NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State
University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
January 22, 1998
In 1994, North Dakota manufacturing businesses with 20 or more employees spent about $1.7 million for equipment and structures to reduce pollution through air, water and solid waste, according to the latest "Economic Brief" from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University. Nearly three-fourths of the money was spent by firms in the food manufacturing industry. In the same year North Dakota firms spent $8.3 million in operating costs for pollution abatement.
North Dakota's outlays to cut pollution were considerably lower than those of most states in the nation. Of the surrounding states, for instance, Minnesota firms spent $37.7 million and Montana firms $157.3 million on pollution abatement equipment and structures in 1994. In addition, Minnesota firms spent $296 million and Montana firms $59 million for pollution abatement operating costs.
The amounts North Dakota has spent on pollution abatement have been mixed over the past six years. Capital expenditures for pollution abatement have fluctuated from $3.3 million in 1989 to $10.0 million in 1993 to $1.7 million in 1994. During the same six years, operating costs have likewise jumped around, from $5.3 million in 1989 to $19.3 million in 1992 to $8.3 million in 1994.
Of the total $8.3 million spent on operating costs in 1994, $4.0 million was for water, $2.8 million for solid or contained waste, and $1.6 million for air. About $200,000 of these costs were offset by the value of material and energy that were recovered as a result of pollution abatement activities.
In 1992, North Dakota firms with 20 or more employees spent an average of about $21,000 on capital expenditures for pollution abatement, while Montana firms spent about $36,000, Minnesota firms about $52,000 and South Dakota firms an average of about $16,000.
[EDITORS: FOR BREAKDOWN OF COSTS IN NORTH DAKOTA AND CONTIGUOUS STATES, BY KIND OF POLLUTION AND KIND OF COST, SEE YELLOW PUBLICATION FOLLOWING THIS STORY, "POLLUTION ABATEMENT COSTS AND EXPENDITURES, 1994.]
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Source: Karen Olson (701) 231-1060
Editor: Barry Brissman (701) 231-7866
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