HAMILTON, Mich. (AP) — State regulators say 91,000 bushels of soybeans must be destroyed, three years after a small portion was grown on land that had sediment from a Kalamazoo River Superfund site in western Michigan.
Only 145 bushels were harvested from the land. But those soybeans were stored with thousands of additional bushels likely worth more than $800,000 at the time. The agriculture department says the soybeans are indistinguishable and can’t be sorted.
Since 2016, the soybeans have been locked up in Hamilton in Allegan County. The spoiled crop was grown by Golden Grain Farms and sold to CHS, a Minnesota-based farm cooperative with Michigan operations.
CHS recently filed a lawsuit against Golden Grain, seeking compensation for all 91,000 bushels. Golden Grain didn’t return messages seeking comment.
The state says the land wasn’t supposed to be used for farming.
