Disregarding its June agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Smith Foundry in Minneapolis is closing permanently. Melting and coremaking were due to end on June 26, and the remaining activities will cease “on or before August 15, 2024,” the foundry announced.
“After that date, Smith Foundry will conduct limited administrative and other non-operational functions necessary for the wind-up of the business,” according to a statement.
The 101-year-old foundry has poured gray iron, ductile iron, and austempered ductile iron parts, working with several coremaking lines and two matchplate molding machines, one automatic molding line, and a cope-and-drag molding line, for cast components ranging from ounces up to 250 lbs.
Smith Foundry laid responsibility for its decision on the “most recent unreasonable demands with respect to its air permit and despite the fact the company was operating in compliance with all environmental laws and regulations.”
In its statement, MPCA said its focus is to protect the environment and ensure the health and wellness of all Minnesotans, and we expect all companies in Minnesota to follow our environmental laws. The state agency added that it supported the agreement between the EPA and Smith foundry, “which requires the company to obtain a new air permit from the MPCA.
The agreement with EPA required Smith Foundry to cease moldmaking, melting, and casting by June 3, 2025. It would have continued to offer engineering and finishing services for castings produced at other foundries owned by Zynik Capital.
That agreement resulted from an inspection in May 2023 when EPA alleged Smith Foundry had failed to properly operate its pollution control equipment and maintain required records. EPA also charged the foundry with exceeding particulate-matter emission limits and violating airborne particulate matter rules.
The agreement further required the foundry to ensure its baghouses are properly monitored and operated, including installing continuous pressure drop monitors, recording equipment and a bag leak detection system on the main baghouse for the facility’s finishing operations. And Smith Foundry agreed to pay a penalty of $80,000, and to develop and implement an updated operations and maintenance plan for the continuing operations.
In operation since 1923, Smith Foundry was purchased by Zynik Capital in late 2022. “The MPCA had a chance to make these air permitting demands of the previous owner, Neil Ahlstrom, for decades which would have shut down the foundry a long time ago, but they didn’t,” noted Smith Foundry president Adolfo Quiroga. “And then, when Zynik purchased Smith Foundry, the MPCA approved the transfer of the existing air permit without a single question and without expressing any concerns. They never informed us they had any concerns about the foundry, its operations, or its existence in the neighborhood, which has operated in Minneapolis for over one hundred years.
“They (MPCA) are in essence rejecting our agreement with the EPA,” Quiroga continued. “We are left with no other choice but to shut down the foundry. Unfortunately, our employees and their families will be impacted the most by this closure, which I deeply regret. I wish there was more we could do.”