August 19, 2025
The Dayton's Bluff neighborhood, which is immediately adjacent to Northern Iron, unanimously passed a resolution in support of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s decision to revoke Northern Iron's permit.
July 21, 2025
Following a surprise inspection in February, the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) has issued citations to Northern Iron for serious violations involving lead. Northern Iron is contesting the penalty issued by OSHA, an agency that is charged with protecting workers.
July 19, 2025
Northern Iron has become more and more aggressive in its attempts to dodge accountability. The court recently rejected two of those moves in the class action lawsuit.
First, Northern Iron attempted to get its parent company dismissed from the pending class action, which would have reduced the neighborhood's access to compensation for harms they say they are suffering from the pollution. The court rejected the argument that Northern Iron's parent company, Lawton Standard, could not be sued in Minnesota. The court noted that the company had changed its name back and forth between "Northern Iron" and "Lawton Standard" on public websites at times that were convenient for their position in the lawsuit.
Then, in a move that shocked legal experts, Northern Iron tried to subpoena the attorney for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). Northern Iron wanted to force the attorney to submit to a deposition (a kind of cross examination). As the Sahan Journal reports:
Joseph Daly, emeritus professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, said that deposing a lawyer in a separate but closely related case would still trigger attorney-client privilege. Seeking to subpoena a lawyer is strange, he said.
“I personally have never even thought about doing it,” Daly said, adding that lawyers are also taught not to file frivolous motions.
The judge quashed (denied) the subpoena on the spot.
Even after these negative rulings, Northern Iron's lawyers keep going. This week, they filed a new lawsuit against MPCA, based on statements MPCA made in the hearing on the subpoena. Among other things, Northern Iron claims defamation for statements MPCA made in updates to the court. Neighbors are hopeful the court will dismiss this attempt to punish a regulator for doing its job.
June 30, 2025
Greetings neighbors, friends, and allies -
Northern Iron has submitted its request for a contested case hearing, in which Northern Iron will challenge MPCA's decision to revoke its air permit.
What you can do:
The Climate Justice Committee is hosting a rally in front of Northern Iron on Sunday, July 13th, at 1:00 p.m., with Eastside Neighbors for Health and Eastside Environmental Justice.
This is a great time to to author an op-ed or letter to the editor. If you don't know how to write one, we can help! Connect with us.
We're collecting community stories to share on the Community pages.
Lawn signs are in development!
June 26, 2025
At their June meeting, the Payne Phalen Community Council Board of Directors unanimously voted to issue the following statement in support of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's decision to revoke Northern Iron's permit:
The Payne Phalen Community Council strongly supports the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s recent steps to begin permit revocation for Northern Iron and Machine at 867 Forest Street North in St. Paul. The Community Council reiterates and emphasizes our very strong concerns about the public health harms generated by this facility and the staggering burden of these harms endured by residents in the surrounding neighborhoods, workers inside the facility, and in communities across St. Paul.
The Dayton's Bluff Community Council also recently voted to pass a resolution in support of the permit revocation decision - language coming soon!
We are online! Check back here for the latest updates!
MPCA has finally taken action to revoke the permit! The district court case has been put on pause during the permit revocation process, and we are currently watching to see whether Northern Iron challenges the permit revocation at the Office of Administrative Hearings. Thanks so much for coming out to rallies, spreading the word, and keeping up the pressure.