Climate Justice Committee joins Eastside Saint Paul residents to shut down Northern Iron foundry

By Michael Wood and Tracy Molm

St Paul, MN – Dozens of people held signs and cheered Saturday morning, June 7, since the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) announced it would revoke Northern Iron’s permit. 11-year-old Eastside resident Moses Degner Riveros said on the megaphone, “Our voices are being heard! Now we need to take the next step of shutting the foundry down.”

The crowd of Eastside residents and organizers heard from neighbors about living under the toxic haze of Northern Iron’s foundry operations. The foundry has been in operation for over a century in the Eastside neighborhood. It has an extensive record of environmental regulation violations. Eastside residents have long known their neighborhood was polluted by lead and other heavy metals spewed from Northern Iron. After a strong and sustained community campaign, residents are one step closer to shutting Northern Iron down.

Resident and lawyer Melissa Lorentz said, “What we’re seeing right now is something we haven’t seen before. The MPCA is standing up against this aggressive, well-funded company to support the community, and it’s because of people who are willing to speak about the harms of this facility.” Referring to a Thursday, June 5, hearing, Lorentz said, “Last week I saw the attorney for Northern Iron lie in court about their pollution. That is what they’re willing to do for their profits.”

Another resident, Sarah Degner Riveros, spoke about the health impact of heavy metals like lead from Northern Iron. Her five children have experienced anxiety, depression, bleeding disorders, reproductive health issues, insomnia, muscle fatigue and overall weak immune systems since moving to Eastside in 2015.

Riveros stated, “This past January my 17-year-old daughter lost consciousness. She required a blood transfusion that brought her back to life. She missed a month of her senior year of high school.” Degner Riveros paused and took out a bouquet of peonies. “But this week she graduated high school summa cum laude, and I brought her graduation flowers to show you. We deserve clean air! A residential neighborhood is no place for a foundry!”

Residents reported black soot covering their cars, the siding on their homes, and on their windowsills. In April 2024, the MPCA ordered Northern Iron to seal their facility, but to this day one can see holes and gaps in the tattered blue tarps wrapped around the baghouses on the foundry’s roof. Brittney Bruce with her two children by her side said, “Northern Iron can say they’re doing the right thing in court, but every time I drive past I see the blue tarps blowing open, I see the particles in my windowsill, fence and car. If Northern Iron cannot clean up the pollution they’re causing, then they need to shut it down!”

A Climate Justice Committee member closed out the speakers, stating “Companies are terrified of collective action, because when we join together we the people have power. When the Climate Justice Committee, Eastside Environmental Justice and concerned neighbors banded together to demand action – we made change happen. This collective action is more important than ever as the Trump administration tries to roll back environmental protections and deregulate. We must fight back to keep our communities safe. As we have seen with Smith Foundry and now Northern Iron, it can be done. When we come to fight, we let the polluters know we do not come to plead for power – we come to wield it! Because, when we fight, we win!” The crowd enthusiastically joined in the chant “When we fight, we win!”

While the crowd was there to celebrate and let the neighborhood know about the MPCA revoking Northern Iron’s permit to operate, organizers were clear the fight is not over. The notice to revoke the permit allows Northern Iron an opportunity to appeal and the foundry may operate in the interim. The Climate Justice Committee emcee made it clear that we’ll keep coming back and join the neighborhood in fighting to shut Northern Iron down!

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