The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has come under fire for its handling of complaints about a polluting foundry in south Minneapolis. A report from the state’s Legislative Auditor revealed that the agency failed to properly track complaints about Smith Foundry, an iron casting site in the East Phillips neighborhood. Between 2018 and 2023, MPCA received 18 complaints about the site, but didn’t have records of responses for a third of them. Many complaints mentioning bad smells were passed on to the city of Minneapolis until state law changed and MPCA became responsible for investigating odor complaints in May 2023.
The agency is now working on improving its coordination with local jurisdictions and plans to introduce a new reporting system to allow the public to upload pictures and location information with their cell phones. Residents like Allison Lind, whose son attends a daycare near the foundry site, have expressed frustration with the agency’s lack of response to pollution complaints. Lind emphasized the need for MPCA to enhance its enforcement of pollution permits.
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