"Sometimes kids have to go home from school sick,'' 10-year-old Noah Ruhland said of the alleged health effects of the Gopher State Ethanol plant in St. Paul. Noah, who lives in the neighborhood and attends nearby St. Francis-St. James United School, joined other residents during a Tuesday rally outside City Hall.
Neighbors
want say
about plant
BY MURALI BALAJI
Pioneer Press
Frustrated by St. Paul's handling of long-standing complaints about the Gopher State Ethanol plant, a group of West Seventh neighborhood residents filed a notice Tuesday seeking to intervene in the city's civil litigation against the controversial facility.
Citizens Alliance for a Safe Environment, a newly formed group of neighborhood activists, said it hopes to discourage any potential settlement between the city and the ethanol plant -- which could be reached as early as today -- without the input of residents.
The action is the first legal step taken by neighborhood residents, who have been plagued by odor and noise problems since the ethanol production facility opened within Minnesota Brewing Co. in May 2000.
"The neighbors have been suffering for over a year," said attorney Mike Unger, who filed the intervention notice on behalf of CASE. "The neighbors are done standing on the sidelines." More than 30 West Seventh residents stood outside City Hall on Tuesday afternoon, waving signs such as "Let Us Breathe" and "The CASE is here." For some residents, seeking a legal recourse for neighbors seems long overdue.
"It's about time something gets done," said Shelley Markley, who was accompanied by her three children. "We've suffered long enough. Two summers of our lives have been lost."
Mayor Norm Coleman said Tuesday that he does not object to residents' request to join the city's lawsuit against Gopher State Ethanol.
"Although we are concerned that this intervention may delay the ongoing legal process, we have always had a shared goal with the neighborhood to resolve the problem," Coleman said. "We will not object to having citizen input on this issue. If the courts agree and if this helps in that process, we're all for it."
Mayoral candidate Bob Long was also on hand to denounce any settlement that the city may reach with the plant.
"You can't just drop pending litigation until you get full compliance," Long said.
However, City Attorney Clayton Robinson said discussions between the city and the company are ongoing and that the City Council would be updated on any potential deal. Robinson plans to meet with the council in a closed-door session today to discuss the litigation issue.
"Any proposed terms of agreement will be submitted to the City Council for their scrutiny and approval," he said.
Supporters of neighborhood legal action also spoke out against what they perceive as the city's unwillingness to play hardball with the plant. Unger noted that neighbors consider it a potential conflict of interest that the ethanol plant's attorney, Tom Fabel, once served as deputy mayor under Norm Coleman.
Fabel said his former time as a mayoral aide "has no bearing on professional ability to represent Gopher State Ethanol and Minnesota Brewing Co. We're careful about conflicts of interest, and there is absolutely none. Period." He added that the ethanol company likely wouldn't object to the citizens group taking part in settlement discussions. "There hasn't been any reluctance (by the plant) to talk," Fabel said.
Meanwhile, the City Council and the mayor's office remain at odds over how to speedily resolve existing odor and noise concerns. City officials are trying to allay the concerns of council members who are upset about the city attorney's decision, at the behest of the mayor's office, to drop misdemeanor charges against the ethanol plant last month. Last week, the council contemplated hiring an outside attorney to investigate the plant, but it would have to amend the city charter to do so.
"I feel like our hands are tied," said Council Member Jerry Blakey, who brought up the possibility of seeking alternate legal counsel. Some council members have sought ways to shut down the plant while the ethanol company works to fine-tune its odor reduction device, a thermal oxidizer, and to reduce noise levels.
However, some city officials insist shutting down the plant would not be the quickest way to solve the noise and odor problems because of the prolonged legal options available to the company to fight any proposed closure.
"I'm confident we can fix this faster than we can close the plant down," said Deputy Mayor Susan Kimberly. "We're very close to knowing what needs to be done and when it needs to be done."
Murali Balaji can be reached at mbalaji@pioneerpress.com or (651) 292-1892.
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