The state has been ordered to meet deadlines on whether to require further environmental review and grant a permit amendment for the Northern Metal Recycling metal shredder in Minneapolis
Ramsey County District Judge Elena L. Ostby on Monday ordered the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to decide whether the shredder needs further environmental review by March 27. It must decide whether to amend the shredder's permit within 90 days of the end of any additional study.
Ostby issued a rare writ mandating those deadlines at the request of Northern Metal, which owns a shredder at 2800 N. Pacific St. It was issued without counter-argument from the state, which didn't attend a hearing. State officials couldn't offer an explanation for that on Friday.
Northern Metal Recycling wants to raise selected pollution limits, loosen restrictions on what goes into the shredder, and reduce the frequency of pollution testing at its scrap recycling yard near the west end of the Lowry Avenue Bridge.
The shredder began operating in 2009 after a lengthy court and political battle over its potential impacts. The company sought the revised permit after it couldn't meet limits in its original permit granted in 1998.
It applied for the permit two years ago and submitted one set of environmental studies later that year. It announced a 30-day comment period on them last November, but since then has extended that period and scheduled and scratched two public meetings on the proposal.
Ostby sided with arguments by attorney Jack Perry, representing the firm, that the agency extended timelines for the permit and environmental decision outside the scope of its authority. Court papers indicate that the agency was planning to lower a key pollution limit below what it originally proposed.
