Edward Lotterman

There are a lot of Norskis in Minnesota; there are lots of literary types too.

So of those who read an 8,000-word article by Sharon Lerner in the May 27 issue of the New Yorker, describing how 3M handled the discovery that a highly profitable class of chemicals was also highly toxic, many may call to mind Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 play, “The Enemy of the People.”

Life mimics art, to be sure.

In the play, a doctor discovers toxic contamination in the waters that feed a popular spa that is the economic lifeblood of his town. He feels a moral duty to publicize the dangers to the public, but runs into opposition from those who benefit monetarily. These lead the entire town to oppose the doctor, vandalize his house and make him a pariah.

But the water remains toxic.

Lerner’s New Yorker article, “You Make Me Sick: How 3M Discovered, Then Concealed, the Dangers of Forever Chemicals,” researched and written in cooperation with Pro Publica, describes how a Twin Cities-based 3M scientist, told in 1997 to investigate whether fluorocarbon compound chemicals could be detected in blood from the general population, as well as in that of 3M production employees, finds some surprising answers.

Fluorocarbon chemical compounds, used in the production of myriad high-selling 3M products, including its Scotchgard fabric stain repellent, in cookware and food product packaging and in firefighting foams, are toxic to humans and other organisms. Their chemical composition is such that they last essentially forever. And they are ubiquitous — the scientist found that that not only were the chemicals in blood of 3M production employees or that obtained from laboratory supply companies certified as completely pure, but were in the blood of nearly everyone in the general population, along with possibly every other living thing on Earth, from polar bears in the Arctic to you and me.

But even more surprising, was the discovery of 3M’s reaction to the data.

The article describes years of increasing resistance to the scientist’s findings and her eventual leaving the company. It also described how others at 3M knew of these facts earlier, and still pressed ahead with the production and sale of the products. The issues she raised were taken up by other researchers elsewhere. Understanding of the extent of contamination and the extended effects of the chemicals advanced apace.

Government regulations eventually curtailed the production and use of the so-called “forever chemicals.” 3M has had to pay out many billions of dollars in fines and damages. Litigation has not yet ended, nor have payments of remediation to, for example, municipalities drawing water from contaminated aquifers. Because of the ubiquitousness of the contamination, legal experts foresee this as the biggest single corporate liability case in history.

Form an academic standpoint, the whole affair — going back even to Ibsen’s play — is a case study in the complex economics of “external costs.” These are the harms from the economic activity of producing or consuming a product that hit society as a whole, and are not borne solely by the person or business doing the production or consumption. Basic introductory econ theory demonstrates that even when the product is a useful one, in the absence of government action, too much will be produced, and society will be worse off.

This breaks down the assumptions of free marketers like economist Milton Friedman and author Ayn Rand and others who feel that unregulated free markets always produce optimal outcomes for society. While acknowledging external costs, they dream that such problems can be solved by litigation, thus eliminating the need for regulation — if only the legal rules are well defined. This has proved a false hope in the real world. There are myriad examples of prudent regulation solving “market failures” and making society better off.

Yet challenges are knotty. There are “information problems.” Producers cannot anticipate all problems that may arise. 3M produces thousands of useful products that make our lives better and may even save our lives. The scientists and managers who made decisions decades ago to manufacture products containing these chemicals were not evil people blithely ready to hurt others for a few fast bucks. They saw themselves, to steal an old slogan from DuPont, 3M’s major rival, as producing “better things for better living through chemistry.”

3M had a very well-deserved reputation for good management fostering innovative research and development. 3M had superb scientists and research facilities. It employed best practices and treated employees well. It was a good corporate citizen.

So fluorochemical contamination, at its beginning, basically was what economists call an “information problem.” At the time decisions were made to make stain repellents, firefighting foam and hundreds of other products, scientists and managers literally did not know what harms these might cause. If you don’t know all the costs and all the benefits, including those to third parties as well as producers or consumers, of some product, you get bad outcomes for society as a whole.

Unfortunately, even tragically, governments face the same information problems as producers. Regulators do not have omniscient knowledge of all possible outcomes, including harms.

Laws forcing innovative firms to conduct exhaustive tests over a span of decades to prove usefulness and safety are one possible measure. But these are expensive, taking up resources that might have uses of higher benefit to society. A 10-year test of a new product might in the long run prove lifesaving; but it might also mean that a dozen useful medical products never get off the ground.

In the end, decisions about pre-sale safety testing of new products, whether made by companies or regulatory agencies, essentially must involve subjective weighing of uncertain factors.

