Ox Energy and EPA filed on Dec. 4, 2017, the company came into compliance by conducting a hazard assessment and agreed to pay a civil penalty. Big Ox Energy also entered into a settlement agreement with the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) this past June, concerning compliance with state air and water regulations.

In 2016, releases of chemical gases from the biogas production and packaging facility led to the hospitalization of a Big Ox Energy employee. In addition, 26 households were displaced after hydrogen sulfide associated with the facility entered the Dakota City sewer system.

Inspections and air monitoring of the facility conducted by EPA, as well as a joint inspection conducted by EPA and NDEQ, revealed that Big Ox Energy was using biogas, methane, and hydrogen sulfide in its processing; was emitting hydrogen sulfide from its facility; and failed to identify hazards using appropriate hazard assessment techniques, as required by the Clean Air Act.