The docks at American Iron's North Minneapolis metal recycling plant consist of two sunken barges filled with dirt and debris, a functional, if inelegant, reminder of how things once were done in the Mississippi River's urban corridor.
How long they stay that way is up for debate.
Earlier this year, the large scrap-metal operator made what it considered a routine request to refurbish the docks by replacing their sheet-metal sides. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, however, rejected that application and ordered the company to look at other options — including an onshore structure or a dredged inlet slip. American Iron plans to appeal.
"We have a major disagreement,'' said Mark Newbury, American Iron's environmental specialist. "The DNR seems to believe they get to rethink the idea of having a permit. We don't believe that.''
The DNR, charged with protecting public waters in Minnesota, is holding American Iron to a higher standard than it did almost two decades ago, when it issued the company a permit after it already had sunk the discarded barges next to the shoreline and converted them into docks. Since then, the company has used the docks, each almost 200 feet long and 40 feet wide, to load and unload scrap metal.
DNR area hydrologist Molly Shodeen said little paperwork remains from that earlier period. But she said the permit provides for no maintenance of the structures, prompting her and others to conclude the agency never envisioned them to be a permanent solution.
"The long-term goal was to have the barges removed once they exceeded their useful lives,'' Shodeen said. "They are definitely getting there.''
Earlier this month, the DNR approved American Iron's request to do some dredging around the docks. But it turned down its request to place new sheet metal around their sides.
"In light of our review and the comments received from reviewing agencies, we cannot conclude that your proposal is indeed reasonable, practical and will promote the public welfare,'' DNR regional hydrologist Dale Homuth wrote in a letter to American Iron.
"We think there are alternatives for barge loading and unloading that don't take up that extent of river,'' said Shodeen, adding there never was a public consideration of options when the first barges were sunk.
Alternatives that could be looked at, she said, include building a structure on shore or dredging inland to create a barge slip.
"The least preferable alternative is to build a structure out in the water,'' Shodeen said.
Not only do the docks take up public water space, but they alter the water flow in that stretch of river, she said.
Karen Harder, chairwoman of the water committee of the North Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, said the state should determine what's in the debris and should require American Iron to remove the docks.
"Nobody knows what's in the barges,'' Harder said.
If the DNR were to allow the upgrade, she said, it would be akin to giving away state property for no compensation.
"That would set a precedent for other entities to do the same thing,'' she said.
"Right now, it's on state land, it's causing a hazard, and if they want to do a wharf, they should do it the way everyone else is required to do it — on their property and according to regulations,'' Harder said.
The DNR's stance doesn't sit well with American Iron, which argues it runs an efficient recycling business that promotes the public interest.
"The docks are safe, and the docks are sound,'' Newbury said. "It's reasonable and normal maintenance to do this.''
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the city of Minneapolis, Newbury said, have given the sheet-metal upgrade their blessings. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, meanwhile, said it sampled the dock debris years ago, found lower pollution levels in it than on adjacent property, and plans to wait until a final resolution before deciding what it must do.
"I don't think we understand how the DNR applies these rules to this situation,'' Newbury said. "We certainly believe and agree that the idea should get approval. But we are not asking for a brand-new permit, only for repairing an existing permit.
"We believe strongly that maintenance is an expected permitted operation. The idea of having to redo the entire permit every time you do maintenance doesn't seem to be a reasonable position.''
Although the DNR has urged American Iron to plan to remove the docks and replace them with a more conventional one, the agency isn't requiring the firm to do so yet. Still, Shodeen said the DNR commissioner has that authority if the agency ultimately concludes the docks are causing problems or safety concerns. (Minnesota) Pioneer Press