A metal foundry on St. Paul’s East Side accused of excessive pollution is seeking sanctions against state regulators who are considering revoking the company’s operations permit.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) cites what it says are months of inadequate data submissions from the Northern Iron and Machine foundry located off Phalen Boulevard. The foundry calls the threat to revoke its permit “abusive” and is asking a judge to order the state to help cover its legal bills in the case.
Ramsey County District Court Judge Leonardo Castro will hear arguments on Northern Iron’s request for sanctions at a hearing scheduled for Friday.
The legal case pits Minnesota regulators against a foundry operating in a diverse, working class neighborhood considered an environmental justice area under state law.
Northern Iron was ordered to apply for a new state permit in a 2023 stipulation agreement after the MPCA fined the foundry for failing to disclose changes to pollution control equipment over several years. But the state says that application has consistently been turned in late and lacking needed information. The MPCA gave Northern Iron an ultimatum to submit a complete permit application on April 24.
The state issued a May 8 final deadline for Northern Iron to submit thorough documentation that it has sealed its building to prevent emissions escaping through cracks and windows, and done substantial testing on the pollution emitting from its smoke stacks. The foundry submitted new information on the deadline day, according to the MPCA, and the agency is in its review process.
But the threat of permit revocation triggered Northern Iron to seek the May 5 court hearing where its legal team from Dorsey and Whitney called the MPCA’s behavior “abusive conduct” and asked for a hearing to consider its request for sanctions against the agency.
Jennifer Coates, an attorney representing Northern Iron, said the MPCA is holding the foundry’s permit hostage.
“This is blackmail and a shakedown from a government agency, and it is violative of due process” Coates said at that hearing.
Residents of the Payne-Phalen neighborhood say the foundry’s bid to get the state to help pay its legal costs is a slap in the face, according to a statement from Eastside Environmental Justice and the Payne-Phalen Community Council.
“This motion is nothing more than a last-ditch effort to evade Northern Iron’s own duties to comply with the law,” said Melissa Lorentz, an environmental attorney who lives near the foundry. “It’s a distraction from ongoing pollution, including visible soot with heavy metals, in a neighborhood burdened with disproportionately high blood lead levels, respiratory issues, and cancer risk.”
Lorentz is not working on the case officially, but has been helping her neighbors track the legal battle.
Residents on St. Paul’s East Side and environmental activists continue to protest Northern Iron and demand the company operate in a safe and transparent manner or close. They’ve held several weekend marches and rallies near the foundry. In March, the St. Paul Federation of Educators passed a resolution supporting more accountability from Northern Iron citing eight schools within a two mile radius of the foundry.
St. Paul lawmakers and local public officials have also been vocal in support of MPCA’s effort.
“Northern Iron is the largest emitter of lead in Ramsey County,” said Ramsey County Commissioner Mai Chong Xiong. “There needs to be more proactive oversight and accountability measures taken to ensure Northern Iron is not only compliant, but that it’s not harming our communities.”
‘They are trying to shut Northern Iron down’
In April 2024, the MPCA issued an administrative order requiring the foundry to reduce its hours and take other immediate steps to lower its emissions. The agency had received new pollution estimates that suggested the foundry was releasing far more smog and lead than allowed by national air quality standards.
Northern Iron responded by suing the MPCA, and received a temporary injunction in Ramsey County District Court allowing the foundry to mostly resume normal operations while installing new pollution control equipment and completing a new permit process.
The MPCA has argued that Northern Iron’s application submittals are drastically insufficient, and says it has a duty as a regulator to continue enforcing state and federal environmental standards.
Northern Iron maintains that the information it has submitted is sufficient, and that the MPCA should not be allowed to pursue channels outside of the legal case to compel action from the foundry.
Coates, representing Northern Iron, said the agency won’t meet company officials to discuss questions about their permit, which she argued would make the application process smoother. She also contends that the MPCA is holding Northern Iron to a higher regulatory standard based on a history of prior noncompliance, which she says is technically not proven according to the 2023 stipulation agreement. Monitors placed around Northern Iron show its emissions are in compliance with national air quality standards, she said.
The MPCA, represented by Assistant Attorney General Ryan Petty, believes the permit revocation issue is separate from the lawsuit before Ramsey County District Court. There is a legal process for permit revocation in Minnesota, which would give Northern Iron the right to appeal before an administrative law judge and the Minnesota Court of Appeals should they lose.
Regulatory agencies have to consider the record of any facility submitting a permit, Petty said.
“Past compliance is deeply relevant,” Petty said.
Class action case continues
A parallel case against Northern Iron accuses the foundry of harming neighbors’ health and infringing on their property rights. Brittney Bruce, a mother who lives directly across the street from Northern Iron, filed a class action lawsuit against the foundry in March.
The suit claims the soot and emissions from Northern Iron are damaging the health and homes of nearby residents. Bruce says in the suit that she’s forced to constantly clean dust, won’t let her kids play outside and had to buy air purifiers for every room in her home.
At a hearing Tuesday, Dorsey and Whitney attorneys representing Northern Iron argued that the case should be dismissed on jurisdictional grounds. Northern Iron is owned by Lawton Standard, a Wisconsin-based company that is legally headquartered in Delaware, attorney Ellie Soskin told Judge Castro.
“Northern Iron is a subsidiary,” she said.
Lawton Standard owns several foundries across the country, she said.
Joe Heegaard, Bruce’s attorney, argued that Lawton Standard CEO Alex Lawton and others identified as executives for Northern Iron have participated in legal proceedings and community events on behalf of the company. Lawton Standard bought Northern Iron in 2022, when the foundry was already involved in a compliance case with the MPCA, and directly engaged in business in Minnesota, Heegaard argued.
“Lawton Standard knew what it was doing was harming Minnesota residents and did nothing to stop it,” he said.
Castro, who is hearing the class-action suit as well, declined to issue a ruling Tuesday on the bid to have the case dismissed, and took the matter under advisement.
