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Environmental News

MPR News is your source for environment news from Minnesota and across the country.

Getting to Green: Minnesota’s energy future

Getting to Green is an MPR News series that shares stories about Minnesota’s clean energy transition, including what needs to be done to get there.

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Minn. reports success against emerald ash borers

Stingless wasps released in Great River Bluffs State Park near Winona two years ago are reproducing, which state officials say is evidence they're attacking destructive emerald ash borers.
by The Associated Press

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Robots could help farmers rein in fertilizer pollution

Robots could help farmers rein in fertilizer pollution

When it comes time to fertilizing a cornfield, most farmers use huge machines that weigh at least 10 tons. But three brothers in Minnesota have created a tiny robot they say can do the same job much more efficiently.
by Thomas Andrew Gustafson

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Potentially harmful vapor levels found under Mpls homes

The testing follows the state's discovery in September of trichloroethylene soil vapors at public sites across the neighborhood.
by Jon Collins

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To aid wind power, US to allow eagle deaths

To aid wind power, US to allow eagle deaths

Under pressure from the wind-power industry, the Obama administration said Friday it will allow companies to kill or injure eagles without the fear of prosecution for up to three decades.
by The Associated Press

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Unusual number of Arctic snowy owls seen in US

Snow-white owls with luminous yellow eyes are thrilling bird-watchers as the magnificent Arctic birds set up winter residence at airports, fields and beaches in the United States far south of their normal range.

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Water treatment a central question in PolyMet's environmental study

Water treatment a central question in PolyMet's environmental study

A proposed copper-nickel mining operation in northeast Minnesota would need long-term water treatment to ensure potentially toxic rock won't pollute area waterways, according to an environmental review released Friday.
by Elizabeth Dunbar and Dan Kraker

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General Mills facing two lawsuits over vapor hazard

General Mills facing two lawsuits over vapor hazard

General Mills faces at least lawsuits that allege residents in a Minneapolis neighborhood suffer property damage due to chemical contamination that has migrated from a former research site into the ground beneath their homes.
by Lorna Benson

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Environmental review for PolyMet Mine released

Environmental review for PolyMet Mine released

PolyMet has spent years working to persuade state officials that an open pit copper-nickel mine would be safe for the state's Iron Range.

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Regulators: Xcel must study Sherco coal-fired power plant retirement

Regulators: Xcel must study Sherco coal-fired power plant retirement

Xcel Energy must take a detailed look at the future of its largest coal-fired power plant next year and study how soon its two oldest units could be retired, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission said Thursday.
by Elizabeth Dunbar

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