Northern Iron operates literally feet from homes, separated from the closest houses by a narrow alleyway. Neighbors have suffered from soot pollution and noise for years. This page shares just a few of their stories.
Theo is six. He suffers from asthma, and he also lives and goes to school near Northern Iron.
Hi my name is Moses and I have apple and raspberry trees and I can’t eat them because of Northern Iron. I live four blocks away from Northern Iron and I have a few questions. Why is Northern Iron polluting our neighborhood with lead and toxic metals? Imagine all the families who don’t know that their neighborhood is getting polluted by metals like lead. We need to shut this foundry! We need to keep our children like me safe, clean and healthy.
We need our clean childhoods back.
A child living near Northern Iron visualizes the world with and without this foundry.
Grassroots network Eastside Environmental Justice demanded accountability from Northern Iron and MPCA. In response to strong community voices, MPCA promised to ensure the community has access to all the technical information needed to understand the impacts of Northern Iron's proposal to expand.
Northern Iron's refusal to disclose that information led to MPCA's decision to revoke the permit.
A homeowner next to the foundry feels stuck with the pollution and worries for her children. As reported in the Star Tribune:
"I bought this house with my life savings, with no clue what was going on across the street," Bruce said. Fine black sediment is settling inside her windows, and Bruce has resorted to running air purifiers in every room.
Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune
‘I want to run away from here.’ A former neighbor speaks out about why she moved her family.