Star Tribune
Smith Foundry emissions test in East Phillips Minneapolis shows lead emissions, working soot filters
The south Minneapolis foundry that some neighbors say has exposed them to hazardous pollution is releasing lead from its smokestacks, though a much smaller amount than previous estimates, according to an analysis of recent testing by state and federal environmental officials.
The testing, performed over three days on five smokestacks in December, didn’t settle the question of whether the Smith Foundry is polluting the neighborhood. It didn’t measure emissions from the furnace inside Smith Foundry, which vent through a separate duct in the roof that is not regulated by the company’s 1992 permit.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has committed to completing a new permit for Smith by the end of 2024, and the company has told EPA that it will likely have to install new controls, including around its furnace.
Smith has made iron castings at its location at 1855 E. 28th St. in the East Phillips neighborhood for roughly the past century. The operation, which was purchased by the Canadian firm Zynik Capital in late 2022, has long sparked concern from nearby neighbors and activists. Anger and frustration mounted late last year when the Sahan Journal reported that the EPA had dropped in for a surprise inspection in the spring and found evidence of several potential Clean Air Act violations. Later, the Star Tribune reported that EPA and MPCA disagreed on some of those violations, with state officials saying there was no evidence that the foundry had broken air quality standards.
MPCA spokeswoman Andrea Cournoyer did not specify whether the agencies had resolved the disagreement, but said the two agencies were working “collaboratively” and that MPCA was supporting EPA’s ongoing investigation.
The stack test results were released late last month, and the MPCA completed its analysis on Monday. A joint statement from MPCA and EPA, both of which observed the test, said that “While the tests detected lead emissions, the amounts were low.”
Still, the stack tests were the first to document that the foundry was allowing lead to escape into the air. In annual emissions reports over the past few years, Smith has reported lead amounts that would make it the single biggest permitted source in Hennepin County; however, the company was using an estimate based on industry studies.
The company said the test results show that its emissions were about 9 pounds per year, or less than 5% of the amount in its most recent annual report. The Cournoyer said MPCA could not confirm that calculation, but said Smith is required to report updated annual emissions for 2023 by April 1.
Smith previously conducted its own analysis to show that the iron ingots it melts down don’t contain detectable levels of lead. Now, the company will test the silica sand it uses to create molds for its iron castings, to see if that could be a possible source, said Blois Olson, a spokesman for Smith.
“I’m a little bit surprised at the lead,” said Evan Mulholland, an attorney at the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. “We were expecting zero. The company kept saying ‘we don’t use lead, we don’t want lead, lead is not good in cast iron.'”
The results also showed that the smokestacks are not releasing more lung-damaging fine particles than Smith’s permit allows.
MPCA will hold two public information sessions on Wednesday to discuss testing, permitting and air monitoring around Smith Foundry. Both sessions will be held at The East Phillips Park Cultural and Community Center, at 2307 S 17th Ave. The first session will run from 3:30 to 5 p.m., and the second will run from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Star Tribune
Long Prairie, MN school board dismisses its superintendent, the latest controversy in this small town
LONG PRAIRIE, MINN. — The school district superintendent dressed up as the school mascot, Thor, on football nights. He read the graduation address in both English and Spanish. He even set up office hours in the cafeteria, granting easier approachability to students.
But now, two months into the school year, Daniel Ludvigson is gone. Or, rather, “on special assignment,” according to the terminology of the Long Prairie-Grey Eagle School Board, which voted 4-3 earlier this month to remove him as superintendent. The move came weeks after voting to not renew his contract, which expires at the end of the school year in June.
Four board members — two of whom voted to oust Ludvigson, including Board Chair Kelly Lemke — are up for re-election next week.
The dismissal is the latest blow in this central Minnesota community on the edge of the prairie. Over the last nine months, the town of 3,400 residents and seat of Todd County has lost its mayor, a city manager, two school board members, and now its superintendent.
Students walked out earlier this month in support of Ludvigson. Signs in support of Ludvigson can be seen across town on the lawns of apparent Democrats and Republicans alike. And last week, hundreds packed the American Legion off Hwy. 71 to eat beef sandwiches and sign support letters for Ludvigson, who only swung by to pick up his child for hockey practice.
In a time of great divide in America, this fight has nothing to do with politics.
“You’ve got Harris buttons and Trump hats side-by-side, arm-in-arm,” said Amanda Hinson, a former local newspaper reporter who is concerned the board is not being upfront about why they placed Ludvigson on special assignment. “We want transparency in our government.”
Lawn signs around Long Prairie, Minn., now include people weighing in on the dismissal of Superintendent Daniel Ludvigson by the school board. (Christopher Vondracek)
School board members say Ludvigson has repeatedly shown he is not ready for the prime time of a school district bigger than the one in central North Dakota he arrived from two years ago. They have twice disciplined Ludvigson, but did not state the reason for placing him on “special assignment,” beyond insinuating that staff are fearful to raise official complaints.
Rain and potentially heavy snow are on tap Thursday around the Twin Cities, just before families set out for Halloween trick-or-treating.
Temperatures were expected to drop throughout the day, creating conditions for flurries. A winter weather advisory is in effect from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. covering the Twin Cities metro area and parts of south-central Minnesota. Steady rain drenched the Twin Cities on Thursday, making for a soggy morning commute.
“As colder air begins to move in this morning, the rain will transition to heavy snow from west to east with snowfall rates of an inch per hour at times into early afternoon,” the National Weather Service in Chanhassen said in a weather advisory.
The Twin Cities and surrounding areas could get between 2 and 4 inches of snow, according to the weather service. The winter weather advisory is expected to affect Anoka, Chisago, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, Washington and Le Sueur counties.
It’s unclear how much of the snow will actually stick, with warm surface temperatures likely leading to melting on contact in many areas.
“Exact totals will depend on snowfall rate, surface temperatures, and melting — which increases uncertainty with the snow forecast,” the weather service said in an early Thursday briefing.
“Thundersnow possible!” the weather service emphasized.
The good news for Halloween revelers is that the snow and rain are expected to wrap up in time for trick-or-treating, though temperatures will remain in the 30s with a sharp windchill.
An off-duty Washington County sheriff’s deputy caused a head-on crash while under the influence of alcohol and injured a couple in the other vehicle, officials said.
The crash occurred about 10:40 a.m. Sunday in Afton on Hwy. 95 at Scenic Lane, the Minnesota State Patrol said.
Campbell Johnston Blair, 58, of Hastings, was heading north in his Subaru Crosstrek, crossed into the opposite lane and collided with a southbound Ford Expedition, the patrol said.
Blair and the other vehicle’s occupants, 38-year-old Erik Robert Sward and 36-year-old Heather Lynn Sward, both of Lake Elmo, were taken to Regions Hospital with non-critical injuries, according to the patrol.
The patrol noted the alcohol use by Blair was involved in the crash.
Blair, who was driving a private vehicle at the time of the crash while off-duty, has been a deputy with the Sheriff’s Office since 2020 and is currently assigned to our Court Security Unit.
The Sheriff’s Office has been asked for reaction to the crash involving one of its deputies.
