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Active
At MCEA we believe in seeking justice for communities that have been harmed by historic and ongoing toxic pollution and contamination. By design and neglect, this harm has affected Black, Indigenous and other communities of color to a much greater extent than white neighborhoods. Whenever municipal development is proposed in these communities, a necessary first step is to make sure the voices of neighboring community members are engaged and respected. Key decisionmakers must invite community members to the table to work towards a goal of eliminating new, harmful sources of pollution in neighborhoods experiencing systemic pollution and poor air quality.
The East Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis is one of these communities. This neighborhood continuously ranks as having some of the worst air quality in Minneapolis, and it is still being harmed by one of the most brazen and widespread urban polluters in Minnesota history. An insecticide manufacturer at East 28th St. and Hiawatha Ave. polluted the neighborhood with arsenic from the 1930’s to the 1960’s, resulting in a massive cleanup of contaminated residential yards.
The area surrounding this Superfund site is recognized in state law as being overburdened by pollution. State law requires that no permit shall be issued by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in the area “without analyzing and considering the cumulative levels and effects of past and current environmental pollution from all sources on the environment.”
The City of Minneapolis has proposed building a new “Hiawatha Campus” adjacent to the former manufacturing site to house city offices and vehicles. The City of Minneapolis published an environmental assessment worksheet (EAW) detailing the environmental impacts of the Hiawatha Campus proposal in February 2021. MCEA filed our response to the environmental assessment worksheet on March 25, 2021.
While our response is detailed and lengthy -- nearly 200 pages -- there are a few central findings worth highlighting here. Not only did our staff determine that the City's EAW fails to address key environmental effects, as well as climate change, but also that it neglects to examine the impact its proposal would have on existing pollution in the neighborhood as required by law. Even more troubling is its "loud silence regarding the historical environmental racism the residents of the East Phillips neighborhood have endured," MCEA's response states.
"For decades, East Phillips residents have breathed some of the City’s most polluted air and have walked atop soil contaminated with frightening levels of acutely toxic chemicals ... (yet it's proposal) resigns ... (the neighborhood) to further pollution, forces residents to live adjacent to another industrial site, and ensures environmentally friendly development and opportunities are sited elsewhere," the response continues.
In addition to MCEA's response, the City was flooded with an "unprecedented amount" -- about 1,000 - of comments comments on the proposal. The mounting public pressure coupled with the persistant organizing efforts of the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) led the City Council to suspend work on its public works proposal as well as its vote on the project's EAW until August 5. City staff were directed to use this "pause" to work with East Phillips' residents on the development of an alternative, community-based vision for the site instead, such as EPNI's urban farm and community center proposal.
If the City wants to do the right thing, it will abandon its plans for the Roof Depot site altogether, relocate its public works department in another Ward, and allow EPNI's urban farm and community center proposal to be developed instead. Not only is it a dynamic and environmentally conscious plan, but it's the one the neighborhood wants.
Click here to read the City of Minneapolis environmental assessment worksheet
Click here to read MCEA's response to the environmental assessment worksheet
The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) and the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) held two community meetings in February to help the neighborhood digest the City of Minneapolis' 1,000 page Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) conducted on its proposal for the Roof Depot site. MCEA staff also helped residents submit public comments on the City's plan, while EPNI representatives provided details about its alternative urban farm and community center vision for the site.
This event has already occurred. Click above to watch a recording of the Saturday, February 27th session.
As a neighborhood that is 83% Black, Indigenous, and people of color, the East Phillips community would be expected to bear the brunt of the impact for the “greater good,” which is an unacceptable trade-off. Racism has recently been declared a public health emergency in Minneapolis.
- Letter from Erin Niehoff in MinnPost, joined and signed by MCEA
Key Timeline Events
March 2022
Mayor Frey Vetoes City Council
One day after the City Council voted to explore community development of the Roof Depot site, Mayor Jacob Frey exercised his veto power to stymie the Council's decision. Mayor Frey explained he would allow community development to proceed if certain preconditions are met. Community leaders respond by requesting a sit down with the Mayor to find common ground to facilitate a community-led development of the disputed site.
March 2022
New-Look City Council Again Votes to Suspend Hiawatha Expansion
The newly elected City Council voted 8-5 to again suspend the Hiawatha Expansion to allow further study for conveying the land for community development. The approved measure tasks the City to explore options for developing the property in partnership with community stakeholders, and sets a June 30, 2022 deadline for formal proposals to be submitted.
September 2021
Minneapolis City Council Flip Flops and Resumes Modified Expansion Project
In a surprise 7-6 vote, the Minneapolis City Council reversed course and elected to proceed with a slimmed down version of the Hiawatha Campus Expansion. Rather than develop the entire site, the Council voted to set aside 3 acres for community development and to initiate an engagement plan with community stakeholders including the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute.
August 2021
City of Minneapolis POGO Committee suspends Hiawatha Expansion
In a 7-6 vote, the Minneapolis City Council partially approved a staff directive led by Cano, Jenkins, Gordan, and Johnson to "suspend all aspects of the City of Minneapolis' proposed Hiawatha Campus Expansion." The motion included a section to grant EPNI exclusive development rights to the 7.5 acre site, but that section failed on a 6-6-1 vote. In a separate vote, the City Council approved the EAW by a 12-1 vote. The Council will finalize the Staff Directive on September 9th.
August 5, 2021
City Council Discusses the Future of the Roof Depot Site
Today, the City Council debated the future of the Roof Depot site, with council members, Cano, Jenkins, Gordon, and Johnson voicing support for the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute-led vision that will add value - and not more pollution - to the East Phillips Neighborhood. The full council debated the financial implications of moving the municipal development elsewhere, and deferred any further action on the development to the Council's Policy & Government Oversight Committee, who will pick-up the debate at its August 18, 2021 meeting.
