By Shereen Siewert
3M allegedly violated multiple air pollution regulations at its Wausau facilities and is at the center of an ongoing enforcement action referred to the Wisconsin Dept. of Justice, according to public records.
The company has had a history of past air pollution violations and has been the subject of statewide criticism and scrutiny, heightened by the facility’s location in a densely populated residential neighborhood. In addition to the DOJ, the most recent alleged violations involve the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources and the Environmental Protection Agency.
David Hon, environmental enforcement specialist with the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources, said in an email to Wausau Pilot & Review that an onsite inspection was conducted by the department that identified areas of noncompliance.
“(The) DNR follows a stepped enforcement process to address compliance,” Hon said. “The appropriate level of enforcement is determined based on several factors including the significance of the compliance issue. In addition, when high priority violations under the Clean Air Act are documented, it is considered for a referral to the Wisconsin Department of Justice. High priority violations are significant violations of a federally enforceable regulations by major and synthetic minor sources.”
News of the alleged violations struck a nerve with area residents as well as the grassroots environmental group Citizens for a Clean Wausau who have long opposed the company’s plans to expand its footprint in the Thomas Street neighborhood.
“These new alleged violations of multiple federal environmental statutes underscore that the City of Wausau cannot credibly posture as an advocate for its community’s environment and health while continuing to seriously consider the expansion of a major polluter in a residential area, as it is doing with 3M and 1300 Cleveland Avenue,” CCW said, in a prepared statement to Wausau Pilot & Review.
Concerns reach beyond the River Street neighborhood in which the company is doing business. Rita Pachal, who lives on Wausau’s northeast side directly across from the 3M mine on the west side of the Wisconsin River, is openly questioning whether the black fungus and fine gray dust buildup she sees on windows and window casings are connected to 3M. Earlier this month, she submitted an open records request to the DNR regarding 3M Greystone mining, asking the DNR to publicly release information about the alleged high priority violations rather than keeping them under wraps.
Hon told Wausau Pilot & Review the DNR is not in a position to publicly discuss the alleged violations.
Seven violations alleged by DNR
In November 2021, the DNR sent 3M officials a notice alleging seven violations documented during a full compliance evaluation one month prior at 144 Rosecrans St. in Wausau.
In an email to Wausau Pilot & Review, 3M officials confirmed the alleged violations related to air permit monitoring and reporting requirements. Specifically, the notice cited a failure to test for fugitive emissions, failure to report permit requirement deviations, failure to report specified pressure drops in its semiannual monitoring report, failure to update and carry out a malfunction prevention and abatement plan, failure to calibrate controls yearly, failure to keep and maintain records of stack technical drawings and a failure to meet cooler water flowrate as required.
For the next 15 months, 3M worked with the DNR to address each violation, submitting the final corrective action to the agency on March 1, company officials said.
A spokeswoman from 3M said the company has submitted necessary reports, revised some reports to include any missing components, completed emissions equipment sampling and testing and systematically reviewed and revised the air permit malfunction prevention and abatement plan to reflect current operations to ensure future compliance.
The enforcement case associated with the Notice of Violation was referred to the DOJ by the DNR in January.
The specific allegations involved in the DOJ investigation appear connected to a June 2021 hotline call from a confidential informant. According to state documents, a Dept. of Natural Resources Special Investigative Warden responded June 2, 2021 after a tip regarding a potential air release violation. The investigator notified air staff about the complaint for follow-up.
DOJ Communications Director Gillian Drummond, in an email to Wausau Pilot & Review, said it is department practice “not to comment on the status of referrals.”
Meanwhile, 3M officials say they are awaiting the DOJ’s review of the case.
“Based on our repeated follow-up with the WDOJ throughout the past year, we understand there is a backlog causing a delay, and we hope to resolve the NOV with the WDOJ and WDNR in the coming year,” 3M wrote, in an email.
EPA alleges Clean Air Act violations
In addition to state action, federal data shows high priority violations of the Clean Air Act alleged at both Wausau facilities, 144 Rosecrans St. and 4099 N. Fourth Ave. Both facilities show multiple quarters of either noncompliance or significant violations of the Act out of the last 12 quarters of monitoring, while the Rosecrans Street site is associated with an EPA Formal Enforcement Action dated Oct. 26.
The Clean Air Act is a comprehensive federal law that gives the EPA authority to regulate air pollutants and polluting industries. Federal legislation to address air quality dates back to 1955, but the Clean Air Act as we know it largely comes from bipartisan amendments enacted in 1970, 1977, and 1990. The law has been instrumental in dramatically reducing the country’s air pollution over the past few decades, according to the National Air Defense Council.
The EPA’s enforcement action cites a potential violation by 3M of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA, which provides federal regulation of pesticide distribution, sale and use.
A letter from the EPA to 3M states the agency had reason to believe the company “committed an unlawful act…by distributing or selling a misbranded pesticide.” The EPA references a July 2019 inspection by the Wisconsin Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and a subsequent request for copies of labels affixed to 3M’s copper granules, which allegedly fail to identify the name and address of the producer or person for whom the product was produced.
