State pollution regulators and the owner of a scrap yard in north Minneapolis have reached an agreement that requires that that a five-story shredder there be tested to see if it's meeting state-set limits for emitting air particles.
The deal, subject to court approval, should provide more information on the shredder's significance in air-quality violations detected by state monitoring stations for the just south of the Lowry Avenue Bridge.
Northern Metal had sued in Ramsey County District Court to block that monitoring. When the state ordered testing of the machine's emissions and pollution controls, the firm asked a judge to block that. They've been negotiating since.
The dispute involves a shredder that's been controversial since a predecessor company on the site sought a city permit for a shredder known as a Kondirator in 1988. That machine achieved particular notoriety because of the name but a shredder made by a different manufacturer was later installed.
