Minneapolis, MN – On March 20, over 30 people rallied across the street from Smith Foundry in East Phillips neighborhood in Minneapolis. A miniature factory replica named Little Smith Foundry stood in front of the “Shutdown Smith Foundry” banner. Community members expressed anger at impact of the foundry’s pollution on the community of East Phillips and Little Earth which is allowed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).

The Climate Justice Committee (CJC) organizers Tracy Molm and Michael Wood gathered the crowd. Little Crow Bellecourt of the Crane Clan and director of Indigenous Protectors Movement, stated, “We’re all about our community, and our native people, and also our neighbors and our allies which is up here.” Then directed his disgust across the street, “Can you hear us out here, Smith Foundry? Goddammit! We’re sick and tired of you over here!”

Adjacent to the foundry is a neighborhood Day Care Center where Allison Lind sends her two-year-old son. Lind stated that her son “has significant respiratory issues.” Lind continued, “Like many of you I’ve frequently called the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and 311 and their response has been frustratingly inadequate.”

Speakers from the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute and other groups talked about the lead emissions from the foundry, and that no lead emissions are safe for humans.

Then Little Earth Protector Director Jolene Jones stated, “We have kids with asthma. We have kids missing school. All of that is going on because of this foundry. The governor can shut this place down with a signature. We need to make sure this happens. 'Cause this about our future! Our children! They’re sick all the time.”

The Climate Justice Committee is committed to continuing this fight and is going to put pressure on the Minnesota governor, who has the power to oversee the MPCA and also support legislation that would end permits that limit oversight on polluters like Smith Foundry.

The CJC will also continue to pressure the MPCA directly and Smith Foundry. Several days before the rally the asphalt manufacturer that is next door to Smith Foundry confirmed that they were shutting down permanently because of increased MPCA regulations. Organizers pointed out that closure of Bituminous Roadways, the asphalt manufacturer, was a direct result of pressure from the community.

#MinneapolisMN #TwinCitiesMN #MN #Environment #MNCJC #SmithFoundry #LittleEarth #OppressedNationalities #IndigenousPeoples #EPNI #MPCA

The petition challenges the MPCA's recent assertion that Smith Foundry's emissions fall within permissible limits. Evan Mulholland, from the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy said, “Not only is this permit wildly out of date, but the bounds of the permit are inadequate if it sets no maximum for lead emissions.”

Mulholland continued, “The MPCA only tested the baghouses, which is only one avenue for pollution to leave the foundry, and what we learned is that it is emitting lead; that’s after it’s all filtered, it’s still emitting lead. On top of the lead, there may be lots of other toxic substances in the fine particulate matter, which haven’t been tested for.”

The community's distrust in the MPCA runs deep. Jolene Jones, a resident of the nearby Little Earth native-preference housing complex, said, “They don't listen to this community. When we said last summer we couldn't breathe, that there were black clouds over Little Earth – nobody listened to us. No one has listened to us for the last 20 years.”

Tania Rivera said, “The Pollution Control Agency has clearly not been holding our best interests at heart – it’s not just me, it’s 80 kids that I take care of, it’s 160 families.” She asked rhetorically, “Why is it always East Phillips?” These stories reveal a broader narrative of systemic disregard for oppressed communities, where industrial operations leave a toxic legacy unchecked by regulatory bodies.

Tracy Molm of the Climate Justice Committee added, “This action transcends the call for the shutdown of a single foundry. It embodies a fight for environmental justice, challenging the systemic inequities that allow such conditions to persist. This press conference is not just a procedural step. It's a rallying cry for change, a demand for accountability, and a testament to the power of community advocacy in the face of environmental neglect.”

#MinneapolisMN #Environment #EnvironmentalJustice #SmithFoundry #MNCJC

The panel speakers included Mira Altobell-Resendez from SDS, Jae Yates from the Twin Cities Coalition 4 Justice 4 Jamar, Steff Yorek from the Climate Justice Committee, and Andrew Josefchak from the Minnesota Anti-War Committee. All four are also members of FRSO and specifically analyzed the Israeli occupation of Palestine with a Marxist-Leninist lens.

The panelists strongly emphasized the Palestinian people’s status as an oppressed nation and their fight as a national liberation struggle. They made clear FRSO’s absolute solidarity with the cause of Palestinian liberation and the importance of participating in that struggle here in the United States, pointing out that the cause of freedom for Palestine is the cause of the international working class.

Altobell-Resendez, speaking as a member of SDS on the role of student organizing in the fight for Palestine stated, “For student organizers, this means looking into our universities’ investments and programming that supports Israel in any way – be it through monetary funding, study abroad programs, partnerships with Israeli universities, or the presence of weapons manufacturers and military branches that recruit from campus – and saying that we will not stand for ethnic cleansing to be carried out using our tuition money. We must refuse to let our education be turned into an instrument of violent settler colonialism.”

SDS is currently part of a coalition with other student groups on campus campaigning to pressure the University of Minnesota into divesting from Israel.

The panelists all made clear that the people of the world stand with Palestine in their struggle against occupation and genocide – from the Gaza Strip to Minneapolis.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #StudentMovement #SDS #UMNSDS #MNAWC #FRSO #TCC4J #MNCJC