Environmental advocates celebrate closure of iron foundry

Community members at Cedar Field Park stopped at environmentalist tables and participated in t-shirt printing at a celebration on Friday, August 16, 2024.

Dozens gathered at Cedar Field Park in Minneapolis to celebrate with music, games, food, and activities a day after Smith Foundry permanently closed its operations.

Smith Foundry, which manufactured iron castings for 90 years at its East Phillips location, officially closed on August 15. The decision came after a year of investigations that uncovered violations of pollution control laws. Local environmental advocacy groups such as the Climate Justice Committee and others began mobilizing to shut the company down. In March, advocates organized a petition of 500 signatures and delivered it to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and continued to advocate at MPCA meetings. Tracy Molm of the Climate Justice Committee says they made it clear that they weren’t going to give up.

“When we went to one of their events about cumulative impact several months ago, they told us that they think people are apathetic about pollution in their neighborhoods. And we're like, no, it's that you weren't accessible,” says Molm. “We worked really hard to make people visible instead of just individually talking about the pollution, and fighting against pollution in our homes. We made it a collective fight where we're all together in the streets, being visible at protests, and all types of different mobilization methods that would make them see us, instead of just hoping that we'd go away.”

Community members at a celebration of the closure of the Smith Foundry look at a proposed East Phillips Community Plan.

The Smith Foundry was issued an $80,000 fine by the Environmental Protection Agency. That settlement included additional demands the company would need to fulfill in order to remain open. Foundry management ultimately decided it was not worth it to continue.

“It shows what we can do when we come together. We can succeed and apply pressure and make things happen for our community and our children,” said Little Earth resident and land protector Jolene Jones. “The fact that they shut down means our kids can breathe. Maybe we'll have a generation that doesn't have asthma so bad and the air won't stink in the summertime, and we can run around and have fun. But our battle is also not all the way done yet.” 

Jones says while there is relief that the Smith Foundry has closed due to its hazardous effect on the surrounding air quality, there is still concern. She says the next battle is advocating for the city to rezone the area to limit what can be built on the site of the former foundry.