Bipartisan bills would ban the use of TCE and provide oversight of Water Gremlin settlement proceeds

A bipartisan group of state legislators, including Sen. Roger Chamberlain (R-Lino Lakes), Sen. Jason Isaacson (DFL-Shoreview), Sen. Chuck Wiger (DFL-Maplewood), Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn (DFL-Roseville), Rep. Peter Fischer (DFL-Maplewood), and Rep. Ami Wazlawik (DFL-White Bear Lake) continued to address the Water Gremlin situation in White Bear Lake Thursday by introducing a series of bills aimed at strengthening public protections, transparency, and accountability.

The bills call for an outright ban on the use of TCE, the creation of a TCE Emission Response Account to manage the proceeds of the Water Gremlin settlement, and more thorough plan for communicating with the public during potential future incidents.

“It’s great that the MPCA reached a settlement with Water Gremlin, but the public is rightfully lacking trust in the process,” said Sen. Roger Chamberlain (R-Lino Lakes). “Banning TCE will give people confidence that their health will not be at risk moving forward, and the oversight protections of the Emission Response Account will guarantee money from the settlement is spent the right way – on protecting the folks who were directly impacted.”

Summary of TCE public protection legislation

  • Senate File 2075 bans manufacturing, processing, and distributing a product containing trichloroethylene (TCE). It also bans the use of TCE as a vapor degreaser, an intermediate chemical to produce other chemicals, a refrigerant, or an extraction solvent or in any other manufacturing or cleaning process or use.
    • Safer alternatives with similar performance characteristics are available for both vapor degreasing and aerosol degreasing. Alternatives can include using different solvents, switching to aqueous cleaners, adopting other mechanical cleaning techniques, or equipment substitution.
  • A bill to be introduced Monday calls for proceeds from the Water Gremlin settlement to be placed into a TCE Emission Response Account, with legislative oversight and appropriation authority. The commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency would be bound to work with stakeholders and identify to the legislature projects that will receive funding from the TCE Emission Response Account. Recommendations may include the need for addition testing, investigations, research, public communications improvements, or policy or law changes.
  • A third bill, also set to be introduced Monday, will clarify that state agencies should facilitate communications to improve Minnesota’s preparedness, public awareness, and emergency response in situations where a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant may have been released into the environment.