This is urgent since action is needed by Monday at 4:30 p.m. to protect the Northside from continuing pollution from Northern Metals. I hope you will help protect North Minneapolis air by sending an email to kelsey.suddard@state.mn.us before 4:30 on Monday, and in it request a permanent revocation of their permits to do business, an immediate injunction and a huge fine for their pollution activities. I also hope you will circulate this to everyone you know and have them in turn circulate it everywhere so we can get a large number of emails to the PCA supporting our right to clean air on the Northside.
The Pollution Control Agency has asked for public comment on their decision to take action against Northern Metals, the huge polluter in North Minneapolis. The PCA is trying to shut them down by permanently revoking their permit, getting an immediate injunction against them doing business and fining them for their pollution activities.
Northern Metals may be one of the biggest scofflaws in Minnesota environmental history. Most companies at least try to give the impression that they want to do everything possible to work with the community to stop pollution. Northern Metals has done the opposite. I think the biggest indication of their attitude toward the community is when they sued in court to have the air monitor near their property removed. They didn't want the agency which protects the public from being able to prove that there was pollution coming from their facility. I had never heard of such an outrageous request. In essence it would have destroyed all pollution control if such a precedent was set. It also appears that they either lied to the PCA about what operations they were conducting or they instituted new operations in violation of their agreement with the PCA. Northern Metals and its consultant are also alleged to have misrepresented the fact that the company was compliant with the permit condition requiring that the shredder and cleaning system operate in a totally enclosed facility, whereas the agency stated that these pieces of equipment do not operate in a total enclosure and never did.
The monitors have detected several spikes in the particulate matter in the air (well over the national limit) and it seems at least partly due to Northern Metals. Further, the lead level right by Northern Metals has been 10 times the next highest in Minnesota, and the next highest is much higher than other places in the state. No other business right around Northern Metals is a likely major contributor to that lead level, so it is extremely likely to be from Northern Metals. I have complained to the agency that they can't rely on the companies to do the investigations they promise. Even though many companies will do the tests in the way they promise, either because of wanting to work with the PCA and community or because of the penalties for not doing it, there are others like Northern Metals that apparently got away with intentionally misleading the PCA for at least 4 years. All these violations are even more egregious because of the fact there is already a lot more pollution in the area, and Northern Metals has apparently greatly increased it; and that area of North Minneapolis has a very high number of people in or near poverty, and communities of color. The incidents of asthma among children and seniors is very high in comparison to the rest of the metropolitan area.
While other companies always say they are working with the PCA and community, Northern Metals has taken the opposite track. The PCA indicates Northern Metals has not sent in the emissions reports they are required to do, they have sent in seemingly intentionally incomplete data so that the PCA cannot interpret it, and the real indicator of their intent is the fact they continually sue the PCA in court to block any efforts by the PCA to get accurate data. They even said in the court records that the PCA was bothering them because I somehow forced the PCA to get them out. I will say that I don't want any company illegally polluting our air in North Minneapolis, and will not stop fighting against them.