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Campaign mailers miss the mark on Minnesota water issues
Virginia-based political action committee launches misleading mailers blaming Democrats for PFAS, dirty water.
MINNEAPOLIS — Democratic candidates are being targeted with hit pieces that distort their record on clean water and PFAS “forever chemicals” in Minnesota.
The Virginia-based Make Liberty Win political action committee has flooded mailboxes and doorknobs with mailers and lit pieces, accusing Minnesota Democrats at the State Capitol of being so busy passing a “radical agenda” that they’ve abandoned clean water efforts.
The mailers come complete with photos of trash in a lake, a mysterious green substance in a sink, and a poison warning skull symbol with the letters “PFAS” inside it.
The pieces are landing in the Lake Minnetonka area, where Democrat Tracy Breazeale is running in House District 45-A and Democrat Ann Johnson Stewart is running in a special election in Senate District 45.
“I’m a strong proponent of making sure we continue to keep our lakes clean, free of aquatic invasive species, that we’ve got clean drinking water alongside of that,” Breazeale told KARE.
She was shocked to see the mailers linking her to dirty water and PFAS, part of an onslaught of campaign literature arriving in the district in one form or another.
“Some have been hung on doors, some have been coming out through the mail. Some have been e-mail. Some have been other forms of electronic distribution,” Breazeale explained.
To start with, Breazeale has not been in the legislature. She’s serving her second term on the Minnetonka Beach City Council, which voted to build a new water tower that captured the iconic look of the old one. The council also supported a new water treatment plant that will filter PFAS beyond what’s required by the EPA.
“I’ve learned more about water infrastructure, PFAS, what it takes to build a new water tower, what it takes to build new water plant and all that goes into that,” she said.
The facts don’t support the claim that Democratic lawmakers have abandoned clean water efforts.
Since 2009 your tax dollars have gone to the Clean Water Fund, to protect and restore water quality in lakes, rivers, streams, and groundwater. Part of your lottery money has gone to the outdoors, which includes water quality initiatives.
In the 2023-2024 session, the DFL-controlled legislature voted to spent $318 million from the Clean Water Fund to clean water projects for 2024 and 2025. Those include environmental mitigation as well as assistance with water treatment plants.
In the same budget cycle, lawmakers devoted $25 million in lottery proceeds to water quality projects. In the current two-year budget cycle, Democrats also devoted $45 million to PFAS mitigation and filtering projects across the state.
Lawmakers passed some of the toughest laws in the nation regulating PFAS in products.
“This is a beautiful community. Water is really important. Lake Minnetonka is literally the centerpiece of our district,” Ann Johnson Stewart told KARE.
She’s a civil engineer who specializes in environmental engineering and infrastructure, who served two years in the Senate in 2021 and 2022, when Republicans controlled that chamber.
“I’ve already met with all the engineers, and the public works directors and the mayors, because when you have small communities like this, they have to share water, or they share sewer interceptors, or they share maintenance kinds of activities.”
She was surprised by the messaging in the mailers, looking to pin dirty water and PFAS on her and her fellow Democrats. It’s especially significant because the battle for control of the legislature is largely fought in mailboxes and doorknobs.
“I mean, water is the whole reason that I’m really motivated in my job to make sure everybody has clean water, and that we don’t have PFAS. So, it was pretty ridiculous and just one of many pieces we’ve seen.”
Make Liberty Win has not responded to KARE’s inquiry, as of the deadline for this story.
Here’s a summary of the PFAS-related provisions from HF 2310, the 2023 Environment and Climate Budget bill, as prepared by the nonpartisan Minnesota House Research staff:
- $2,070,000 each year from the environmental fund for the Pollution Control Agency (PCA) to develop and implement a program related to emerging issues, including Minnesota’s PFAS Blueprint.
- $500,000 for a report on firefighter turnout gear and firefighter biomonitoring (see below for more information).
- $50,000 from the remediation fund for a work group to develop recommendations for PFAS manufacturer fees (see below for more information).
- $63,000 in fiscal year 2024 and $92,000 in fiscal year 2025 for the commissioner of health to amend the health risk limit for PFOS.
