Flint Hills Donates $75,000 to Ducks Unlimited for Habitat Preservation

Ducks Unlimited acquires, enhances and restores wetlands and shallow lakes across the state.

Editor's Note: The following is a press release from Flint Hills Resources. Ducks Unlimited recently received a $75,000 donation from Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend refinery to help protect and restore habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife in Minnesota. The gift is the latest commitment from Flint Hills in a 28-year partnership with Ducks Unlimited. Flint Hills Resources and Ducks Unlimited (DU) have been working together since 1985 to protect and enhance Minnesota’s lakes and wildlife habitat. This includes more than $300,000 in donations to DU since 2007. Additionally, for nearly two decades, Flint Hills has supported DU’s Living Lakes Initiative, which focuses on bringing life back to shallow lakes and marshes. “Flint Hills …

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Surprise Discovery May Complicate Rosemount Park-Building Efforts

Rosemount city staff found something unexpected while taking soil samples at the 57-acre site of a proposed athletic complex.

A surprise discovery will likely make efforts to develop an athletic complex in Rosemount more complicated—and expensive, city officials say. The city plans to develop a set of three multi-purpose athletic fields on a 57-acre site located off the intersection of Akron Avenue and Bonaire Path. The site was donated to the city in 2007 by Flint Hills Resources. City staff taking soil samples on the property recently found a layer of clay one- to three-feet thick underneath the site. Because clay topsoil impedes water drainage and is poor soil for athletic field turf, the Rosemount City Council and city staff are considering an extensive drainage and topsoil replacement project. If approved, the additional work may add as much as $350,000 to …

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Rosemount, Dakota County Firefighters Sent to Texas for Emergency Response Training

Rosemount's James Olinger joins other local firefighters in battling live pressurized petroleum blazes in Corpus Christi, Texas.

  Like us on Facebook | Get our newsletter | Follow us on Twitter | Start a blog The following is a news release from Flint Hills Resources, a biofuels company based in Rosemount. Four firefighters from the Rosemount, Eagan, Inver Grove Heights, and Hastings fire departments will receive special training this spring in Corpus Christi, Texas, through a scholarship program created by the Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend refinery in Rosemount.  During the three-day training sessions, the firefighters will receive hands-on instruction in all aspects of industrial emergency response and will battle live pressurized petroleum fires.  This is the 17th year Flint Hills has granted such scholarships to local firefighters. Tyler Moyna from the Eagan …

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Flint Hills Holds Annual Cleanup of Riverfront Property in Inver Grove

The Pine Bend Bluffs Natural Area represents 1,300 acres of natural prairie, savanna and oak woodland that provides a critical habitat for both resident and migratory animals.

Editor's note: The following contains portions of a news release from Flint Hills Resources. More than 80 volunteers from Flint Hills Resources, Friends of the Mississippi River and Great River Greening continued restoration efforts Saturday along a section of the Mississippi River bluffs that is owned by Flint Hills Resources.  The volunteers removed buckthorn brush and opened and connected prairies on the bluffs, continuing the work that the three organizations have collaborated on since 2000. The goal of the annual event is to restore and reconstruct natural areas on the property. Known as the Pine Bend Bluffs Natural Area, the 1,300 acres of natural prairie, savanna, and oak woodland provide critical habitat for both resident and …

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Apple Valley Man Critically Injured in Highway 52 Crash

A pickup driven by Justin Fettig, 31, struck the back of a tractor-trailer just south of Flint Hills Resources Tuesday afternoon.

A 31-year-old Apple Valley man was critically injured when the pickup he was driving rear-ended a tractor-trailer on Highway 52 just south of the Flint Hills refinery Tuesday afternoon. The Minnesota State Patrol says Justin Fettig was driving a 2008 Ford truck southbound on Highway 52 when it struck the rear of a Peterbilt tractor-trailer and ended up under the trailer. Fettig was transported to Regions Hospital in St. Paul following the 3:24 p.m. crash, says the Pioneer Press. He was listed in critical condition Tuesday evening, says the state patrol. The driver of the tractor-trailer, Randall Kellison, 54, of Tilden, IL, was not injured. Highway 52 south was detoured for a time Tuesday afternoon, says the Pioneer Press and StarTribune. …

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Flint Hills Wants New Explosion-Resistant Trailers for Pine Bend Refinery Workers

The refinery plans to double its temporary work staff, who will need a safe place to eat and take breaks.

Apple Valley Students to Experience Interactive Engineering Exhibit

Apple Valley fourth and fifth graders this spring will visit a new Science Museum of Minnesota exhibit that aims to fulfill academic requirements for engineering.

Editor's note: The following information is from a press release from the Science Museum of Minnesota and Flint Hills Resources. Fourth and fifth grade students from Apple Valley will learn how to think like engineers when they explore a new, interactive exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota this spring. Students at Highland, Southview, Diamond Path, Greenleaf, Westview and Cedar Park elementary schools will visit the museum during April and May to see Engineering Explorations, which is designed to enhance student interest in engineering and fulfill new academic standards.  The program, sponsored by refining and chemicals company Flint Hills Resources, is an example of business and education working together to meet requirements set …

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Police K-9 Units Train in Rosemount, Among Other Facilities

Trainers from a top-notch police department in Winnipeg are helping local police handlers and their dogs with tracking scents

Police K-9 units from all over the metro area, including Dakota County, have joined forces for training at Flint Hills Resources Training Facility in Rosemount, Eagan Police Department and Fleming Field in South St. Paul this week. One of the world's top police K-9 units has traveled almost 500 miles from Winnipeg to the cities to lead much of the 4-day training. According to Andy Helgerson of the Eagan Police Department, the training began this past Monday and will go until Thursday. The handlers and their dogs put in 10-hour days with very little down time. Much of what the various police departments have been training in is ‘tracking,’ which is what the K-9 unit from Winnipeg specializes in. “This is what they do best. They raise their …

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Jennifer Pfeffer

4:54 pm on Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Thanks for sharing this, Mike! How long have you been training Lillie to search for things like bed bugs?   more ›