Current Priorities
We helped protect our communities from toxic trichloroethylene.
Early in 2019, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) discovered a manufacturer in White Bear Township had been releasing trichloroethylene (TCE) into the air at unsafe levels for a decade.
Often used as a degreaser for metal, TCE is an industrial solvent known to cause cancer and birth defects. It has been effectively banned in the European Union and Sweden, and in 2023 the EPA determined that it “presents an unreasonable risk of injury to human health,” but it is still widely used in the United States.
In May, 2020 Minnesota became the first state in the nation to phase out the use of the harmful carcinogen trichloroethylene.
The MPCA stopped the manufacturer, Water Gremlin, from continuing to use TCE. Water Gremlin was also made to pay $4.5 million in civil penalties plus $2.5 million in mandated air monitoring equipment and environmental projects. However, there were 80 other manufacturers around the state still using the solvent, creating concerns that other communities could be at similar risk.
For over a year, Conservation Minnesota worked with citizens, legislators, agency representatives, and other environmental organizations to phase out the use of this dangerous chemical in Minnesota. The ban went into full effect in 2023 and was implemented ahead of schedule in 2022, marking an important step forward for public health in Minnesota.
Citizens and legislators worked relentlessly to pass this bill and help reduce the health risks of toxic chemicals.
