"Twin Cities industrial area has become a major environmental risk, state says," By Bob von Stemberg, Star Tribune, January 9, 1992 excerpt - . . . The area's general boundaries are Hwy. 280 on the east, E. Hennepin Av. on the north, Malcolm Av. SE. and Kasota Av. on the west and University Av. on the south. It straddles Minneapolis and St. Paul. The neighborhoods nearest to the site are Prospect Park, Marcy-Holmes and Como, all in Minneapolis. "The larger picture of this whole area is kind of alarming," said MPCA spokeswoman Katherine Carlson. "It's sort of rare for so many different problems to be in one area, so we wanted to start getting the information out to the people who are concerned about it." In addition, some of the land is being redeveloped, meaning it's possible that even more problems could surface and wind up in the laps of new landowners, she said. Because most of the areas are inaccessible to the public, agency officials don't believe they pose a risk to public health. "The health risks aren't a big deal here because people aren't there, drinking the water," Carlson said. "It's the environmental risks we're worried about." For example, fish and ducks died last year at Bridal Veil Pond on the site after being exposed to a wood preservative and other chemicals that apparently leaked from the site of an old wood-treating plant after the creek feeding the pond was dredged. Three of the 15 sites in the area are on the state's "superfund" list, where officials have determined that toxic chemicals and other hazardous wastes pose a real or potential threat to public health and the environment. There are 179 such sites statewide. Others from the two industrial parks will probably be added, Carlson said. . . . The full article can be found in the ProQuest newspaper database on the Hennepin County Library website. |
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