A south Minneapolis metal foundry being investigated by federal authorities for pollution says it passed mandated testing on its pollution mitigation equipment in December. But neighbors and environmental advocates say a key source of emissions is not being considered, and are continuing to fight to close the facility.
Smith Foundry, a metal processing plant in Minneapolis’ East Phillips neighborhood, currently has properly functioning filtration equipment limiting its pollution emissions, according to tests conducted by an engineering firm last month, the company announced in a press release Monday. The tests were conducted as part of the foundry’s ongoing enforcement process with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and EPA released the testing data Monday in a 303-page report, but both agencies declined to comment on whether the results showed compliance with state and federal standards. The agencies said they needed to complete an analysis of the data before issuing a statement on the results.
The agencies said they are committed to protecting the health of East Phillips residents and are reviewing the data.
“The stack test results, conducted by a third party, are a key component in verifying any lead emissions and the amount of particulate matter coming directly from the facility,” the agencies said in a joint statement. “These results will become part of the EPA’s continuing investigation at Smith Foundry.”
The lack of an official analysis left concerned community members dissatisfied and trying to parse through a dense report on their own. Steff Yorek, a longtime neighborhood resident, did just that. Yorek attended a neighborhood meeting Wednesday about Smith Foundry hosted by Minnapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez, whose ward includes the foundry. She said that releasing data that’s difficult for a layperson to understand is setting up regulators to tell residents that everything is OK.
Yorek and others at the meeting weren’t impressed that the company reportedly passed a test required by the EPA’s investigation; they’re mad at the issues the EPA documented in a surprise inspection last May.
“It brings me no confidence that the filters are working now,” Yorek said.
Smith Foundry was purchased by Zynik Capital, a Canadian investment firm, in December 2022. The company touted the test results, and said they demonstrate the changes Zynik Capital has made since taking over the company, and its work with regulators. Clean Air Act violations documented by the EPA at Smith Foundry took place over five years starting in 2018.
“I want people to know that we are committed to ensuring clean air and providing people in Minneapolis, including the East Phillips neighborhood, with well-paying, good union jobs,” Smith Foundry president Adolfo Quiroga said in a written statement. “I believe that the test results and the repairs, improvements and investments we’ve made since purchasing Smith Foundry 13 months ago demonstrate that commitment.”
The purported test results are not unexpected, said Evan Mulholland, an attorney with the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, which is working with community groups organizing against Smith Foundry.
“The reports we’re going to get from the testing don’t tell the whole story,” Mulholland said.
The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy is working with the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute and Little Earth Protectors as part of the Shut Smith Foundry Coalition, which is pressuring state officials to close the foundry. The environmental advocacy group says the tests didn’t analyze emissions from a high-temperature furnace used to power the facility’s operations.
Emissions from the furnace are not controlled by pollution mitigation equipment, and exits the building through exhaust ducts in the roof, according to an EPA inspection report. The December tests measured emissions from the foundry’s baghouses.
Written communication between the foundry and EPA obtained by Mulholland’s group and reviewed by Sahan Journal indicates that the company believes it will be necessary to add new pollution mitigation equipment on the furnace.
Smith Foundry submitted a response to the EPA in the fall of 2023, stating that additional control devices on exhaust from the melting furnace and the pouring process “will be required,” according to a document obtained by the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy via a Freedom of Information Act request. The correspondence is evidence that Smith knows its furnace is polluting the air and should be controlled, the environmental group said.
“This is exactly what we have been saying for years — the toxic pollution from the foundry is poisoning our community,” said Jolene Jones, a longtime East Phillips resident and founder of Little Earth Protectors. “And to learn now that they’ve decided to control the pollution some time in the future? We reject that. The foundry must be shut because it is not safe.”
Smith Foundry officials declined to comment on the furnace issue.
Test results, new inspection
In mid-December, Alliance Technical Group, a third-party group, tested the foundry’s five “baghouses,” which are supposed to prevent particulate matter from being released into the air. The baghouses performed above the state’s standards of filtering out 99% of collected particulate matter emissions, according to the test results.
The EPA found that Smith Foundry violated the Clean Air Act nine times after conducting a surprise inspection of the foundry in May 2023. The agency has been involved in an ongoing enforcement action against the foundry since August. A third of the violations centered around the functioning and recordkeeping of filtration baghouses.
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The EPA violations occurred over a five-year period from 2018 to May 2023. The foundry regularly emitted nearly twice the amount of air pollution allowed by state permits, failed to properly maintain equipment designed to reduce pollution, and did not notify the state about equipment failures as required, according to the EPA filing.
Stack testing is a required part of the EPA enforcement process to ensure facilities are working to comply with permits, and determines emission quantities and the performance of mitigation equipment designed to reduce pollution.
Federal and state regulators observed the tests, and the EPA conducted an inspection of the facility while tests were ongoing on December 12 and 13. Three of the five baghouses at the foundry were replaced in the weeks before the testing, according to an EPA inspection report.
Smith Foundry workers patched several holes in air ducts and added new covers to reduce the amount of unfiltered emissions from the facility in recent months, the inspection report said.
The inspection documented plumes of emissions from several operations involving the Smith Foundry’s furnace, particularly in tapping, which is a process of measuring the temperature of molten metal to ensure quality. It also noted that some air ducts on the building weren’t properly sealed.
Smith Foundry additionally said they hired a third party to analyze its metals for lead, a move requested by the MPCA. The company said it does not currently use scrap metal with detectable lead levels. Test results showed lead emissions were well below permitted levels, the company said. The previous owner of Smith Foundry self-reported using the maximum amount of lead allowed under state permits.
Neighbors at Wednesday’s community meeting said they want local public health officials to conduct a more robust investigation into asthma rates and other health issues for nearby residents. They urged Chavez to leverage the Minneapolis City Council to put pressure on state officials to revoke Smith Foundry’s permit.
“I think we all understand that Smith should not be operating in the city,” Chavez said.
The MPCA is hosting two public meetings about Smith Foundry on Wednesday, February 7, at the East Phillips Community Center, 2307 17th Avenue South, at 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. Representatives from the EPA and the Minnesota Department of Health will also attend the meetings.
The Shut Smith Foundry Coalition will hold a press conference in between the sessions at 6 p.m.
