Anoka ammunition company emitting elevated levels of lead

A century-old ammunition plant in Anoka is the latest Minnesota company found to have emitted high levels of lead into the air, exceeding air quality standards and violating state and federal pollution regulations.

Earlier this month, the EPA announced a settlement with Federal Cartridge Co., which must pay nearly $350,000 in fines after the federal agency found the plant to be polluting the air with unsafe levels of lead.

To comply with the settlement, Federal Cartridge has also upgraded its facility with three new lead-controlling baghouses featuring high efficiency air filtration systems. The company, which manufactures ammunition, must also put in place what’s called scavenger hooding in areas where lead is processed to direct the emissions to those new filtration systems, as well as a plan to manage lead dust and monitor the air quality in and around the facility. 

“The U.S. EPA’s settlement agreement with Federal Ammunition, in part due to findings from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), is an important step in ensuring Anoka residents breathe clean air,” MPCA spokeswoman Jenn Hathaway said in a statement. “The MPCA is committed to protecting the health and wellness of nearby residents and will continue to work with the EPA to oversee the company’s action to meet terms of the settlement agreement and lower its emissions.”

The settlement with the ammunition company comes as Northern Iron, a metal foundry in St. Paul cited by MPCA for emitting high levels of lead particulate matter into the air, is in the midst of mandated improvements of its own, after violating state and federal air quality standards. 

After the removal of lead from gasoline decades ago, typical cases of lead exposure in Minnesota result from chipping paint in old homes, which would turn to dust and is then inhaled or ingested, mainly by children, said Stephanie Yendell, senior epidemiology supervisor with the Minnesota Department of Health’s lead poisoning prevention program. But in Federal’s case, the installation of an ambient air monitor by the MPCA at the plant found emissions of lead at levels above the state standard of 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter. 

“The concern there was that because there was higher levels of lead in the air, that people could breathe that in, or that the lead could settle out into the surrounding areas, like into soil, and then that becomes a concern for things like gardening, and so it’s a slightly different situation than what we would see technically around Minnesota,” Yendell said. 

Lead, which affects how much oxygen gets to the blood, can have adverse effects on the nervous system, immune system and kidney function, as well as on the developmental, reproductive and cardiovascular systems. It can also cause neurological issues in children, which could cause learning deficits and behavioral problems.

Last year, state and county health officials urged employees of the plant to have their children tested after the officials found four children of plant employees with elevated levels of lead in their blood, citing exposure to lead dust that may have been brought home via clothing or personal items. Through routine testing, the first child was found to have elevated lead levels in November 2021, with subsequent cases appearing about a year later in late 2022 and late 2023, leading local health officials to determine there may be ongoing exposure.

Yendell said MDH and MPCA held public meetings earlier this year in the neighborhood surrounding the Federal Cartridge facility, where officials offered blood lead testing and testing of soil samples. MDH officials tested 116 people and had a few unconfirmed tests above the threshold for lead in blood, but they did not see a confirmed disproportionate increase in blood lead levels, which Yendell called a relief.

“I think it’s an example of the challenges we face with persistent pollution,” said DFL Rep. Rick Hansen of South St. Paul, chair of the House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee. Hansen lauded the settlement but called the situation an example of the challenges state officials and lawmakers face with more and more offenders.

“Lead is used in a number of things like fishing line sinkers or ammunition where there have been efforts for regulation that have not been successful, but now we’re seeing the consequences, and not only to communities, but to the workers,” Hansen said. “It’s part of a persistent pattern with some of these compounds.”

Hansen said while the state is spending millions to replace old lead pipes, as well as doing some monitoring of air quality, more should be done on the monitoring side, including with water quality and soil remediation.

“The more you look, the more there is potential to find it. If you don’t know it’s there, then people are unable to take precautions,” Hansen said. “We’re spending money on prevention and replacement of lead service lines, but here we have these exposures that are not the result of a physical structure but production.”

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