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SOUTHEASTERN MINNESOTANS for ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
SEMEP History
1. SEMEP began in the fall of 2002 -- initially for the purpose of opposing the development of the proposed Heartland tire burning plant in Preston, Minnesota. We are a small, but organized, group of residents and business owners located in the small towns and countryside of Southeastern Minnesota. We have created and nurtured an environmental advocacy organization that will continue to alert residents of our area to threats against our health, natural assets and environment. 2. Education. A key SEMEP goal is to educate people living in Southeastern Minnesota about environmental issues that affect us. SEMEP has held several public meetings to discuss environmental issues, including sponsoring a lecture given by Lois Gibbs, who was the primary catalyst for seeking solutions to the toxification of the Love Canal area in New York. Among ideas urged upon us by Ms. Gibbs is for residents of our region to build coalitions, educate people about the health hazards of exposure to dioxins, oppose incineration, and encourage strong state and local pollution prevention laws. Several SEMEP board members have spoken at local area colleges and schools about environmental issues. SEMEP works with Jon Jensen, the environmental studies professor at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, to provide environmental internship opportunities for Luther College students. 3. Networking. SEMEP is a member of the Minnesota Environmental Partnership -- the statewide coalition of Minnesota environmental advocacy groups. MEP develops an advocacy agenda of statewide environmental issues, and lobbies Minnesota legislators to advocate the environmental position on various issues. Clean water funding, township and community decision-making rights, and restricted vehicle use of state forest trails, are among the issues in which SEMEP and MEP are involved. SEMEP has hosted several meetings with legislators in southeastern Minnesota to discuss the statewide environmental agenda. The attending legislators voice their opinions about the potential likelihood of the environmental community achieving its legislative goals during each session. SEMEP has worked diligently to build relationships with environmental and outdoor groups, including the Sierra Club, Land Stewardship Project Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, Clean Water Action Alliance, Trout Unlimited, and Eagle Bluff Environmental Center, to provide our citizens with enhanced resources for challenging pollution. SEMEP has worked with various state and local elected officials and government agencies challenge air and water pollution activities. SEMEP believes that the expertise and experiences developed by each group should be combined and leveraged to achieve environmental solutions for our region. 4. Proposed Heartland tire-burning incinerator project. After Heartland Energy & Recycling, LLC applied to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) for an air emissions permit, the MPCA issued a negative declaration that the Heartland tire burning project would not require a full environmental review of its proposed tire-derived fuel incineration process. Based upon the negative declaration, the MPCA then issued an air emissions permit to Heartland. SEMEP then filed two lawsuits against the MPCA and Heartland. The first lawsuit challenged the MPCA's negative declaration determination that Heartland's proposed tire-derived fuel incineration process did not require a full environmental review. The second lawsuit challenged the MPCA's issuance of an air emissions permit to Heartland. Our battles against MPCA and Heartland resulted in Judge Joseph Wieners of Rochester, in SEMEP's first lawsuit, issuing a decision ordering the MPCA to reconsider its original findings which would have allowed Heartland to receive an air emissions permit without having to perform a full environmental review of its proposed incineration process. Judge Wieners found numerous errors in the MPCA's review process of the Heartland application. Shortly after Judge Wieners' February 2004 decision, SEMEP was compelled to return to court to obtain an order from Judge Wieners preventing Heartland from beginning construction of its proposed tire burning plant. Again, Judge Wieners agreed with SEMEP, and ordered Heartland to not begin construction of its tire burning plant until the MPCA's second review was completed and the matter again returned to the court. Construction was prevented, so that those people opposing the tire burning plant would not find themselves challenging a completed and operating tire burning incinerator. Next, Heartland decided to seek a state-sponsored business subsidy that would have provided Heartland with financial support for its operating payroll. SEMEP fought this effort, which would have brought Heartland tacit state and local support for its tire burning project. SEMEP worked with Fillmore County commissioners who ultimately decided, unanimously, against approving any business subsidy to Heartland. On January 25, 2005, SEMEP, along with other community groups, succeeded in persuading the MPCA Citizens' Board to require a full environmental review and EIS of its proposed tire-derived fuel incineration process. As a result of this effort, the Heartland developers announced their decision to abandon the proposed building of the tire-burning plant in Preston, Minnesota. The MPCA vacated the previously issued air permits to Heartland. The proposed Heartland tire-burning project is over!
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