State Senator Robert Farnsworth (R-Hibbing) today announced the submission of public comments to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) regarding the state’s long embattled sulfate standard. The public comments signed by the bipartisan Iron Range delegation criticize the MPCA for enforcing an outdated sulfate standard while ignoring state laws passed more than a decade ago requiring the rule to be updated. 

The comments read in part, “We write collectively to comment on the MPCA’s proposed permits for the U.S. Steel Keetac facility, and on the agency’s denial of a request for variance. We do so to express our united resolve to find a reasonable, balanced solution to the problems created by the MPCA’s failure to update Minnesota’s outdated sulfate wild rice standard, coupled with its recent proposal to enforce it.” 

One economic expert testified at a public MPCA meeting on earlier this month that enforcing the old rule would cost Keetac $1.3 billion over 20 years, force operations into a net loss, and add $17.50 to every ton of taconite pellets produced. The increased costs make Minnesota mining devastatingly uncompetitive in an increasingly competitive global market. 

“For years, we’ve asked the MPCA to modernize this outdated rule. Instead, they’ve failed to act, and now they’re trying to enforce a standard written in the 1970s. That’s not science-based regulation—it’s moving the goalposts, and it threatens the livelihoods of Iron Range families,” Farnsworth said. “The MPCA itself has admitted it doesn’t even know if this standard will help wild rice. Yet they’re willing to risk shutting down mines, laying off workers, and gutting Iron Range communities. That’s unacceptable.” 

Farnsworth emphasized that Minnesota can both protect natural resources and grow its mining industry—but only if state regulators stop delaying and provide certainty. “Iron Rangers are proud to power the American steel industry,” he said. “But we can’t keep asking workers and communities to pay the price for the MPCA’s inaction. It’s time to withdraw this flawed proposal and finally create a balanced solution that protects both wild rice and the jobs that sustain our region.”