And again, an in Ibsen’s play, the core of Lerner’s article is the reaction of 3M executives to the unwelcome news of a majority toxicity problem in dozens of their best-selling products. It describes resistance to the news, increased muzzling of scientists who found problems, delaying actions at increasing levels of management and foot-dragging even after harms were known. Here, economic incentives come into play, not only over the loss of a group of very profitable products, but also foreseeing the huge costs of litigation, the resulting personal financial hit to 3M executives and shareholders. Government regulation had to be escalated and hundreds of lawsuits had to be filed before the company’s truculence was overcome.

3M eventually came around. Search for its fact sheet “PFAS and their uses” on the company’s website. Production of the chemicals themselves should end next year. Products containing them will be phased out as soon as possible.

But here other problems arise. 3M is far from the only producer of PFAS. Other companies continue to churn them out. The EU and several modern industrial nations have actions parallel to ours. Yet other major producers have not. China, for example, while paying lip service to generalities about the need to end production, has “barely begun to scratch the surface” according to a December 2023 report in The Hill news service.

This problem has a parallel in public finance. That includes the concept of “fiscal correspondence,” or the degree to which taxes raised from a given jurisdiction are spent to benefit that area. Similarly, the degree to which the economic costs of giving up production of useful, but also harmful, substances by a given jurisdiction, like the United States or the EU, match the benefits of the prohibition might be called “regulatory correspondence.” To the degree that demand for PFAS-based products remains, some of the benefits of stinting production here eventually benefit those unwilling to do the same over there.

One other approach recognizes that information about toxicities is a “public good,” that won’t be produced by the private sector but with the benefits of which flow to all. Rather than require hundreds of separate companies to research all possible harms of new substances, increased open research funded or fostered by government could reduce information problems.

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St. Paul economist and writer Edward Lotterman can be reached at stpaul@edlotterman.com.

The 1926 Colonial on Palace Avenue looks as if it might have been imagined for a vision board of the American dream.

Or, reimagined.

The fresh white exterior contrasts with the crisp black shutters and flower boxes. A child’s swing hangs from a tree, a tree that also provides shade for two Adirondack chairs positioned on a circular patio of bluestone. Under the portico, a doormat welcomes visitors with the message, “So happy you’re here.”

As she opens the front door to the home in the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood of St. Paul, Mary Haugh’s smile is just as welcoming.

It’s not really her home, though; she’s an investor who is selling the property after buying it to update in a way that honors the vintage charm (including sourcing period hardware and doors at architectural salvage shops) while applying modern elements (such as removing the boiler and adding ductwork to install forced-air heating and cooling).

Just don’t call her a flipper. Through her company, the Second Stripe, she’s more like the Queen of Second Chances.

“I much prefer to think of it as revitalization,” Haugh said. “We call them ‘Second Stripe Revival Homes‘ — it’s a revival, a restoration and renovation to bring joy and life to a 100-year-old house.

“Our focus is on houses from the 1920s in St. Paul and Minneapolis because there are so many of them, and there so many that need revitalizing.”

Second chances

The Second Stripe is not only a second chance for the houses; it represents a second chance for Haugh, too.

“I grew up watching my mom always changing things up in our house and it was something I was interested in studying at college,” Haugh said of home design and renovation. “I got counseled out of it, though: ‘No, get your business degree. Do this as a hobby.’”

In a way, it worked out thanks to her career in marketing and advertising.

“I got really lucky,” she said. “I could follow my interests over time, because I worked with home brands for 20 years, including Marvin Windows and pro services for Lowe’s. So I was in and out of job sites, working with architects and remodelers, and was always close to it.”

Then, in 2018, life changed.

Cancer, then fire

“So in the fall of 2018, I had my mammogram,” Haugh said. “They said, ‘You need a biopsy.’”

It was an aggressive form of breast cancer, with two tumors. She sought treatment from the Mayo Clinic.

“And then, four weeks later, we had a house fire,” she said.

Haugh and her family moved out of their home in the Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis and into an apartment while their 1923 Craftsman — which sustained heavy smoke damage — was being remediated.

“So I’m going through my cancer journey and the remediation was taking so long,” she said.

After conferring with two of her brothers — both general contractors — she decided to make a change.

“So I called the remediation company and said, ‘I’m taking over because this process is too slow and too expensive,’” she said. “It became my ‘cancer journey project,’ something else to focus on.”

Another crisis

Another crisis followed her cancer and the fire — in addition to the pandemic.

