Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative filed a lawsuit against a Minnesota contractor who installed a cover for a wastewater pond.

The Wahpeton-based company is asking for a jury trial in a $1 million federal lawsuit against Industrial & Environmental Concepts Inc., of Lakeville, Minnesota. Minn-Dak is seeking damages for alleged breach of contract, breaches of warranty and negligence.

Minn-Dak claims the wastewater pond cover was improperly installed leading to wind and liner damage. The insurer for IEC and the company itself paid to replace the cover, but refused the demands of Minn-Dak to pay for repair of the liner. Minn-Dak said this led to them spending $1 million to do the repair itself.

Factors mentioned in the lawsuit include:

• Installed the cover into the prevailing winds, rather than properly installing it with the prevailing winds.
• Failed to use sand tubes to weigh down the leading edge.
• Prematurely welded the sides of the cover to the liner as installation progressed, so that when winds lifted the cover, it pulled the liner up and tore it, leading to the leak.

Minn-Dak’s annual meeting was held a week before the suit was filed and the installation of the pond cover to reduce odor for the community was discussed as a positive move.

The pond, which is designated as “Pond 3”, covers 10.4 acres and holds 38 million gallons of wastewater from the facility.

After discovering leakage from the pond’s liner in 2018, Minn-Dak contracted with IEC to cover the pond with a high-density polyethylene liner. The pond was drained by Minn-Dak and the liner was removed along with the sludge.

The new liner from IEC was installed by November, 2019, and the cover was installed in the summer of 2020.