Kim Fundingsland/MDN Debris remains piled on the ground of what remains of Earth Recycling’s former operations on Minot’s west edge Monday. The business was the scene of a major fire in May 2017. Earth Recycling was subsequently deemed by the City of Minot to be in violation of zoning ordinances and was issued a cease and desist letter.

Cleanup is advancing slowly but surely at a location just west of Minot, where a fire damaged a recycling business two years ago.

Earth Recycling has since relocated from the site but has been working on cleanup.

“We are typically out there every two to three weeks, checking on progress,” said Diana Trussell, manager of waste management with the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality. “They have made a lot of progress over the last couple of years.”

She said progress has been slow because it involves considerable hand sorting of materials so that recycling of those items can occur where possible.

“They are trying to recycle as much of that as they can,” she said. “It will be nice to see a lot of it being recycled.”

Trussell said there are no lingering environmental concerns with the property. A damaged building remains on the site that likely will be torn down eventually, she said. It appears there is interest from another business in reusing the building bricks elsewhere.

A fire on May 18, 2017, sent thick, black smoke billowing into the air from the site at 3005 4th Avenue NW, immediately on the west side of the U.S. Highway 83 Bypass.

The cause of the fire was never officially determined, although “improperly discarded smoking materials” was given as a possible cause. The commercial recycling facility included extensive piles of paper, cardboard and other combustibles.

A year later, Earth Recycling lost a legal battle against a city order to stop taking in recyclable materials at the location. The city stated the company did not have permits to operate. The company responded it needed to operate to raise funds for cleanup.

Owners moved the business to a new site northeast of Glenburn. The Renville County planning and zoning office reports receiving no concerns about the operation under its one-year permit. The planning and zoning board will hold a hearing July 16 to consider an additional permit to allow operations to continue once the existing permit expires.

Attempts to contact the company for comment were not successful.