St. Paul Brass Foundry Co.
St. Paul Brass Foundry Co. is a foundry located at 954 Minnehaha Ave. in the Frogtown Neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota. The foundry melts and processes lead-containing alloys to make castings for commercial, military and aerospace applications. In March 2023, EPA alleged St. Paul Brass violated its permit by failing to operate air pollution control equipment within acceptable ranges and in June 2023, EPA alleged St. Paul Brass violated EPA regulations for foundries. St. Paul Brass provided documentation of its compliance with these foundry rules.
In September 2025, EPA announced a settlement with the company. The settlement will require the company to reduce lead and particulate matter emissions. The company has added high-efficiency particulate air, or HEPA, filters to two existing baghouses, which will reduce lead and particulate matter emissions from those baghouses by 99.97%. The company will also be required to limit the maximum lead content of alloys produced. A new permit application must be submitted to MPCA that includes requirements to operate the new HEPA filters and limit lead content in alloys.
EPA monitored air quality next to the St. Paul Brass facility between June and December 2024. This data showed compliance with EPA’s air standard for lead. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) set up a permanent air monitoring site near the facility in June 2025. The state’s initial month of results also show lead levels are below EPA’s air standard.
Additional information about this settlement is available, EPA’s news release.
For more information on St. Paul Brass permitting or state actions, please visit the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency website.
Documents
- St Paul Brass Administrative Consent Order (pdf)
- St Paul Brass Administrative Consent Order Transmittal (pdf)
- St Paul Brass Minnesota Notice of Violation (pdf)
- St Paul Brass Minnesota Finding of Violation (pdf)