Residents of St. Paul’s Payne-Phalen neighborhood have filed a class action lawsuit against the owners of the Northern Iron and Machine metal foundry, claiming emissions have lowered their home values, damaged property and left them dealing with soot and dust.

The civil action, filed Monday in Ramsey County District Court, names the Lawton Standard Co. of De Pere, Wis., Northern Iron LLC and Specialty Metals Holdco, LLC as defendants. It was filed on behalf of neighborhood resident Brittney Bruce and others living within a half-mile of the foundry.The suit, which claims three counts of nuisance, negligence, and the trespass of pollutants, dust and soot on residents’ homes, seeks unspecified damages and “equitable relief enjoining defendants from engaging in … wrongful conduct.” The plaintiffs are represented by the law firms of Storms Dworak LLC of Minneapolis and Liddle Sheets, PC of Michigan, which specializes in class action cases involving pollution.

“We’re not asking for the facility to shut down,” said Joe Heegaard, an attorney with Storms Dworak. “We’re trying to figure out the breadth, and scope and the severity of the harm, as well as the total number of class members … so we can make a more concrete request. This is just the initiation of the lawsuit.”

The complaint notes Northern Iron was fined $41,500 in 2023 by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for air quality permit violations. A recent MPCA investigation tested soot collecting on homes near the foundry and found toxic heavy metals such as lead, chromium and manganese, which the suit calls evidence it originated from the Forest Street metal plant.

“We allege Northern Iron has permitted pollutants to invade the homes of St. Paul families for years, despite repeated warnings from environmental regulators,” Heegaard said. “This lawsuit seeks justice for the residents who have suffered property damage due to what we believe amounts to the company’s disregard for its neighbors.”

The lawsuit notes that the Payne-Phalen neighborhood is designated an “environmental justice” area under Minnesota law, as a large percentage of residents are people of color or living in low-income households.

Lawton Standard, which has promoted the foundry as a longstanding community employer, has denied that the foundry’s emissions remain out of step with state standards. The history of the foundry dates back more than a century to 1906, and they maintain that compliance troubles with state permitting — such as out-of-date pollution control equipment and equipment updated without a permit — occurred before Lawton purchased the Forest Street foundry in 2022.

Northern Iron, which produces custom metal parts for clients, employs nearly 80 United Steelworkers, some of whom are second-generation employees, and chief executive officer Alex Lawton expressed interest last year in improving community relations and even expanding operations.

“Northern Iron does not comment on active litigation and will not be providing any comments at this time,” reads a statement forwarded Thursday by a spokesperson for Lawton Standard. The company will have 21 days to file a response to the lawsuit or seek an extension.

Calling some of the company’s PurpleAir testing equipment outdated, the MPCA issued an April 2024 order limiting Northern Iron’s material processing to 10 tons per day, or roughly a third of normal 25- to 30-ton production. That limit held for several months, until a July 2024 decision from Ramsey County District Court Judge Leonardo Castro lifted it after he reviewed the data himself.

The company’s petition to the court, filed in May of last year, calls MPCA pollution modeling assumptions off base and computed on a 24-hour production schedule rather than on actual output. It also said the ordered production limits would likely lead the foundry to be shut down. The company has offered alternative compliance plans, which the MPCA has rejected.

“That has been going back and forth since April of last year,” Heegaard said. “I think the facility and MPCA are working to find some middle ground on that, but it will be subject to the judge’s orders.”

Last July, state lawmakers representing the East Side of St. Paul expressed concern with the Castro decision and called for a return to the 10-ton processing limit.