The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s handling of pollution violations at Smith Foundry shows that the agency should update how it measures emissions to match federal practices, according to a new report that also recommends updating how the state tracks public complaints.
The recommendations were released Thursday in a report from the state Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA).
State officials scrambled to respond to community outrage when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted a surprise inspection uncovering pollution violations at Smith Foundry, a metal factory in the East Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis in 2023, a Sahan Journal investigation found.
The OLA report examines the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA) oversight of the foundry, its response to the EPA findings and its handling of community complaints. It also looks at changes the agency said it has made in the aftermath, including adding more staff specifically to review permitted facilities in working-class, diverse communities like East Phillips known as environmental justice areas.
The auditor’s report examines the MPCA’s initial response to news of the EPA violations, including a difference of opinion between the MPCA and EPA about the violations. In a November 2023 interview with the Star Tribune, MPCA Commissioner Katrina Kessler said the state didn’t have data to show violations documented by the EPA.
Kessler and assistant MPCA Commissioner Frank Kohlasch told Sahan Journal last year that there differences in state and federal emission tabulation that led to confusion about levels of lead and particulate matter pollution coming from the foundry. The OLA report breaks down those differences in detail, finding that the MPCA:
- Did not apply all EPA emission factors when accounting for the total amount of particulate matter, or smog, coming from the facility.
- Used a different method to calculate total particulate matter pollution than the EPA.
The report recommends the MPCA further work with the EPA to resolve any remaining differences in the way the agencies measure compliance with emission levels.
The OLA did not conduct a full review of how the MPCA issues permits for facilities that pollute the air, and says further evaluation would be needed to review state permitting processes and enforcement.
The Smith Foundry review is narrow, according to OLA special reviews director Katherine Theisen, but was conducted because the office thought it was important for public accountability. The report took several months to complete, with various written requests for MPCA documents and policies, she said.
“I think this one is kind of an interesting one,” Theisen said of the report.
A member of the Minnesota Legislature contacted the OLA to request the report after Sahan Journal published an article in November 2023 breaking news about the EPA violations.
The MPCA failed to document a response to six of 18 complaints the agency received from the public about Smith Foundry between 2019 and 2023, the report found. Most of those complaints mentioned odors; one-third of the complaints cited adverse health effects like coughing.
The report encourages MPCA to update the way it tracks complaints, and to be more thorough in responding to residents by updating them about investigations and notifying them if complaints are referred to local governments.
Kessler said in a letter to the OLA that the report is accurate, and reflects changes the MPCA has made since the EPA violations were made public.
“We remain committed to ensuring healthy and clean air to all who live in Minnesota and remain steadfastly committed to our work in and with environmental justice communities,” she said.
Smith Foundry closed in August 2024 after reaching a settlement with the EPA, paying an $80,000 federal fine and abandoning plans to repurpose the facility. The foundry operated for 100 years, and its closure was celebrated by neighborhood residents who had complained about its pollution and smell for decades.
