Permit revocation looms for St. Paul iron plant

Minnesota regulators say they’ve taken the first steps to revoke the operating permit for a St. Paul iron foundry.

In a statement Wednesday, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said Northern Iron has not submitted enough information on its operations and emissions.

“We started this process because Northern Iron has repeatedly failed to provide us with information required under state law necessary to write a permit for the company that protects human health and the environment,” regulators wrote in the statement.

The MPCA said revoking a permit is a rare step.

It’s the latest development in a lengthy legal dispute between the MPCA and the foundry in St. Paul’s Payne-Phalen neighborhood, owned by Lawton Standard Co. It started in 2023, when regulators said the foundry replaced and re