MADISON, Wis. -- Two companies have paid $80,000 to settle a Wisconsin complaint that their sand mine polluted the St. Croix River.
Twin Cities-based Tiller Corp. and Interstate Energy Partners reached an agreement with the Wisconsin attorney general's office. The companies did not admit they did anything wrong in the incident near Grantsburg, Wis.
The fines come after the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said the companies did not properly maintain dikes around ponds on the property, allowing sediment to get into a creek, wetland and St. Croix River. The river divides Wisconsin and Minnesota and dumps into the Mississippi River at Hastings, Minn.
