Star Tribune
Expecting new PFAS standards, Hastings officials wonder how they’ll pay for water treatment project
Hastings officials are puzzling over how to fund a $62 million water treatment project to scrub “forever chemicals” from the city’s water supply — and they’re doing it without the millions of dollars from a 3M Co. settlement that other east metro cities have received.
Three new treatment plants will likely be needed in Hastings when the state and federal government release more stringent drinking water standards for PFAS chemicals in the coming months, city officials said.
Unlike 14 cities and townships in Washington County, Hastings — across the Mississippi River in Dakota County — so far hasn’t received any money from an $850 million settlement 3M reached with the state in 2018 for polluting groundwater with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS.
“When the standards get lowered, we expect that we’re going to need to have treatment for all six wells,” said Hastings City Administrator Dan Wietecha. “We certainly think we’re part of [the east metro] and believe we’re eligible.”
The city also hasn’t received any funding from a 2007 consent decree between 3M and the state that has paid for water treatment projects in other cities, like Woodbury.
State officials say that’s because they haven’t yet been able to show a definitive connection between Hastings’ water supply and a 3M disposal site in Oakdale or Woodbury, the company’s Cottage Grove manufacturing facility or the Washington County landfill in Lake Elmo.
The site assessment process for Hastings is a “highly technical” one that each city receiving settlement funds has undergone, said Tom Higgins, the MPCA’s Superfund section manager.
But Ryan Stempski, Hastings’ city engineer and public works director, said city officials are convinced the polluted water reached the city through 3M’s disposal sites.
“Where else would it be coming from?” he said.
PFAS — toxic chemicals pioneered by Maplewood-based 3M and used in products ranging from frying pans to firefighting foam — have been linked to liver damage, thyroid disruption and cancer.
Hastings officials said they have known about PFAS in their water for years, but the levels hovered just below the Minnesota Department of Health’s drinking water standards.
“We’re probably at the worst position you can be in because [our levels] are high enough to be just below their current index,” Stempski said.
Hastings officials last month asked the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), co-trustees of the 3M settlement funds, to prioritize the funding of their water treatment project because it met all the necessary criteria.
The project’s details are still being finalized, but it’s expected to cost around $62 million and involve building three plants that would use granular activated carbon filter systems to remove PFAS, city officials said.
WSB, the Golden Valley-based engineering firm conducting a feasibility study and preliminary plans for the project, will share its recommendations with the city Aug. 7.
In a statement, 3M spokeswoman Carolyn LaViolette noted the company’s national settlement last month for $10.5 billion — still awaiting court approval — that would help public water suppliers pay for PFAS treatment without the need for lawsuits or admission of liability. The company also has pledged to stop manufacturing PFAS by 2026.
Taking action
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in March released a “proposed rule” on standards for PFAS in drinking water, the first time it’s regulated PFAS, said Todd Johnson, an engineering supervisor in the Health Department’s drinking water program. He said the EPA hopes to have the draft document finalized by the end of the year, when the state would begin enforcing the standards.
The state is also re-evaluating its own standards, which are not legally enforceable but have “held a lot of weight” historically, he said. They’re likely to be released this fall.
Five of Hastings’ six wells exceed the draft EPA standards and will require treatment if the standards become final, he said.
“We have enough data to know it will impact Hastings,” Johnson said. “They would need to take some sort of action.”
Options for cities with PFAS include hooking up to a neighboring community’s unpolluted water supply or drilling into a deeper aquifer, he said.
Johnson said he believes every other east metro city affected by PFAS pollution has already received settlement money, adding that Hastings “is in a bit of a unique situation.”
An MPCA report indicated that $675 million was in the 3M settlement fund at the end of 2022 to ensure clean drinking water for east metro residents.
Higgins said that even if it can’t be proven that Hastings’ PFAS problem stems from 3M, the MPCA and DNR are committed to helping the city solve its water issues. Several sources might help Hastings pay for its project, he said, including $25 million the Legislature dedicated this year to fixing drinking water systems affected by PFAS. There’s also the Health Department’s revolving fund, which offers low-interest loans for infrastructure improvements, as well as the possibility of federal money.
Without assistance, the water treatment project’s price tag is “a budget buster” for Hastings, Wietecha said. The city would need to more than double its water rates to afford the construction, even with an interest-free 20-year loan. The city has submitted the project for inclusion in the 2024 bonding bill and is looking at other funding options, he said.
City Council Member Tina Folch said it’s “really daunting” that the project’s cost is millions of dollars higher than the city’s annual budget.
“My whole takeaway is that it’s really troubling that our local residents, our local taxpayers, are … at this point looking at having to foot the bill by themselves,” she said.
Star Tribune
Downtown St. Paul’s Lowry Apartments condemned, displacing tenants
After months of maintenance problems and safety concerns in downtown St. Paul’s Lowry Apartments, city officials condemned the building, forcing dozens of tenants to abruptly relocate to hotels this week.
