/usr/web/www.marshallindependent.com/wp-content/themes/coreV2/single.php
×

Bishop on the road again

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency commissioner visits tru Shrimp, Marshall

Photo by Deb Gau Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner Laura Bishop tours some of Marshall’s flood control measures Tuesday.

MARSHALL — When the head of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency made a visit to Marshall earlier this summer, city officials said it was a first. But it wasn’t going to be the last time Laura Bishop was in southwest Minnesota.

“If we’re actually going to be a trusted partner in that, we have to be showing up,” the MPCA commissioner said while visiting Marshall on Monday. “Seven months in, I’m trying to get to as much of the state as possible.”

Bishop is traveling through southwest Minnesota on her way to Farmfest. She is participating in a panel discussion of commissioners from Gov. Tim Walz’s administration.

Bishop also stopped at the tru Shrimp facilities in Balaton.

Tru Shrimp had planned to open a shrimp production facility in Luverne, but opted earlier this year to move the site to Madison, South Dakota, citing potential issues with the Minnesota state permitting process.

Bishop said she had wanted to learn more about tru Shrimp — “Is this coming to fruition?” she asked.

While plans to start construction on the South Dakota location have been delayed, Bishop told MPCA employees that tru Shrimp was developing its business plan, and still intended to operate in Minnesota in the future.

At the Marshall visit, Bishop met with MPCA employees who work in areas ranging from feedlots and waste management to protecting watersheds. About 24 people work in the Marshall MPCA office, employees said.

Bishop said one of her priorities as commissioner was to meet with MPCA employees around Minnesota, and to learn more about the work they’re doing.

It will help her better represent the agency, she said — for example, Bishop said learning from employees could help her better explain the MPCA’s environmental permit process.

Bishop said she also wanted to know whether the agency had the resources it needed to work effectively, rather than focusing only on efficiency.

Engaging with members of the public was another big part of why Bishop said she was back in southwest Minnesota this week. Events like Farmfest are an opportunity to help bring everyone, including farmers, to the table to talk about issues like water quality, she said.

The panel Bishop was taking part in was also a chance to show how commissioners are working together.

“We do have a very collaborative style of working,” Bishop said.

Marshall City Council member and MPCA employee Craig Schafer said he appreciated Bishop meeting with area industries and members of local government. She answered that it was important to start the process of building trust when working with businesses and communities.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.38/week.

Subscribe Today