Northern Iron to permanently close St. Paul foundry after years of environmental disputes

Northern Iron will close down its operations in St. Paul by the end of the year. The closure follows years of escalating conflict between the foundry, regulators and neighbors. Photo: Becca Gilbuena

After years of legal battles, regulatory scrutiny and persistent community organizing, Northern Iron announced Thursday that it will permanently close its foundry on St. Paul's East Side, ending decades of manufacturing operations that became the center of an environmental justice fight.

The company said it will begin an orderly wind-down of its Payne-Phalen facility, with the last mold scheduled to be poured Sept. 30, foundry production ending Oct. 1, machining and shipping concluding Nov. 27 and the facility permanently closing Dec. 31.

The announcement marks a major victory for residents who have spent years demanding greater oversight of the foundry, arguing emissions from the facility harmed the surrounding neighborhood. It also comes just days after a packed Ramsey County court hearing in the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's effort to revoke Northern Iron's air permit over allegations the company failed to provide required information and submitted misleading information during the permitting process.

"This is a huge relief for the East Side community," said Vivian Tran, executive director of the Payne-Phalen Community Council. "This result is due to the community organizing for years educating, advocating, and showing up to hearings around Northern Iron. We hope as operations wind down, there will be a just transition for the workers."

The foundry, located near homes, schools and businesses in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood, melts up to 30 tons of metal daily to produce iron castings and machined parts. Residents have long complained about metallic soot settling on homes, concerns about lead contamination and particulate pollution, and what they described as unusually high rates of asthma and skin irritation in the neighborhood.

A class-action lawsuit filed last year alleges pollution from the facility contaminated nearby properties. That litigation is ongoing.

"I'm shaking with joy," said Brittney Bruce, who lives next to the foundry and is among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. "No one deserves to be polluted in this way."

Neighbor Misty Nolan said she cried after hearing the news.

"Knowing that my family, friends, neighbors, and the local schools and childcare facilities are going to have safe air makes me so happy," Nolan said.

Sarah Degner-Riveros, whose property tested high for lead, said the closure allows the neighborhood to begin focusing on cleanup.

"Now we can breathe clean air and begin to remediate the soil in our backyards," she said.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency called the closure an unusual outcome after what it described as years of attempts to bring the company into compliance.

"The MPCA gave Northern Iron multiple opportunities to submit required information for its permit, and we exercised every authority we had to compel the company to submit necessary information," the agency said in a statement. "Northern Iron's choices led to costly litigation and the rare regulatory action to revoke the company's permit."

The agency said permit revocation based on a company's failure to provide information necessary to protect neighboring communities is rare and pledged to support those affected by the closure while maintaining a consistent regulatory process.

Northern Iron, however, said the closure stems from prolonged permitting uncertainty despite investing millions of dollars in environmental improvements.

"We are deeply disappointed that, despite years of investment, collaboration, and good-faith efforts to address environmental and permitting concerns, we were unable to reach a path forward that would allow Northern Iron to continue operating," company spokesperson Tierney Grutza said in a statement.

Community members pushed the MPCA to strengthen oversight after learning Northern Iron had operated equipment for years without required permits. The dispute expanded beyond emissions to questions about environmental review, language access and whether East Side residents, many of whom speak Hmong, Spanish or Karen, were receiving meaningful opportunities to participate in the permitting process. Earlier this year, environmental justice advocates won an agreement requiring broader multilingual outreach as the permitting process continued.

In April 2025, the MPCA issued what it called a final deadline for Northern Iron to provide technical information related to emissions and building capture. When the agency concluded the company still had not provided sufficient information, it initiated the rare process of seeking to revoke the facility's air permit. 

The permit revocation case had been scheduled to continue later this year before Thursday's announcement.

The closure leaves open questions about the future of the industrial site and what environmental remediation may be required before it can be redeveloped. For many residents, however, Thursday's announcement represented the culmination of years of organizing in pursuit of cleaner air on St. Paul's East Side.