“A year in, the sewer line collapsed and my basement flooded,” Haugh said. “So I’m managing another remediation. But after I got through cancer and a fire, I thought, ‘You know what? I can do this.’ That was the kick-start.

“It all came together — a life-long interest, cancer and circumstances — and I realized I had the core skills, I could project-manage, lead a team and set a vision and get people excited about it.”

She also saw opportunity all around her.

“In Longfellow, there are houses being torn down and replaced with big, new, suburban-style ones,” she said. “It makes my heart sad.”

These homes, she decided, also deserved second chances.

Leila’s house

Haugh believes there are people out there who share her vision — buyers who would prefer to live in older homes in the city, but would feel better about purchasing these properties if the typical “old house” issues had been addressed, such as replacing old wiring and plumbing in addition to using finishes that respect the era in which a home was built, like finding period-appropriate bathroom tile.

“I believe there’s a place for what I do,” Haugh said.

She tested her theory with her new company’s pilot project.

“The first one was a Craftsman, a block away from my own, in Longfellow, with an almost identical layout,” she said. “Since I had been researching Craftsman houses for 25 years, I knew about tile and woodwork and other features, so it felt natural to take this one as my first professional project.”

The house had a story behind it, too.

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“It belonged to a woman named Leila whose daughter, Jennifer, was selling it after Leila had died,” Haugh said. “Leila had left notes all over the house, like when she changed the furnace filter, when she had replaced the batteries in the smoke detector. She would do projects on the house when she could, but I could step in and do everything that Leila would have loved to have done herself.

“I talked to Jennifer throughout the process. In a way, it felt like I was finishing out what her mother had always wanted to do. I’m getting choked up right now, just talking about it. It felt like we were honoring what Leila had done to this beautiful house, while doing all the mechanical things that needed to be done to a 100-year-old house.

“So that was the first one and then we moved on to the next.”

After Leila’s house sold in April 2023, it was time to head across the river to give a house in St. Paul — Haugh’s hometown — a second chance.

Palace Avenue

Mary Haugh, left, with her crew at a home on Palace Avenue in St. Paul that they have remodeled and updated on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. In 2022, Haugh created the Second Stripe brand to preserve older homes, updating them in ways that honor their vintage charm while adding modern elements. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

On a recent afternoon in St. Paul, the Davanni’s pizza arrived just in time for lunch at the house on Palace Avenue, and people were cracking open cans of Coke in celebration of a job well done.

If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a crew to revitalize a house.

“Finding people who care about this as much as I did and do is crucial,” Haugh said. “You need to cherish the relationships with people, because they are the most important.”

Like Juan Pablo Lopez of JPL Painting.

Haugh and Lopez met when Haugh’s home was under remediation; she knew he was someone she wanted to work with when he was willing to take the extra time to paint the ceiling in such a way that it camouflaged the uneven walls of her old home.

By now, Lopez is accustomed to her exacting standards — although sometimes, he does try to tell her she might be going a bit overboard, like when she built stairs now leading to the attic of the Palace Avenue property, where she also raised the roof and finished the space.

“So many times, I would try to remind her, ‘This is not your house, Mary, this house is for sale,’” Lopez said with a laugh.

That’s basically her motto.

“I act like it is my house, that I will be living in it,” Haugh said.

Rare approach

It’s an approach that is as rare as a unicorn, says Michelle Schumacher of Cornerstone Renovations. Schumacher has watched the renovations unfold as she builds a new house nearby (Haugh had reached out to Schumacher to ask about doors or other materials from the house that had been torn down).

“There’s nothing like it on the market,” said Schumacher of Haugh’s venture. “She puts her heart and soul into it, which is reflected in the final product.”

The 1926 Colonial was redone from the basement to the attic: New mechanicals, new windows, new insulation. Opening up spaces and adding built-in, custom cabinetry. Adding a chef’s kitchen. Creating a primary suite. Finishing the attic.

“How I describe it is, it can compete with any new construction on the market,” said listing agent David Noyes Jr. of Coldwell Banker Burnet.

But vintage charms remain, with a twist.

“I want to honor old houses in a way that feels authentic, but with a fresh take,” Haugh said. “You don’t want it to feel old and dusty, you want it to feel fresh and clean.”

Just like in an exhibit at a museum, Haugh has highlighted those fresh takes by placing notes on the walls and other spots with explanations of what has been done. In the entryway, for example, visitors walk in the front door to find recessed, wallpapered nooks on both sides, like a matching set. A note titled “Secret Spaces” explains the story behind the artful niches:

“Old houses always have surprises, and this time it was a wonderfully pleasant one. These sweet little closets were hidden behind the walls for at least 50 years. Who doesn’t want a little more storage?”