- $25,000,000 for grants to support planning, designing, and preparing for solutions for public water treatment systems contaminated with PFAS and for the PCA to conduct source investigations of PFAS contamination and to sample, address, and treat private drinking water wells.
- $4,210,000 in fiscal year 2024 and $210,000 in fiscal year 2025 for PFAS reduction grants, which includes $4,000,000 for grants to industry and public entities to identify sources of PFAS entering facilities and to develop pollution prevention and reduction initiatives.
- $1,163,000 in fiscal year 2024 and $1,115,000 in fiscal year 2025 from the environmental fund for rulemaking and implementation of the new PFAS information requirements and product bans (more information on the policy below).
- $478,000 from the environment and natural resources trust fund (ENRTF) for the University of Minnesota to develop novel methods for the detection, sequestration, and degradation of PFAS in Minnesota’s lakes and rivers.
That legislation also contained the following policy provisions, according to the memo from nonpartisan House Research staff:
- Article 3, Section 1, requires manufacturers of a product containing intentionally added PFAS to submit certain information to the PCA by Jan. 1, 2026. The section also bans certain categories of products (carpets or rugs, cleaning products, cookware, cosmetics, dental floss, fabric treatments, juvenile products, menstruation products, textile furnishings, ski wax, and upholstered furniture) containing intentionally added PFAS beginning January 1, 2025. The PCA is given authority to ban additional products through rulemaking and a total ban on products containing intentionally added PFAS becomes effecting January 1, 2032, with exceptions for products where the use of PFAS is currently unavoidable as determined by the commissioner.
- Article 3, Sections 18 & 19 modify PCA reporting requirements related to the 3M settlement and east metro private well testing for PFAS.
- Article 3, Sections 25-27 & 31 prohibit the use of firefighting foam containing PFAS effective January 1, 2024. Certain exceptions would apply, including exceptions for airports and oil refineries and terminals.
- Article 3, Section 30 requires the PCA to establish a work group to review options for collecting a fee from manufacturers of PFAS in the state and submit a report to the legislature by February 15, 2024.
- Article 3, Section 32 requires the PCA to submit a report to the legislature regarding PFAS in turnout gear by January 15, 2024, including recommendations and protocols for PFAS biomonitoring in firefighters.
- Article 3, Section 33, requires the PCA to adopt water quality standards for six PFAS by July 1, 2026.
- Article 3, Section 34, requires the commissioner of health to amend the health risk limit for PFOS by July 1, 2026.
- Article 9, Section 9, allows St. Louis County to use a portion of its environmental trust fund for projects to protect Lake Superior and other waters in the Great Lakes watershed from PFAS contamination from landfills.
The crash occurred at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday in Welcome, Minnesota after the bus driver failed to yield to the truck, which had the right-of-way.
WELCOME, Minn. — Nine students were injured Wednesday morning when a truck crashed into a bus in southern Minnesota.
The crash occurred at 8:15 a.m. in Welcome, Minnesota after the bus driver failed to yield to the truck, which had the right-of-way at the intersection of County Road 7 and 280th Street, according to the Redwood County Sheriff’s Office. In a press release, officials say the nine students sustained “minor injuries” and were transported to a nearby hospital.
The initial investigation indicates that the truck, an F550, was traveling north on County Road 7, while the bus, which was providing service to the Wabasso Public School District, was traveling east on 280th Street. The news release says the truck had the right-of-way at the intersection.
“We are grateful that no serious injuries happened to our students, the driver or the other driver, however, nine students were transported to area hospitals for follow-up treatment,” Superintendent Jon Fulton said in a letter to parents. “… The District and 4.0 bus transportation company is praying for a speedy recovery for the students and families involved.”
Several fans said this team has inspired them to pursue a career in sports.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Lynx is inspiring the next generation of athletes regardless of whether they win or lose.
Sophia Witkowski went to the game with her mother, Christy, to watch Game 3 of the WNBA Finals.
“For her to see all her idols it’s just so fun,” Christy said.
“I like it because women’s sports aren’t that popular. Now the WNBA is really popular,” Sophia said.
They weren’t the only mother-and-daughter duo at the game. Amanda Williams took her 10-year-old daughter Abby to watch.
