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The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is proposing to add four sites and remove all or part of three sites from Minnesota’s Permanent List of Priorities (PLP), the official roll of state Superfund sites. Adding sites to the PLP makes additional funds available to investigate and clean them up.
The MPCA is proposing to add:
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Minnetonka Blvd. and Raleigh Ave. (St. Louis Park) — A building near this intersection hosted several dry cleaning businesses between 1981 through 1998. Dry cleaning chemicals contaminated soil and groundwater on nearby properties. During redevelopment in 2000, the current owner removed about 3,600 cubic yards of tetrachloroethylene (PCE)-laden soil, but contamination remains. More work is needed to evaluate and mitigate vapor intrusion and groundwater risks.
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Former Gold Eagle Cleaners site (Richfield) —A dry cleaner operated on this site from 1962 to 1995. In 2017, an investigation at an adjacent site found elevated levels of PCE that likely comes from the former dry cleaners. The MPCA is currently working to define the extent of the PCE contamination in groundwater and vapor intrusion in the surrounding homes.
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Gold Eagle Cleaners site (Roseville) — Gold Eagle Cleaners operated on this site from 1961 until 2012, when it changed to an aqueous cleaning process and a coin-operated laundry. Gold Eagle vacated the building in December 2019, but the site is still occupied by a restaurant and veterinary clinic. In 2011, Ramsey County and the MPCA found that two PCE waste storage tanks at the site were leaking. An investigation in 2019 found elevated levels of PCE and a vapor intrusion risk, but the owners have yet to install a mitigation system or conduct additional investigations.
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214 and 220 Ramsey St. (Hastings) —Zephyr Cleaners operated on this site from 1955 to 2011. The property was sold in June 2013 and is now used by a pottery business, and for office space and storage. An investigation before the sale found high levels of PCE under the building, and a soil vapor mitigation system was installed in it and two nearby buildings. The MPCA is investigating the vapor intrusion risk in eight other nearby buildings.
Sites that the MPCA has proposed for delisting or partial delisting:
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Brainerd Foundry site (Brainerd) — Listed on PLP in April 2010. Brainerd Foundry did metal parts casting on this site from 1925 to 1981. Air pollution from the facility deposited metals on the site and nearby properties, prior to air emission controls being installed in 1970. The foundry owners filed for bankruptcy in 1982 and the federal government later acquired the property. Investigations by the feds, the city of Brainerd, and the MPCA found polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), lead, arsenic, naphthalene, and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene contamination. In 2015, about 4,042 tons of contaminated soil were excavated. Remaining contaminants in the soil pose no threat to human health or the environment. The MPCA is proposing the site be removed from the PLP.
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Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP) (Arden Hills) — Listed on PLP in 1984. Between 1942 and the early 1990s, the U.S. Army and its contractors manufactured and tested ammunition on the TCAAP site. The site includes not only the more than 2,300 acres of the former plant site, but also the deep groundwater plumes under portions of New Brighton, St. Anthony, Columbia Heights, and Minneapolis. Soil on the site was contaminated with chlorinated solvents, lead, and PCBs; the primary groundwater contaminant is chlorinated solvents. The site is divided into three “operable units” (OUs). OU2 comprises the soil, groundwater, and surface water within the footprint of the site. The MPCA is proposing that soil and surface water (not groundwater) in OU2 be removed from the PLP.
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Naval Industrial Reserve Ordinance Plant (NIROP) (Fridley) —Listed on PLP in 1984. In 1940, the Northern Pump Company began manufacturing gun mounts for Navy vessels on this site. Much of the site’s contamination comes from chlorinated solvents used to degrease metal parts. The site is divided into three OUs. OU3 includes the soils above the water table that are under the former plating shop. In October 2018, a review of the site indicated that OU3 no longer poses a risk to human health and the environment. The MPCA is proposing that it be removed from the PLP.
Removing sites from the PLP helps return them to productive use and involves public and private collaboration to protect the environment and public health.
The MPCA is seeking comment on the proposed listing and delisting of contaminated sites on the PLP. Please email or mail comments by 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020 to Eric Pederson, (651-757-2645) MPCA, 520 Lafayette Road North, St. Paul, MN 55155-4194.
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