Success with this work - top of page
Taken from the December 5, 2000 issue of the Northeaster

MPCA to issue Interplastic Corporations air quality permit
Neighbors pleased with decision which should end two years of meetings and debates
by Mike Anderson

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency decided to place tighter controls on air emissions from Interplastic Corporation, 2015 Broadway St NE, than company officials wanted.  In an unanimous vote Nov 28, the MPCA Citizens Board denied Interplastic Corporation's request for a special hearing that would have allowed them top argue for a different kind of air quality permit.

According to the MPCA, the permit it will issue is more stringent that the kind of permit the company wanted. MPCA's permit, a "Federal Title V" permit, requires air emissions monitoring, scheduled maintenance on pollution control equipment, and more.

Interplastic Corporation sought a state "registration" permit that has fewer requirements.  The hearing that company officials requested would have allowed them to argue for such a registration permit.

The company

Interplastic Corporation makes resins used in fiberglass products.  Its air emissions included chemicals such as styrene and others the MPCA calls hazardous. According to Interplastic Vice President and General Counsel Ivan Levy, the MPCA permit has more regulations, but won't necessarily result in fewer air emissions than the registration permit the company asked for.

"It is a very fair decision, but not the best one," Levy said.

In the company's view, he said, the MPCA permit regulates "scores of underlying conditions at the plant" but doesn't place a top limit on the amounts of pollutants that can be emitted.  On the other hand, he said, the registration permit doesn't regulate the company's underlying conditions but caps the amount of hazardous pollutants emitted.

"It sets it low," Levy said.

"We believe that's a better approach--- an enforceable cap that makes sense," he said.  "No emissions would go to the neighborhood above the cap."

The MPCA-required permit has more legal requirements, Levy said, "but the practical requirements are not all that different than what we would do anyway."  Levy said the MPCA Citizens Board had a "message" for the company.

"We understood exactly what they decided," he said.  "They wanted to convey a message to Interplastic and we understood the message."

Levy said the Citizens Board told Interplastic that it believes there are some concerns at the facility that need to be addressed.  Levy said the company hasn't decided whether or not to appeal the Citizens Board's decision.

Neighbors

Windom Park resident Steve Pihlaja, who spoke at the Citizens Board meeting, said neighborhood were pleased by the MPCA vote.   "The neighborhood groups were uniformly pleased with the MPCA passing this," he said.

It shows that the MPCA takes seriously concerns about citizens' health, he said.  Representatives from several neighborhood groups, First Ward City Council Member Paul Ostrow and State Senator Larry Pogemiller attended the meeting, he said, and all asked for the more stringent permit.

Pihlaja said the Citizens Board and MPCA Commissioner Karen Studders were impressed by the number of local residents and the politicians at the meeting all in agreement supporting the MPCA's decision.

Interplastic received a lecture from board members, he said.  Ostrow told the Northeaster that he supports the MPCA decision and its permit will better control company emissions and protect neighbors.

"Perhaps most important," Ostrow said, "the permit will shine a great deal of light on the operations and give much more information to the community and residents about the exact nature of the emissions from Interplastic Corporation."

According to Pihlaja, the action ends two years of hearings about the company's air emissions permit.  Eastside residents have complained for many years about odors they say come from Interplastic Corporation.

History and Inspiration - top of page

Located in the heart of Minneapolis-St. Paul with extensive older industrial areas in both cities, Southeast Minneapolis has a disproportionate share of the area's smokestack industries.  High Toxic Release Inventory figures are reported for such local industries as ADM-TDC Milling, Electric Machinery, Globe Tool & Manufacturing, McLaughlin Gormley King, Ritrama Duramark, Superior Planting, Inc, IVC North, and Rock-Tenn Corporation all in or one the periphery of Southeast Minneapolis.