“It’s really awesome to have my daughter here to see great role models from the team and the fact,” Amanda said.
“I think that it’s super cool that they get to do what they want to do, and they get paid for it too,” Abby said.
Maggie Niska with Her Next Play, a nonprofit working to empower the next generation of female leaders through sports, said their visibility is everything.
“I think it gives these girls someone to look up to, and it gives them something to aspire to, and by having them in the community it makes seem a little more reachable too,” Niska said.
She said the Lynx Academy put on a basketball clinic for some of her girls in Hopkins Tuesday night. Niska said all of the professional women’s sports teams in Minnesota show girls they can have a future in sports.
“I just think that any visibility these girls can get to women competing at sports at a higher level, hearing these women speak, and seeing them succeed, and getting insight into their lives and what they do to compete at this higher level, I think all of that serves as a great inspiration to these girls,” she said.
It’s something Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve understands well.
“For young girls to see the opportunities for them to play in any sport and then also more in sport, jobs in sports that sports can be a career,” Reeve said.
Sophia Ritter and Taylor Tool drove hours to see the players in action.
“We traveled from Aberdeen, South Dakota and the Northern State women’s basketball team took two vans,” she said.
Ritter and Tool both said it was a cool opportunity for them to see two great teams play on the professional level.
“Growing up, WNBA wasn’t really a big a thing and something that everyone was watching and now that it’s growing it’s really nice to see,” Ritter said.
“It’s really fun seeing all the support and seeing how many people come to watch the games like it’s really cool to see all the fans in the stands filling up and it’s growing,” Tool said.
Gophers’ Shoot Guard Mara Braun went to the game with her team after practice.
“These women out here are just amazingly talented and they play with this toughness that I think we’re really trying to embody as a team,” Braun said.
She knows young girls are looking up to her and her teammates just like they are with the Lynx.
“Especially growing up, you know, you want to play college basketball, and the next level is WNBA or overseas or whatever it is, so for me this is obviously a dream and something I’m working towards to be able to see it,” she said.
Braun dreams of playing in the WNBA and watching the Lynx and the Liberty in the finals makes that dream feel like it could be her new reality.
The department is the only one in the state to start a non-fatal shooting unit that launched in January.
ST PAUL, Minn. — The City of St. Paul has seen a number of deadly shootings recently, but often it’s the ones that aren’t fatal that don’t get as much attention. And for police, they can also be harder to solve.
The department, though, is trying something new to try and reverse that trend.
“The amount of guns that are on the street right now,” St. Paul Police Commander Nikkole Peterson said about the biggest change she’s seen in the 22 years she’s been a cop. “It’s jaw-dropping.”
Commander Peterson is now in charge of the department’s non-fatal shooting unit that launched in January focusing only on those crimes.
It’s the only department in the state implementing something like that, after it saw success with the police department in Denver, Colorado doing something similar.
“If there’s a shooting, it doesn’t matter what time of night that happens or time of day, that sergeant will get called in to begin the investigation immediately,” said Commander Peterson.
The crime used to fall on the homicide unit that’s already burdened by heavy case loads. There’s also usually little victim cooperation which can stall solving non-fatal shootings.
“A lot of times we wouldn’t investigate it any further or the prosecutor wouldn’t charge those crimes and we knew that something different had to be done,” said Commander Peterson.
The unit is now treating non-fatal shootings like homicides and making them a priority. The investigators also rely more heavily on evidence and devote just as many resources, from forensics to video management and even SWAT teams.
“We are utilizing all these different resources to help solve these crimes,” said Commander Peterson. “We’re chasing down every lead that we can.”
In a press conference on Tuesday, St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry said there have been 86 non-fatal shootings compared to 99 this same time last year. But two years ago, there were 170, putting the city’s solve rate around 60%.
“Anything above 50% is just incredible and so we’re really happy with where we’re at right now,” said Commander Peterson.
Commander Peterson also credits the city’s ASPIRE program that focuses on intervention, particularly with youth. She also points to the Office of Neighborhood Safety that partners with local organizations working on prevention, saying this cooperation is ultimately what will reduce crime.
