In the Media

After polluting on the North Minneapolis riverfront for years, Northern Metals was given a second chance to build a new facility in Becker. However, before that facility was even fully open, a large pile of cars caught fire and burned for five days. FMR River Corridor Director Colleen O'Connor Toberman spoke to KSTP-TV about Northern Metals' history of violations and community harm.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency will host a meeting on Ford Area C to give a more detailed overview of its history, its current condition and future options. Executive Director Whitney Clark is quoted calling for more thorough investigation of the site's effect on the river and community health.

FMR Water Program Director Trevor Russell helps answer a listener's question about the Mississippi, murky by the time it reaches the St. Croix River. Spoiler: Sediment enters the Minnesota River, turning it brown. Much of that erosion is caused by farming practices in the region and carries harmful amounts of nitrates and phosphates with it.

Recent resignations from the Upper Harbor Terminal redevelopment collaborative planning committee include Paul Bauknight (also an FMR board member) and Tessa Anttila. They left due to concerns that the committee prioritized the needs of developers over community members. The article also quotes our

Ford Motor Company's toxic waste dump on the St. Paul river floodplain, known as Area C, is gaining more attention. As community awareness grows, so does pressure on Ford and state agencies to study the dumpsite more closely to consider cleanup options. Executive Director Whitney Clark is quoted.

Pheasant numbers are declining in Minnesota as more and more habitat is converted back to farmland and out of the Conservation Reserve Program. The program wouldn't be able to give us the significant and permanent gains for water quality, soil health and habitat that we need in the long-run. Water Program Director Trevor Russell advocates instead for a transition to a market that demands more continuous vegetation on the landscape. (Republished in Telegraph Herald.)

The riverfront north of St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis is changing rapidly. In this Star Tribune feature, Janet Moore quickly covers this transformation through a transportation lens and highlights a key piece of this rapidly shifting riverfront the city of Minneapolis’s former port, a.k.a. the Upper Harbor Terminal. FMR River Corridor Director Colleen O'Connor Toberman is quoted.