At legal loggerheads with state regulators, operators of the Northern Iron & Machine foundry in St. Paul pulled out of a public meeting scheduled for Wednesday evening with representatives of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and plan instead to complete a court-ordered legal mediation.
The community meeting took place without company representatives from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the East Side YMCA on Arcade Street.
Northern Iron, which was established in St. Paul in 1906, came under new ownership in 2022 and has been under pressure from the MPCA to resolve what the company has described as “a pre-existing air permitting issue” while it attempts to modernize its metal casting plant with new air emissions control equipment. Northern Iron LLC was fined $41,500 by the MPCA last fall for air quality violations and a 15-year history of related problems, such as swapping out air quality control equipment without a permit.
The company, which is owned by the Lawton Standard companies of suburban Green Bay, Wis., was also required to produce updated emissions modeling and apply for a permit amendment. Lead monitoring in the Payne-Phalen area began in April, around the time the MPCA issued an administrative order giving the Forest Street foundry 30 days to reduce emissions and comply with its air quality standards.
Based on preliminary data, the MPCA found that the “foundry is very likely emitting lead and particulate matter at levels above national ambient air quality standards,” reads a statement released last month by the agency.
Company officials say the MPCA’s most recent orders would require a significant reduction in production, which could cost jobs, and requested a temporary injunction against the MPCA last week in Ramsey County District Court. A judge on Tuesday ordered both sides to complete third-party mediation by May 31. The company has maintained that MPCA regulators have violated the terms of a stipulated agreement through their enforcement actions.
The MPCA has installed its own air emissions monitors near the foundry, but Northern Iron maintains that the data from the monitor does not sync with the foundry’s hours of operation and “is inconsistent by day.”
“For the past 18 months, Northern Iron has been working with the MPCA to correct permitting issues that occurred under Northern Iron’s previous ownership,” reads a statement issued by the company Wednesday evening. “Northern Iron has repeatedly met with MPCA staff to address these concerns and find ways to upgrade its facilities and equipment. In 2023, Northern Iron and the MPCA entered into a stipulation agreement that allowed Northern Iron to continue to operate while it upgraded its equipment and continued to meet compliance standards.”
Calls to an MPCA spokesman and a representative of the Payne-Phalen Community Council were not immediately returned Wednesday evening.
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