It’s right next door to the Smith Foundry, which the EPA recently cited for excess air pollution
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted an unannounced inspection of Bituminous Roadways in Minneapolis’ East Phillips neighborhood May 26 and came away with concerns the plant was violating the U.S. Clean Air Act, according to an internal memo from the EPA’s regional office in Chicago.
“EPA Inspectors observed fumes coming from the oil tank vent,” said the memo, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request and shared with Healing Minnesota Stories. “There were significant visible PM [particulate matter] emissions coming from the mixer and loader, every time a truck was loaded with asphalt … There were also visible PM emissions from both incoming and outgoing trucks: this
occurred in different parts of the parking lot, and on the west property line adjacent to an apartment building. There were also visible PM emissions from aggregate piles.”
The EPA sent a letter to Bituminous Roadways Aug. 15 asking for numerous pieces of information, including documents on staff training, the plant’s annual air emissions inventory, and more.
The information will be used to determine if the company has been complying with the Clean Air Act, the letter said.
“We may use any information submitted in response to this request in an administrative, civil, or criminal action. Failure to comply fully with this information request may subject Bituminous Roadways to an enforcement action” under the Clean Air Act.”
This news comes on the heals of news that the EPA’s unannounced inspection of the Smith Foundry — just next door to Bituminous Roadways – found significant and ongoing violations of the U.S. Clean Air Act, according to an Aug. 15 letter from the EPA to the company. Violations included releasing excess fine particle pollution and failing to keep required records so regulators could hold them accountable.
PM, or particulate matter pollution, includes dust, dirt, soot, smoke, and drops of liquid, according to the U.S. Center for disease control.
“Breathing in particle pollution can be harmful to your health,” the CDC says. “Coarse (bigger) particles, called PM10, can irritate your eyes, nose, and throat. Dust from roads, farms, dry riverbeds, construction sites, and mines are types of PM10. Fine (smaller) particles, called PM2.5, are more dangerous because they can get into the deep parts of your lungs — or even into your blood.”
East Phillips residents have complained for years about the neighborhood’s disproportionate air pollution levels. They “experience much higher levels of cumulative pollution than residents from majority white city neighborhoods” leading to higher levels of asthma and hospitalization for children and adults living in the area, according to the city’s Aug. 6, 2021 Racial Equity Impact Analysis.
East Phillips is a low-income, predominantly BIPOC community. It is home to Little Earth, a 212-unit federally subsidized housing complex with preference given to Native American renters.
The EPA refers to East Phillips as an Environmental Justice Community. It defines environmental justice as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.”
East Phillips residents did not get “fair treatment” or “meaningful involvement” from the city.
Residents had a protracted struggle with city leaders over city plans to expand its Hiawatha Public Works Yard onto what is known as the Roof Depot site, across the street from Smith Foundry and kitty corner from Bituminous Roadways. (See map above.)
Neighbors said the city’s public works plan would add traffic and exhaust — particularly from diesel trucks — to the already-polluted neighborhood.
Instead of a larger public works yard, the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) wanted to redevelop the empty warehouse on the Roof Depot site into a neighborhood asset, with affordable housing, an indoor urban farm, and more.
Mayor Jacob Frey and a slim City Council majority persisted in pushing the public works expansion.
East Phillips residents pleaded with city leaders — and eventually disrupted City Council meetings — to object to the added pollution. They finally got financial support from the state legislature and got the city’s begrudging agreement to sell the Roof Depot site to EPNI. (The city also received financing to relocate its public works yard.)
Last January, Healing Minnesota Stories wrote post headlined: No one is protecting East Phillips from air pollution, notably those who promised to do so.
It turns out it wasn’t the city or state that stepped in to get justice for East Phillips, it was the federal government.
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