Neighbors near Water Gremlin have one more day to weigh in on plant's new air permit
WHITE BEAR TOWNSHIP, Minn. -- Neighbors have one more day to weigh in on new rules for a company at the center of a WCCO Investigation.
The state fined Water Gremlin in 2019 for emitting illegal and unsafe levels of a cancer-causing chemical into the air. This spring, the Minnesota Department of Health said those chemicals may have hurt the health of families in White Bear Township.
The community surrounding Water Gremlin has been invested in holding the manufacturing plant accountable since learning about the egregious pollution violations three and-a-half years ago.
"There are people deeply concerned about what Water Gremlin has done to our community," Neighborhood Concerned Citizens co-founder Leigh Thiel said.
They showed up to a recent meeting to learn more about the major amendment to its air permit. Some worry Water Gremlin's actions impacted their health.
"They want to make sure we're protected moving forward," Thiel said.
Carolina Shutt, of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, wrote the new 600-plus page permit.
"More emission limits, more emissions regulated and more stringent compliance and requirements," Shutt said.
She says they had the community in mind when drafting it.
"The concern was to make sure that given the known risk that we know of at the facility that we address them," Shutt said.
Water Gremlin hasn't engaged with the community during this process. As part of the new permit, the plant would have to hold yearly meetings with the community. It's the first time MPCA put that as a condition in a permit.
"This whole thing is about trust and the community has no reason to trust Water Gremlin," Theil said. "It would be great to hear from them what they're doing, and to hear from us, we care, we have a stake in their operations and we want to see them do better."
In a letter to the community, Water Gremlin said in part it's "been working diligently to earn back the community's trust and are fully committed to providing a safe and healthy environment.
MPCA says community comments do have the ability to change the draft permit. You can submit your thoughts here.