The company had 30 days to comply with corrective actions after receiving the notice and no additional action was taken.
3M to discontinue PFAS manufacturing
Company officials at 3M on Tuesday announced an effort to end per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) manufacturing and work to discontinue the use of PFAS across its product portfolio by the end of 2025. In a news release, 3M said the decision is “based on careful consideration and a thorough evaluation of the evolving external landscape, including multiple factors such as accelerating regulatory trends focused on reducing or eliminating the presence of PFAS in the environment and changing stakeholder expectations.”
But environmental advocates say that decision is long overdue.
“After telling everyone – their neighbors, their workers, and their regulators – that PFAS are safe while poisoning the entire planet, 3M is now pledging to slink out the back door with no accountability, said Scott Faber, senior vice president of government affairs at the Environmental Working Group. “3M has known for more than 50 years that PFAS chemicals were toxic…this is far too late for all the people 3M knowingly poisoned with PFAS.”
As early as the 1950s, 3M’s own studies showed that PFAS chemicals built up in blood, and by the 1960s, 3M’s own animal studies showed the potential for harm. Yet 3M continued to produce PFAS chemicals without notifying its employees of the risks, EWG officials said.
3M chairman and chief executive officer Mike Roman said this is a “moment that demands the kind of innovation 3M is known for.
“While PFAS can be safely made and used, we also see an opportunity to lead in a rapidly evolving external regulatory and business landscape to make the greatest impact for those we serve,” Roman said, in an official statement. “This action is another example of how we are positioning 3M for continued sustainable growth by optimizing our portfolio, innovating for our customers, and delivering long-term value for our shareholders.”
Expansion efforts draw pushback
In Wausau, 3M faced overwhelming opposition from neighborhood residents and some city council members when seeking to purchase city-owned property to expand operations.
3M is one of two companies seeking a portion of the property at 1300 Cleveland Avenue, which is undergoing state-mandated environmental testing. Once remediation is complete, the city will decide the land’s ultimate use.
In 2019, Wausau Public Works Director Eric Lindman said 3M sought to buy about “25% to 30%” of 1300 Cleveland Ave., while the Department of Public Works has also contemplated expanding their operations on the property.
The roughly 7-acre parcel, once operated by a business suspected of dumping hazardous waste into the environment, is surrounded largely by residential homes. Tests unearthed potentially cancer-causing contaminants at as much as four times the industrial standard in some areas.
Some Wausau residents say expanding any industrial efforts in the neighborhood could cause serious environmental problems in an area already plagued with contamination on multiple fronts.
Kaul mum on enforcement action
Environmental advocates are calling on Attorney General Josh Kaul to take action in the latest DOJ case involving 3M, pointing to campaign statements he made that criticized how his predecessor handled pollution complaints.
Under former AG Brad Schimel, 3M resolved its 2016 pollution case by agreeing to spend roughly $665,000 on improvements to pollution control equipment in Wausau, where crushed rock is screened and colored for use in roofing material. Microscopic particles created in the process are subject to pollution control laws because they are connected to serious health problems when inhaled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the 2016 case, DNR inspectors found air pollution control equipment failed repeatedly in both 2014 and 2015. Unlike the most recent violation, which was reported within a day of the incident, the company then failed to report the breakdowns promptly and did not maintain records used to determine if equipment was being properly maintained, DNR air management engineer Jessica Kramer and DNR enforcement specialist Ashley Gray said in a 2015 memorandum recommending referring the case to the Justice Department.
The November 2016 settlement between the DOJ and 3M was the first time in decades in which a Wisconsin attorney general took a polluter to court without winning a penalty.
Critics say settling major pollution cases without a fine fails to send a strong message to businesses and does nothing to deter future violations. A Wisconsin State Journal story published in the wake of the settlement quotes George Meyer, who led the DNR enforcement division before serving as secretary from 1992 to 2001, as saying the action did not provide “effective deterrence for the companies that want to cut corners on pollution controls.”
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which first reported on the settlement, quoted Tom Dawson, who supervised the Justice Department environment unit from 2003 until he retired last year, saying he and others pushed for a fine between $100,000 and $1 million, but Schimel’s chief of staff directed them to require only the supplemental environmental project.
Citizens for Clean Wausau is asking Kaul now to hold 3M accountable and live up to his past criticism about the lack of 3M fines in Wausau.
Kaul’s office did not address questions from Wausau Pilot & Review about his intentions.
CCW is also criticizing Wausau officials who they say suffer credibility problems.
“Consider the Riverside Park contamination debacle which took years of CCW’s sparring with the City government to have the park remediated,” CCW said, in a statement to Wausau Pilot & Review. “And now the City is actually entertaining 3M expansion in a mainly residential area, even after continued serious environmental violations, which makes the City’s ‘sustainability’ rhetoric and positioning look like nothing more than superficial gaslighting, as they did under the last two administrations.”