On Monday afternoon, city staff responded to a plumbing leak in the 11-story building at 345 Wabasha St. N. Officials reported significant damage and signs of vandalism, including copper wire theft that left electrical systems exposed. The leak also raised concerns about mold.
To make repairs, the building’s water must be shut off — a move that would leave tenants without boiler heat and fire sprinklers, Deputy Mayor Jaime Tincher said in a Tuesday email to state Rep. Maria Isa Pérez-Vega and City Council Member Rebecca Noecker, who represent the area.
After determining heat and water could not be restored quickly, Tincher wrote: “There was no other option than to conclude the building was not safe for residents to stay.”
Property manager Halverson and Blaiser Group (HBG) agreed to provide alternative housing for tenants for up to 30 days, Tincher said. City staff worked with Ramsey County’s Housing Stability team and Metro Transit to help 71 residents pack and move.
Before then, the building belonged to downtown St. Paul’s largest property owner, Madison Equities. After the January death of the company’s founder and longtime principal, Jim Crockarell, the dire state of the group’s real estate portfolio became apparent.
The Lowry Apartments, the sole property with a high concentration of low-income housing, quickly became the most troubled. Residents reported frequent break-ins, pest infestations, inoperable elevators and more, to no avail.
Star Tribune
Metro Transit allocated $12 million to boost security, cleanliness on Twin Cities light rail and buses
They will be soon. With more money to spend, Metro Transit plans to bring on 40 more this year. With their ranks growing, TRIP agents, clad in blue, have recently started covering the Metro C and D rapid transit lines between Brooklyn Center and downtown Minneapolis.
The big investment in public safety initiatives comes as Metro Transit is seeing an uptick in ridership that plunged dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been slow to recover. This year ridership has been a bright spot, the agency said.
Through October, the agency has provided 40.1 million rides, up 7% compared with the first 10 months of 2023. In September, the agency saw its highest monthly ridership in four years, averaging nearly 157,000 rides on weekdays, agency data shows.
At the same time, crime is down 8.4% during the first three quarters of 2024 compared to the same time period last year, according to Metro Transit Interim Police Chief Joe Dotseth. However, problems still persist.
On Nov. 29, Sharif Darryl Walker-El, Jr., 33, was fatally shot on a Green Line train in St. Paul. Just a week earlier, a woman was shot in the leg while on the train and taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Earlier this year, a robbery attempt on the Green Line in St. Paul left a passenger shot and wounded.
“Our officers are spending time on the system and sending a clear message to everyone: Crime will not be tolerated on transit,” Dotseth said. “And we will work to ensure those commit those crimes are held accountable.”
Star Tribune
ACLU sues Otter Tail County sheriff, jail for inmate’s treatment
The ACLU of Minnesota has sued Otter Tail County, its sheriff and correctional officers at its jail, alleging unlawful punishment of a man known to them who has serious mental health issues.
Ramsey Kettle, 33, a member of White Earth Nation and lifelong Otter Tail County resident, was jailed in February on charges that were dropped two months later. The ACLU says that the sheriff’s office attempted to cover up the mistreatment, but a whistleblower working at the jail reported the abuse to the state. A 46-page lawsuit was filed this week in U.S. District Court of Minnesota.
“Mr. Kettle was subjected to extreme, punitive treatment in violation of his constitutional rights and standards for basic human dignity,” the ACLU said in a statement. “Otter Tail County officers, with approval of the acting jail administrator, kept Mr. Kettle locked up in solitary confinement for days without food, water, or appropriate medical and mental health care.”
Otter Tail County spokesperson Shannon Terry said in an email to the Minnesota Star Tribune that “Due to the impending litigation, Otter Tail County has no comment or statement at this time.” Terry did confirm that Kettle was released from custody April 24, when the charges were dropped.
Kettle was immediately placed in solitary confinement after he arrived at the jail Feb. 9, the lawsuit says. Jail staff didn’t assess Kettle’s poor mental health, which the ACLU says was well-documented and known to officers. The ACLU says Kettle “exhibited increasing signs of physical and mental distress” and officers allegedly “laughed at him, mocked him, and left him to suffer.”
Kettle had been booked at the jail multiple times before. In March 2022, he was convicted of making terroristic threats and sentenced to two years. On the day he was scheduled to be released from Rush City Correctional Facility after serving his full sentence, he was charged in Otter Tail with four counts of aggravated witness tampering stemming from the conviction.
“Rather than going home on February 9, 2024, as he had anticipated for nearly two years, he was transferred to Otter Tail County Jail to await trial on these new charges. The new charges were unfounded and intended solely to keep Mr. Kettle incarcerated,” the lawsuit states.
District Judge Johnathan Judd dismissed the charges as lacking foundation.
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