‘I hope people follow her lead’

Patrick Thuente grew up in the house on Palace Avenue and has had a chance to see its transformation — his initials, as well as those of his three siblings and their kids, are now on the underside of a new, built-in cubby that is part of a bedroom seating nook.

Family members of a previous owner initialed the underside of a bench in the home on Palace Avenue. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

The siblings sold the house on behalf of their mother; their father passed away earlier.

The family is so glad the house wasn’t torn down, Thuente says, as some homes in and around the Macalester-Groveland and Highland Park neighborhoods have been, replaced with much larger houses.

“For Mary to keep the character, to keep the footprint of the house, that is what is most rewarding to me,” Thuente said. “What Mary is doing is so unique and I hope people follow her lead. This is what people should be doing with a lot of these homes. They still have a lot of life in them.”

‘You have to come see this house’

Cori Johnson can’t wait to start her life back in Minnesota in the Colonial on Palace Avenue.

Johnson, 35, grew up in Shakopee but attended college at the University of St. Thomas before heading to Virginia for graduate school followed by work in New York and Los Angeles for her career in advertising.

But, as many of us know, the pull of family and life in Minnesota is strong, and so she’d been starting to consider listings here. Then, the Palace Avenue property hit the market in May, priced at $997,500.

“You have to come see this house,” she recalls her Realtor, Erin Zosel, urging her. “This house is unlike any other.”

Johnson, who currently lives in California, was busy that weekend, but her parents attended the open house.

“They were blown away, too,” she said. “They couldn’t believe how much love went into it.”

On that Monday, Johnson took a red-eye flight to come and see it for herself.

“I was immediately so charmed and enchanted by all the details, down to the cushions her mother had sewn,” Johnson said. “It’s such a special place. I said, ‘OK, let’s do it.’

“It was the first and only house I saw.”

Now that a closing date has been set for later this month, Haugh is starting to look for her next second chance.

The Second Stripe

Learn more about Mary Haugh’s second-chance houses at thesecondstripe.com.

Read more about some of Mary Haugh’s choices for the house on Palace Avenue.

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BERG/EVANS: Minnesotans Steve Berg and Allan Evans talk about their latest crime novels. Berg’s is “Lost Colony” and Evans’ is “Killer Smile.” 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 12, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls. (Registration is required for events at this store. Go to magersandquinn.com/events.)

COLIN HAMILTON: Presents “The Discarded,” about a librarian who rescues books that will be trashed to make room for newer ones. Kirkus called the novel “an enchanting discussion…” 7 p.m. Thursday, June 14, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S, Mpls.

(Courtesy of the publisher)

LaROCHELLE/WOHNOUTKA: Author David LaRochelle and illustrator Mike Wohnoutka host a story time featuring their latest collaboration, “Go and Get With Rex,” about a think-outside-the-box dog who participates in a game where contestants bring back items that begin with a letter of the alphabet. But Rex returns with stuff that is not alphabetically correct, always having a perfectly good reason (according to him) why his item should be accepted. 10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 15, Red Balloon Bookshop, 891 Grand Ave., St. Paul.

MIDSTREAM READING SERIES: Hosts poets reading from their original work: Danika Stegman, Paul Dickinson, Chelsea DesAutels and Ezra David Mattes. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 13, United Church-Unitarian, 732 Holly Ave., St. Paul.

POETRY NIGHT: Sandra Larson and former Minnesota poet laureate Joyce Sutphen read from their work. 7 p.m. Monday, June 10, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

J. Ryan Stradal (Courtesy of Franco Tettamanti)

J. RYAN STRADAL: Minnesota native celebrates the paperback edition of his widely praised novel “Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Cub,” about three generations of a family that runs a supper club, a kind of restaurant unique to the Midwest, and the changing landscape of a small Minnesota town as fast food takes over. Like Stradal’s two previous novels, this is a big-hearted story with a Minnesota vibe. Stradal grew up in Hastings and lives in California. In conversation with Kate Gibson, one half of the pair hosting ABC Audio podcast “The Book Case with Kate and Charlie Gibson,” currently working on a master’s degree in library and information sciences at St. Catherine University in St. Paul.  Stradal is the first “Good Morning America” writer-in-residence. 6 p.m. Monday, June 10, Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snelling Ave., St. Paul.

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