August 1, 2021
East Phillips Neighborhood Institute rally to call for environmental justice
Residents and activists gather at Longfellow & 28th St. to demand the City make meaningful progress on environmental injustice and stop the development of the Hiawatha Campus Expansion Project in favor of a community-led vision.
Summer 2021
Support for Community-Led Development Continues to Grow
The East Phillips Neighborhood Institute obtains additional key support from state lawmakers Omah Fateh, Patricia Torres-Ray, and Hodan Hassan. The neighborhood group has also been working with the University of Minnesota Law School to develop a business model to facilitate community ownership in the proposed development.
May 7, 2021
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar declares support for East Phillips Urban Farm concept
In a letter sent to the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar declares support for the community's group's urban farm concept for the Roof Depot site. The City-owned site is currently slated to be developed into a large public works maintenance facility and three-story parking garage, though the City recently put that plan on hold until August 5. If implemented in its place, EPNI's vision, which includes an urban farm, coffee shop, market and affordable housing, would help "address many of the core issues of injustice present" in the majority BIPOC and financially disadvantaged neighborhood, Omar wrote in the letter, which was posted on EPNI's Facebook page.
May 4, 2021
Minneapolis City Council postpones EAW vote until August
The Minneapolis City Council postponed the vote on the Environmental Assessment Worksheet conducted on the City's staff-led public works Hiawatha Expansion project proposed for the Roof Depot site in East Phillips until August. The delay is in alignment with the City's earlier vote to temporarily suspend all activity on the project so that city-staff can work with East Phillips residents on the development of an alternative, community-based vision for the Roof Depot site. The delay gives the commmunity more time to bolster support for the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute's innovative and sustainable urban farm and community center proposal.
April 30, 2021
Minneapolis City Council approves suspension of public works project at Roof Depot site
In a major victory for East Phillips' community members, the Minneapolis City Council passed a resolution to suspend work on the City staff-led Hiawatha Expansion project proposed for the neighborhood's Roof Depot site until August 5. The resolution directs city staff to use that time to research the financial impacts of relocating the project to a more suitable ward, and to simultaneously work with East Phillips residents to develop an alternative, community-based vision for the Roof Depot site.
March 2021
MCEA files response to City of Minneapolis' EAW
MCEA staff filed a roughly 200 page response to the City's EAW. The response points out the EAW's failure to address key environmental effects, climate change and the impacts its proposal would have on existing pollution in East Phillips. It also highlights the city's failure to consider the environmental racism East Phillips has endured for decades.
February 2021
Minneapolis completes Environmental Assessment Worksheet on proposal
The City of Minneapolis published its Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) on its public works consolidation plans for the Roof Depot site. MCEA staff, alongside other experts, carefully reviewed the 1,000 page document to prepare a response.
2020
Environmental review proposed after site cleanup completed
City of Minneapolis completes environmental remediation work on the former Roof Depot site. City engages a consultant to prepare the Environmental Assessment Worksheet.
1968
Arsenic liquid spilled on site
A storage tank containing liquid sodium arsenite ruptures at the CMC Site, releasing approximately 3,000 gallons of liquid sodium arsenite onto an area of approximately 1,000 square meters.
2019
Residential cleanup completed
U.S. EPA proposes a “partial deletion” of the residential cleanup Superfund site after completing remediation activities.
2017-2018
City adopts master plan for Roof Depot site
City completes project design and holds community meetings. The community urges the City to adopt a plan that allows for non-municipal use, but the adopted master plan does not provide this opportunity.
2016
Roof Depot site purchased by City of Minneapolis
The City acquires the Roof Depot site for $6.8 million, with the main goal to “relocate water distribution employees and operations to one central site.”
2015
Hiawatha Campus proposed, opposition grows
The City of Minneapolis begins negotiating with the owner of the Roof Depot with the eventual plan of relocating part of its public works department to the site. Around this time, community opposition grows. Neighborhood groups, such as the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute, seek to use the Roof Depot site for developing economic opportunities for the community. Visions include an indoor farm and a bicycle shop.
2008
Environmental justice legislation passes
Rep. Karen Clark proposes and the Minnesota Legislature passes a law requiring cumulative and past pollution be analyzed in the vicinity of the CMC Site before the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency can issue a permit.
2006
Residential contamination becomes Superfund site
US Environmental Protection Agency proposes the residential area surrounding the CMC site as a federal Superfund National Priority List site and dozens of yards are cleaned up in the surrounding area between 2008 and 2018.
2005
CMC site redeveloped
Hiawatha Business Center is built on the CMC site after cleanup is completed.
Early 2000's
Residential contamination uncovered
Testing of residential yards reveals widespread arsenic contamination in East Phillips and surrounding neighborhoods from the CMC site. Subsequent followup testing reveals that dozens of residential yards in East Phillips pose an acute risk to human health.
1996
Cleanup of the CMC site by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency begins
1994
Site contamination uncovered by road construction
The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) discovered the arsenic contamination at the CMC Site in 1994 when investigating the Hiawatha Avenue corridor for reconstruction.
1930’s to 1962
Insecticide factory pollutes surrounding neighborhoods with arsenic
Open air conveyor belts used to offload arsenic powder allow arsenic dust to be blown off-site into the surrounding neighborhood. The site is operated by a number of companies throughout the years, and becomes known as the CMC Heartland site.
