Minnesota state Senator Roger Chamberlain (R-Lino Lakes) on Monday continued his effort to bar companies from using the toxic and dangerous chemical trichloroethylene (TCE) during their manufacturing processes. The Minnesota Senate Environment and Natural Resources Policy Committee approved Sen. Chamberlain’s bill, Senate File 2997, which compels companies to stop using TCE and switch to safer alternatives. The bill will be heard next in the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Finance Committee.
The legislation is part of Sen. Chamberlain’s ongoing response to an investigation that found Water Gremlin, a manufacturer of fishing sinkers and battery terminals in White Bear Township, failed to report accurate TCE emissions data for more than 15 years and exposed surrounding neighborhoods to dangerous levels of the chemical.
“We understand that chemicals are an important part of the manufacturing process for many companies, but if there are less-toxic alternatives that will do the job then we have a responsibility to the public to switch to those safer options,” said Sen. Chamberlain. “In the case of TCE, we know there are safer alternatives. Let’s use them.”
The bipartisan bill was negotiated in good faith by all stakeholders, including the MPCA, White Bear Area Neighborhood Concerned Citizens Group, Republicans and Democrats from the House and Senate, as well as the local chamber of commerce.
Under Sen. Chamberlain’s bill, the Pollution Control Agency would send a notice to all permitted TCE users explaining the new restrictions. Those permit holders would have 90 days upon receipt of that notice to inform the Pollution Control Agency whether or not they still use TCE and then perform a feasibility study about switching to an alternative chemical. Finally, those facilities would have until June 1, 2022 to switch to an alternative or apply for an exemption to continue using TCE, if applicable.
The MPCA is empowered to grant exemptions in limited circumstances, including:
- For facilities that use TCE in a closed system and thus there are no emissions
- For facilities that are holding products containing TCE for distribution to a 3rd party
- For hospitals or academic facilities
- For research and development or other laboratory or experimental purposes
- For facilities that use TCE in waste disposal
Companies who do not submit a feasibility study could be shut down by the MPCA.
According to the MPCA, there are 86 facilities in Minnesota that have been found to use or generate TCE. Of those, 26 use TCE in their industrial processes. The remaining 60 generate TCE emissions as a byproduct of a manufacturing process or from a landfill. In addition to the 86 existing TCE users, the MPCA is also in the process of testing another 24 other facilities for TCE emissions.
Since last May, facilities have removed more than 174,000 pounds of TCE emissions from their processes, more than 80% of which was a result of compliance actions taken against Water Gremlin.
Last session, the Senate voted unanimously to address the Water Gremlin situation by creating a TCE Emission Response Account that would manage the proceeds of the settlement and provide public protections, transparency, and accountability. That House of Representatives has not acted on that bill.