Protesters pressure county board. They say, ‘To heck with the HERC
Protesters hold up signs calling for the closure of the HERC. Photo by MJ Smith
By George Lange, North News Intern
Activists and residents of Minneapolis addressed Hennepin County commissioners at in July, asking for an earlier closure date for the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center, or HERC.
The Board of Commissioners passed a resolution in 2023, saying the county would close down the HERC between 2028 and 2040.
North Minneapolis residents and an activist group called the Zero Burn Coalition attended the July 22 board meeting, arguing that the community around the HERC shouldn’t have to deal with unsafe air and the resulting health conditions it causes for another possible 15 years.
They also asked Hennepin County to look towards more zero-waste solutions to deal with trash.
“We are always being poisoned,” said Anndrea Young, a Northside resident.
The HERC is located at 505 N 6th Ave. Minneapolis. It opened in 1989, and is used to burn trash and convert it into energy. Its emissions include high amounts of particulate matter, mercury, and nitrogen oxides, all harmful to the human respiratory system.
During the board meeting’s public comment period, more than a dozen people in attendance spoke about their personal experience living near the HERC, many of whom were North Minneapolis residents.
First to speak was Northsider Adua Pugh, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2024. Doctors told her that environmental reasons, not genetics had caused her cancer. Pugh believes high levels of pollution in North Minneapolis are to blame for her cancer.
Pugh said that while Highway I-94 is the biggest pollutant in the Northside, the HERC is the next big thing. Pugh argued that a highway like I-94 can’t be stopped, but a waste burning system that is a proven pollutant can be.
Julia Johnson, a mother and Northside resident, reminded commissioners of the clean energy bill they signed in 2023. Johnson said that the commissioners spend their time defending the HERC instead of working towards building zero-waste solutions.
“Does the board care about those who pay the price of delaying the closure of the HERC, or should my community be considered expendable?” Johnson said.
Janet Kitui said her hairstylist suffered an asthma attack that left her in a coma for six months. She eventually passed away and Kitui implied HERC emissions were to blame.
“Her death was not an isolated tragedy," Kitui said. “It's a pattern.”
Many spoke of poor respiratory health and the unusually high amount of asthma attacks and diagnoses in the Northside.
Public Health Nurse Nick Shillingford cited statistics from the Environmental Protection Agency that the air quality in North Minneapolis poses human health risks, “including heart disease and stroke, asthma, and other respiratory diseases, pregnancy complications, and some cancers.”
Leslie Myint, a professor of statistics, noted the HERC was placed in a majority minority community, and its health impacts fall around a two-mile radius, disproportionately affecting the community.
The air quality guidelines the HERC follows, which haven't been updated since 1998, show that the air quality is safe. Those guidelines were not based on health risks. When compared to modern guidelines for acceptable air pollution, critics say the HERC’s pollution is dangerous.
There is also no public information on how the HERC tests the ash it produces for hazardous chemicals before transporting it into the ground.
North News has reached out to Hennepin County Commissioner and Board President Irene Fernado for comment and did not heard back.
Fernando released a statement in 2023, saying that while the county is working towards a zero-waste future, they need support from the state to move forward on climate conscious plans, including the shutdown of the HERC.
Residents want to replace the HERC with a repair and reuse center, a zero-waste research facility, and a possible food shelf to combat the food desert in North Minneapolis. Whatever replaces it, residents want it to be community-based.