MPCA Duluth Office

MPCA Duluth Office
218-723-4660
525 Lake Avenue South
Suite 400
Duluth, MN 55802

General Incoming Calls: 218-723-4660
Toll free, voice and TTY: 800-657-3864
Fax: 218-723-4727
Conference Room: 218-723-4726
Greater Minnesota Hazardous Waste:
1-800-657-3724 (St. Paul staff contact)

Area of Service

The Duluth Office serves the following counties: Aitkin, Itasca, Koochiching, Carlton, St. Louis, Lake and Cook.

Understanding Our Region: Northeastern Minnesota

Regional Highlights

Lake Superior	Lake Superior Beach Monitoring	Rainy River Basin
St. Louis River - U.S. Steel Superfund Site	St. Louis River/ Interlake/Duluth Tar Superfund Site

Map to the Duluth Office

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Driving Directions: From Twin Cities I35: Take Exit 256 B to Lake Avenue, second stop light along Frontage Road, take a right onto Lake Avenue. Turn right on Buchanan Street.

From North Shore Hwy 61: Take Exit 256B off of I35, make a left onto Lake Avenue. Turn right onto Buchanan Street.

From Iron Range Hwy 53: Turn right onto Mesaba Avenue from Central Entrance. Turn left on 7th Street at the stop light. Go one block and take a right onto Lake Avenue. In the Canal Park District take a right onto Buchanan Street.

MPCA Parking: Enter lot at the end of Buchanan Street, just before the blue foot bridge, take a left. There is a parking charge for this lot Memorial Day through Labor Day. There is free parking on the street.

Alternative Transportation Services: From within the Duluth city limits: From the Greyhound bus station, call 722-SAVE (the Duluth Transit Authority's schedule service) for city bus schedules to downtown and Park Point. Not all city buses are handicap accessible. Once downtown, transfer to the Park Point bus and disembark at the 500 block.

Staff Directory

All staff can be reached at 800-657-3864.

The Duluth Office serves the following counties: Aitkin, Itasca, Koochiching, Carlton, St. Louis, Lake and Cook. Note: Remediation staff have a different service area (which is described in that staff's section).

Municipal Division

Municipal Wastewater Section

Solid Waste Section

Industrial Division

Compliance and Enforcement Section

Land and Water Quality Permit Section

Remediation Division

Superfund and Emergency Response Section

Emergency Response Unit

Petroleum and Remediation Unit

Environmental Analysis and Outcomes Division

Water Assessment and Environmental Information Section

Air Assessment and Environmental Data Management Section

Publications

• Understanding Our Region: Northeastern Minnesota: This report provides an overview of past, current and future environmental conditions by media (land, water, and air). Organizing such a report is challenging because the earth’s ecosystem is made up of a complicated set of interconnecting systems. This report is designed to convey to the community what the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency does to address environmental problems with our many partners in our region.
  
  
• An Assessment of Representative Lake Superior Basin Tributaries 2002 : The purpose of this report is to begin assessing the quality of a representative number of North Shore tributaries along the corridors extending from Duluth to Two Harbors and Two Harbors to the Canadian border.
  
  
• Duluth Metropolitan Area Streams Snowmelt Runoff Study: The streams of the North Shore of Lake Superior, including those within the Duluth Metropolitan Area, exhibit high flows coincident with snowmelt and spring rains. Urbanization of watersheds can have dramatic impacts on both the hydrology and water quality of streams. During snowmelt these impacts can be severe, because of the variety of contaminants concentrated in the snowpack. Four of the larger streams in the DMA were sampled to collect baseline water quality data during the snowmelt runoff period to improve our understanding of impact that may occur during or as a result of snowmelt. Samples were analyzed for pollutants commonly found in urban runoff and compared to water quality standards where available. This report includes a summary of recommendations and best management practices for the protection of surface waters during winter and snowmelt conditions.
  
  
• Effect of Historical Logging on Geomorphology, Hydrology, and Water Quality in the Little Fork River Watershed: The Little Fork River, a large tributary to the Rainy River, flows northwest through St. Louis and Koochiching Counties in northern Minnesota. Extensive stands of timber were historically logged from the 1890's to 1937. This study was designed to document current water quality conditions in the river; it also includes a detailed analysis of long term climate and streamflow records, watershed land-cover, and initial stream geomorphology surveys. Using a weight of evidence approach, we hypothesize that initial historical logging had a significant impact on the river, and likely caused the turbidity impairment that we observe presently in the watershed.

Lake Superior Barrels

For information about the cooperative efforts of the MPCA, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to locate and recover barrels dumped by Honeywell Corp. into Lake Superior in the 1960s, please visit the Lake Superior Barrels page.

Environmental Links

• Agricultural Utilization Research Institute
• Board of Water and Soil Resources
• Dept. of Agriculture
• Dept. of Health
• Dept. of Natural Resources
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• U.S. Waters and Rivers Commission
• Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources
• Environmental News Network
• Environmental Quality Board (Minnesota Planning Agency)
• Minnesota Association of Watershed Districts
• Minnesota Environmental Fund
• Natural Resources Conservation Service
• Sharing Environmental Education Knowledge
• University of Minnesota Extension