U.S. EPA: Smith Foundry in Minneapolis has been releasing excess air pollution for years

Smith Foundry, looking east down East 28th Street towards Hiawatha Avenue.

The Smith Foundry in Minneapolis’ East Phillips neighborhood has significant, ongoing, and longstanding violations of the U.S. Clean Air Act, according to an Aug. 15 letter from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the company. Violations included releasing excess fine particle pollution and failing to keep required records.

Joe Vital, volunteer with the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) said if the EPA pursues criminal charges, EPNI would like to be a co-plaintiff. If the EPA doesn’t pursue charges, the neighborhood will consider doing it on its own.

“Residents are deeply saddened that they [the foundry owners] have been allowed to violate their permit, yet this is something residents have known for decades,” Vital said. “This is why asthma rates are so high.”

“I hope the MPCA [Minnesota Pollution Control Agency] and the EPA take this seriously, as we have lost community members and family members to the health consequences of the pollutants they have been spewing.”

EPNI plans on holding community information sessions as soon as it knows more.

Between 2018 and 2022, Smith Foundry’s particulate matter (PM) pollution was roughly double its approved limits, according to EPA data. PM pollution, particularly fine particle pollution (PM2.5), is damaging to lungs and contributes to asthma.

Smith Foundry’s particle pollution decreased between 2018 and 2022, but so did its permitted pollution levels.

In 2018, the foundry released 12.4 pounds of particle pollution every hour, while its emissions limit was 5.7 pounds/hour. By 2022, it released 9.2 pounds of particle pollution an hour while its emissions limit was 4.7 pounds/hour.

The Smith Foundry also reported releasing 200 pounds of lead emissions each year, from 2020 through 2022. It “has reported emissions of other metal hazardous air pollutants,” the EPA’s violations letter said.

“Therefore, emissions from the Facility could endanger human health or the environment.”

East Phillips is within the Minneapolis South Side Green Zone.

East Phillips is in a city designated Green Zone, meaning it’s a diverse and low-income neighborhood already suffering from disproportionate levels of pollution. The Green Zone’s tag line is “We’re reducing pollution to make our neighborhoods greener and healthier.” The EPA considers East Phillips an “environmental justice community,” a similar designation as a Green Zone.

According to a May 26 EPA inspections report, the agency “expressed concerns about significant uncontrolled emissions escaping the facility and affecting the surrounding Environmental Justice Community.

It begs the question: If the Foundry’s elevated air pollution levels have been going on since at least 2018 in an at-risk neighborhood, why has it taken government regulators — whether local, state, or federal — so long to identify and address the problem?

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The Smith Foundry is an iron foundry that makes such things as brake pedals, gear and bearing housings, and drive wheels. The furnace melts 20 tons of iron daily, on average. It melted 4,600 tons of iron in 2022, or 8.4 million pounds, the EPA said.

The Smith Foundry has been in the news recently as a sidelight to the tensions between the city of Minneapolis and EPNI around the redevelopment of the Roof Depot site, shown on the map below.

Locator map showing pollution sources in East Phillips near the Roof Depot site and other neighborhood landmarks.

The city owned the Roof Depot site and wanted to use it to expand its existing public works yard. EPNI opposed the plan because East Phillips already was overpolluted and had high asthma rates. The property also had an old warehouse EPNI wanted to redevelop.

The state legislature intervened to allow the city to relocated it public works yard elsewhere and allow EPNI to redevelop the Roof Depot site.

News of the Smith Foundry’s air pollution violations only confirms what the neighborhood already knew and was trying to tell the city: It already has more than its fair share of air pollution.

Among other violations cited by the EPA’s Aug. 15 letter, the Smith Foundry failed to comply with various operation, maintenance, and recordkeeping requirements. For instance, it failed to maintain “baghouse” inspection and maintenance records. Baghouses are dust collectors that control emissions.

A May 26 EPA inspection said, “cracks and disconnected ducts were observed on the ductwork leading to multiple baghouses.”

During and after the May inspection, “EPA requested records of all inspections and maintenance performed on the Facility’s baghouses,” its Aug 15 letter said. “Smith Foundry did not provide EPA with any inspection or maintenance records for the period of September 1, 2018 to June 25, 2023.”

The metal ladle area had grey fumes and dusty air filling the room.

EPA comment on Smith Foundry inspection

The foundry sounds like a difficult place to work, too. EPA inspectors “observed that the inside of the facility was generally dark and dusty from visible emissions. … Large piles of silica and molding sand were on the floor uncontained.”

“The metal ladle area had grey fumes and dusty air filling the room and was adjacent to an open door.”

The Aug 15 EPA letter said it had several enforcement options. It could issue an administrative compliance order, an administrative penalty order, or bring civil or criminal action.

The EPA wrote Smith Foundry saying: “We are offering you an opportunity to confer with us about the violations … The conference will give you an opportunity to present information on the specific findings of violation, any efforts you have taken to comply and the steps you will take to prevent future violations.”

(Complicating matters, Zynik Capital bought Smith Foundry in December 2022. Its not immediately clear to me how this ownership switcheroo will affect enforcement., Did the new buyers know about all the problems? Will the old owners will get away with no penalties? Will this complicate the neighborhood’s push for accountability?)

The EPA’s meeting with the foundry was supposed to take place within 30 days of the letter, or by Sept. 14. It has likely already happened.

Healing Minnesota Stories has sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the EPA for any follow up that has happened since Aug. 15, including any sanctions imposed. We will share it if and when we get it.