Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica has agreed to pay a $300,000 civil penalty to settle a series of alleged violations of the federal Clean Air Act at its facility in St Joe.

According to a news release the company has agreed to more closely monitor and better train employees working with industrial refrigerants.

Additionally, as part of the settlement, BIV has agreed to perform a supplemental environmental project, through which it will spend a minimum of $600,000 to replace refrigeration equipment at its Fort Dodge, Iowa, facility, switching older equipment that uses ozone-depleting substances for new units that don’t use ozone-depleting substances.

According to the complaint, EPA issued an information request to BIV in March 2005, seeking information about the condition of cooling systems at the St. Joseph facility, the services performed on appliances at the facility, and the amounts of refrigerant that it used. The complaint alleges that BIV’s response to the information request was not complete and accurate because it failed to report the true amount of refrigerant purchased by the facility, and failed to list all suppliers of refrigerant to the facility.

The complaint further alleges that the St. Joseph facility’s annualized leak rates of one or more of its industrial refrigeration systems exceeded 35 percent on one or more occasions during a five-year period. It also alleges BIV failed to perform leak testing and follow-up verification tests; failed to develop retrofit or retirement plans for leaking equipment, failed to complete retrofit or replacement of leaking equipment, and failed to maintain proper service and maintenance records for its equipment.

Jeremiah Kraushaar of Bethany has admitted robbing grocery stores in Odessa, Raytown, Kansas, and Bethany last fall.  The 32 year old entered guilty pleas Monday in federal court in Kansas City.  Surveillance video showed an armed robber entering as the stores opened for the day, then holding employees at gunpoint while the robberies took place.

The Corps of Engineers has declared an official end to the disastrous Missouri River flooding of 2011.  The Corps says for the first time in months, the river is below flood stage from Fort Peck to Saint Louis, and water is off the levees.  There are still thousands of acres of flooded land covered by impounded water, and in many places water is still draining back into the river through holes in the levee.

Saint Joseph-area children are the stars, supporting cast, and assistant directors in a musical production of Cinderella to be staged twice on Saturday.  Missoula Childrens Theater directors Sarah Levy and Jordan Williams held auditions last night and now have five days to prepare the extravaganza.

Performances are scheduled for 3 and 7 pm Saturday at Riverside Church, Riverside and Mitchell.   For ticket information call Performing Arts Association at 816.279.1225.

Governors from states along the Missouri River will ask Congress for an independent review of this year’s flood event and the way it was handled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  Kansas Governor Sam Brownback said an independent review would allow for tough questions to be asked and answered as well as ensure we are better prepared in the future.

Eight states were represented at a briefing Monday in Omaha by Brigadier General John McMahon about the Corps’ proposed Annual Operating Plan (AOP) for 2011-2012.  They also discussed how vulnerable the system will be next spring because not all of the repairs wil be completed before spring runoff begins.

Gov. Brownback met with Governors Terry Branstad (Iowa); Dave Heineman (Nebraska); Jack Dalrymple (North Dakota); Dennis Daugaard (South Dakota) and senior staff from Matt Mead (Wyoming) today in Omaha to discuss Missouri River flood control and recovery.  Governors Jay Nixon (Missouri) and Brian Schweitzer (Montana) joined the meeting by teleconference.

The governors also met with representatives from FEMA and the U.S. Department on Transportation about current flood recovery efforts.

The Corps will hold eight public meetings in the river basin region, including one in St Joe, for public input on the 2011-2012 AOP. They’ll gather October 25th at 7pm at the Holiday Inn Riverfront.

The governors plan to meet again in November, prior to the Corps’ finalization of its 2011-2012 AOP.

Governor Brownback also announced his support for Gov. Dalrymple’s call for the Corps to lower the water levels in Lake Sakakawea below current plans.

The Corps plans to maintain a level of 1,837 feet for the 2011-2012 season.  Dalrymple wants to drop that by an additional 2.5 feet.

In a letter to the Corps, Dalrymple points out that the National Weather Service is forecasting a La Nina climate pattern for this winter – meaning another season of higher than normal snow amounts in Wyoming and the Dakotas.  The Corps’ AOP doesn’t take this into consideration.  Releasing another 2.5 feet from the lake would give the Corps an additional 750,000 acre feet of flood control storage space.

“This is a sensible, thoughtful and narrowed focus idea that makes a lot of sense,” Brownback said.  “We need to seize the window of opportunity to take action now in hopes of preventing a major flood event next summer.  While some may think that this isn’t a very significant amount of water, we must remember this is a situation where inches can make a tremendous difference in the lives of thousands.”