The city of Minneapolis fined the contractor demolishing Smith Foundry for failing to control dust pollution, the latest issue at the south side metal factory that shuttered last year after federal intervention and protests by residents.
The Minneapolis Health Department issued a $200 citation Wednesday to Bolander, a St. Paul-based contractor, for allowing pollution to escape the demolition site at 28th Street and Longfellow Avenue in the East Phillips neighborhood. A March 14 video captured by independent journalist Devon Cupery showed dust drifting beyond the site, despite two workers spraying the demolition area with water.
Neighbors were caught off guard when demolition of the century-old foundry began in late February. They have remained concerned about the demolition due to pollution at the building, and the area’s history of toxic soil from a former arsenic factory.
Patricio Vera, who lives near the foundry with his family, is happy Smith Foundry and its neighbor, asphalt plant Bituminous Roadways, are closed. The sites frequently brought noise and bad smells to his block, and his teenage daughter developed asthma. But he told Sahan Journal that the demolition is going poorly, with dust spreading through the neighborhood even though crews use water hoses to wet the debris to help prevent dust from becoming airborne.
“I think they have to use more water, because the dust,” Vera said. “It smells bad and there’s a lot of dust.”
Minneapolis Health Department workers monitor the site daily, and stop the contractor from working if winds are above 15 miles per hour, the city said in a statement. Bolander has cooperated with those requests, the city said.
Smith Foundry closed in August 2024 after the factory reached a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency over several violations of the Clean Air Act. The foundry operated in East Phillips for about a century, and neighbors complained about its pollution for decades. The federal violations sparked strong community backlash against the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), the state’s environmental regulator.
Many neighbors, like Vera, cheered the closure of Smith Foundry. But they were shocked when bulldozers showed up to destroy the building, upset that no safety plan was first presented to residents.
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The city did not notify people living near the site or the East Phillips Improvement Coalition, an official neighborhood association. Vera said he received no information about the demolition ahead of time. City policy required Bolander to notify adjacent properties, and letters were sent to two Cedar Avenue addresses in December, according to city spokeswoman Jess Olstad.
The MPCA was notified about the demolition in advance, but the project did not require mandatory environmental review, according to agency spokeswoman Jenn Hathaway. The MPCA is in contact with the city, and understands that residents are concerned, Hathaway said, but the city is in charge of the demolition.
“We are continuing to track the air monitors in the area,” Hathaway said in a statement, adding that airborne pollution has not exceeded a level the MPCA deems as acceptable.
Vera says the neighborhood he moved into in 2003 is much more peaceful since Smith Foundry closed, and that he can finally enjoy it. Living near two industrial factories was difficult, he said.
“I’m so happy now,” Vera said.
Sahan Journal multimedia journalist Dymanh Chhoun contributed to this report.
