Public Comment Form

Saint John's University - Wastewater Permit

We invite you to comment on the draft wastewater permit for Saint John's University in Collegeville.


The Order of St. Benedict's operates a co-generation power plant to provide heating and cooling for Saint John’s University in Collegeville. The power plant consists of three natural gas-fired boilers rated at 115,000 pounds of steam, a natural gas-fired steam turbine generator, and two cooling towers.


The facility has three discharge points: two discharge non-contact cooling water and blowdown from the cooling towers via a storm drain and one discharges filter backwash from the water treatment plant into a holding pond. All the discharges are routed into Stump Lake.


A major portion of the wastewater authorized for discharge under this permit comes from one of the two cooling towers at an average rate of 18,500 gallons per day and a maximum of 37,200 gallons per day.


The draft permit adds monitoring for nitrite plus nitrite, total, total kjeldahl nitrogen and total nitrogen; ends monitoring for iron, aluminum, magnesium, sodium, bicarbonates, hardness, calcium, and potassium; and sets sulfate limits for two of the three discharge points.


Wastewater from industrial and commercial sources may contain pollutants at levels that could adversely affect the water quality in area wetlands, streams, rivers, and lakes. Water quality permits - or National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits - establish specific limits and requirements to protect Minnesota's surface and groundwater quality. All wastewater must be treated before it goes into surface water to protect human health and aquatic life. Permits are regularly reviewed and updated as they expire, allowing the MPCA to incorporate new information about the impacts of pollutants on the environment in future permits.



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Thank you for providing feedback on this project. We value your comments and will use them to assess this project further. Please submit your comments and feedback before the end of the comment period.


If you want to submit a letter, you can upload the letter on this website or submit it via US Mail to the following address:


Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
c/o Katherine Kurland
525 Lake Ave S
Duluth, MN 55802

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