Smith Foundry in south Minneapolis is now a silent sentinel, closed for good. 

“This is very significant,” declares Dean Dovolis, chair of the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute. “A major change for the future of the neighborhood and a major opportunity for the residents to have really clean air.”

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency released a statement Thursday, saying in part: 

“The company informed the MPCA that they will cease any manufacturing and production operations at the end of today.”

“Oh, it’s huge,” says Joan Vanhala, who’s lived in the area for 40 years. 

She’s among those who’ve voiced concerns over particulate pollution, asthma and cardiovascular disease issues.
    
“Our bodies have been filtering the pollution of this facility in this community for 100 years,” Vanhala notes. “To open your windows in summer and not smell that smell and have fresh air is pretty amazing.”

The closure follows a settlement in June with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The company agreed to discontinue pouring and melting operations by mid-2025 after an unannounced EPA inspection in May 2023 found the foundry failed to operate its pollution control equipment and didn’t maintain required records.

The EPA says particulate emission levels were more than twice the amounts permitted by state regulators.

The Smith Foundry closing follows the shutdown last year of Bituminous Roadways’ asphalt plant next door.

“It’s not the smoke you can see, it’s the smoke and dust you cannot see that’s the biggest threat,” Dovolis explains. “These two industries we have here were very heavy in particulate matter.”  

The MPCA says under the EPA agreement, foundry operators were required to obtain a new state air quality permit.

State regulators say in July the company told them it was shutting down operations, rather than providing information needed for that permit.

RELATED: Smith Foundry to shut down after not obtaining new air permit from MPCA

Outside the foundry, Dennis, who has worked there for 37 years, says he found out about the shutdown plan in late July.

“I don’t know what to say, it is what it is,” he told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. “They said we had one more year. They signed an agreement with MPCA for one more year.”

Dennis says he is planning to retire.

The company isn’t saying if there are plans to provide severance or other services to its 50 employees.

“It is a huge loss in a way for these workers, obviously to lose your job, that is incredibly impactful,” says Luke Gannon, with the East Phillips Improvement Coalition. “We’ve tried initiating a conversation, seeing if Smith will pay out a severance package. So, my heart goes out to the workers. At the same time, this foundry has been polluting this neighborhood for over 100 years.”

But Desiree Dantona — who takes her son Milo to the Circulo de Amigos Child Care Center — says she’s breathing a sigh of relief.

Dantona says the four-year-old has reactive airway disease, a precursor to asthma, and that they’ve had to visit the emergency room twice because he’s had difficulty getting enough air. 

“I was dropping my kiddo off every morning and a lot of mornings, smelling really terrible fumes,” she says. “I can’t say why my kiddo has breathing issues, but I can definitely tell you that being across from a metal foundry doesn’t help and it exacerbates the problem and can make him sicker than he needs to be.”

A Smith Foundry spokesperson declined to comment Thursday.

In July, the company issued a release that said the MPCA’s air permitting process forced the furnace to close sooner than expected and they were left with no other choice than to shut down the foundry.

At the time, Smith Foundry said the facility will be used for limited administrative use and ‘other non-operational functions necessary for the wind-up of the business.’

What will happen long-term to the foundry building and the property it sits on remains unclear.

Those living nearby say they have hope for the future of the neighborhood.

“Little Earth and residents here are so relieved that tomorrow will be the first day in over 100 years that we will be able to breathe cleaner air,” Gannon says. “That is just a huge sigh of relief.”