According to the Environmental Defense Fund, 1,032,431 Hennepin County Residents face a cancer risk more the 100 times the goal set by the Clean Air Act.  In 1990, Hennepin County ranked in the top 20% of all counties in the United States in terms of noncancerous health risks from hazardous air pollutants.  Of the three top facilities in Hennepin County, two are located in Southeast Minneapolis, according to rankings provided by the Environmental Defense Fund.

Citizens for a Better Environment analyzed the Toxic Release Inventories of  9 companies in Southeast Minneapolis and found that all but two had increased the amount of toxic chemicals released into the environment between 1991 and 1995.  The increases in the release of toxic chemicals ranged from 8% to 606% during the fiver-year period studied.  Some of these chemicals included recognized carcinogens, such as Tricholoroethylene, as well as recognized developmental toxicants, such as Bromomethane (Methyl Bromide) and Toluene.

All three of these toxins have been identified as more hazardous than most chemicals in at least one out of 12 ranking systems, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.  The two developmental toxicants are agents that cause structural malformations and other birth defects: low birth weight, metabolic or biological dysfunction, psychological of behavioral deficits that become evident as the child grows. Information from 1997 toxic release inventories indicates that all three of these toxic chemicals continue to be released into Southeast Minneapolis and the surrounding region.  Some of these emissions have increased significantly over the last few years.

Large heavy industrial areas bound the Southeast Como Neighborhood on three sides.  All residents of the area are affected by air pollution.  Low-income residents, such as Glendale public housing in Prospect Park and other subsidized units, live adjacent to some of the heaviest facilities in the area.  Although Environmental Education aspects of this proposal are neighborhood wide, underserved constituencies benefit most from increased awareness of pollution problems in the area.

The SE Pollution Prevention Project takes its inspiration from Prospect Park's success in persuading its local polluter, American Can to reduce toxic output of pollutants.  This plant on SE Ontario Street is very close to Prospect Park and Glendale public housing.  Facilities are most advantageously approached when a permit renewal is pending, as PPERRIA did with American Can and as nearby Windom Park Neighborhood did with Interplastics INC. on NE Broadway. See article.  This work requires a dedicated point person to track the  permit renewal dates and subsequently organize residents to address the problem.

For the past 5 years, active neighbors in Southeast Como and Prospect Park have been working and planning countless strategies to address air emissions in the SE industrial area of Minneapolis. After many years and community meetings later, we have a full-time environmental coordinator,  to help us address the issue of air quality in our community. Hats off to active neighbors!

Thanks to the NRP program and the Headwaters Fund for making this project possibile.

Publications - top of page

PDF's or MS Word for the PC docs

Goals - top of page

This project works to inform neighbors about the content of the neighborhood air and steps they can take together with industry to reduce emissions.

  • Actively engage residents in Stakeholder Dialogues/Good Neighbor Agreements and other decision-making processes related to environmental issues
  • Equip residents with the knowledge and tools necessary to prevent local pollution well into the future
  • Work with surrounding  industry to reduce air emissions
Located in the heart of Minneapolis-St. Paul with extensive older industrial areas in both cities, the Southeast Minneapolis area has a disproportionate share of smokestack industries.

Of the three top emitting facilities in Hennepin County, two are located in Southeast Minneapolis, according to rankings provided by the Environmental Defense Fund.

These chemicals include recognized carcinogens, such as Tricholoro-ethylene*, as well as recognized developmental toxicants, such as Toluene . Information from the most recent toxic release inventories indicates that these toxic chemicals continue to be released into Southeast Minneapolis and the surrounding region.

The Southeast Pollution Prevention Project takes its inspiration from the Prospect Parks neighborhood success in working with Pechiney Plastic Packaging Co. to reduce toxic output of pollutants. This plant on 26th Ave SE is very close to Prospect Park and Glendale public housing.

Facilities are most advantageously approached when a permit renewal is pending, as Prospect Park did with American Can and as nearby Windom Park neighborhood did with Interplastics Inc. on NE Broadway. 

Southeast Como Improvement Association - 612-676-1731 - secomo@secomo.org