St. Paul iron foundry due in court over possible permit revocation
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A St. Paul iron foundry will appear in court Tuesday as state regulators continue a yearslong legal battle to revoke its operating permit over pollution concerns.
Regulators with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency announced last year they were taking the rare step to revoke the Northern Iron’s permit.
That decision stemmed from a 2023 review in which regulators determined the foundry in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood violated its permit by removing pieces of pollution control equipment without informing the state. Regulators fined the foundry and said it could have led to excess air pollution.
The parties are still in conflict over whether the foundry is emitting excessive pollution. The agency says modeling based on Northern Iron’s reports indicates the foundry is emitting lead and other particulate matter at higher levels than its permit allows. But the foundry has argued actual air quality readings from monitors near the foundry have not shown excess pollution.
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Minnesota’s administrative court system is hearing the case over whether or not to revoke the permit.
Community organizers have pushed for a shutdown of the foundry, too. Several say they plan to be at Tuesday’s hearing.
“Northern Iron continues to pollute the residential neighborhood in which it resides, evading accountability, scorning transparency and flouting regulations,” local advocate Kalani Matus said in a statement. “Meanwhile, lead soot accumulates inside neighbors’ houses and bodies.”
Local residents filed a class-action lawsuit against the foundry for polluting the neighborhood. In the lawsuit, neighbors near the foundry said they find black dust inside their homes and fear for their health.
In another case currently moving through district court, Northern Iron sued the state after regulators attempted to set limits to the foundry’s operating hours. That case is on hold while the foundry and state attempt to settle the the foundry’s permit.
The foundry is still operating while the many legal disputes move through the courts.
