Minn. companies prepare for new rules on lead pollution

New federal rules on lead pollution are likely to affect at least one Minnesota company.

Gopher Resource Corporation is a smelter: it recycles lead batteries. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency says the company is unlikely to meet the new federal standards, which call for 90 percent less lead in the air than is currently allowed.

The MPCA's John Seltz said the agency knew the new rules were coming, so he's already been working with the company.

"We're pretty confident that there can be a plan developed to bring the levels down even further."

There is a lot less lead in the air since lead was removed from gasoline in the late 1970s. Lead is a neurotoxin that's especially harmful to children.

Coal-fired power plants emit more lead than smelters, but their tall stacks send it farther away.