The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) will host a public meeting for a draft major amendment to Abbott Northwestern Hospital’s air emissions permit on Tuesday, August 22, 2023, at the East Phillips Park Cultural and Community Center. The meeting will run from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
The MPCA is posting notice of a public meeting pursuant to Minn. R. 7001.1020. The meeting will start with a short presentation by MPCA about the draft permit amendment followed by a question-and-answer session. Links to the meeting will be posted on MPCA’s website when they are available: Abbott Northwestern Hospital utility plant expansion.
Abbott Northwestern Hospital, part of Allina Health, has an aging utility plant that it needs to update. Allina proposes to remove heat- and power-generating units and replace them with newer equipment. The hospital is in an area of Minneapolis that requires a cumulative levels and effects analysis study for any new air permits. Allina Health completed a study during its last permit renewal in 2013.
The facility’s main processes are boilers and emergency engines. The new heating plant will include a combined heat and power facility composed of a combustion turbine with a heat recovery steam generator and duct burner, boilers, and emergency engines.
The public is encouraged to comment on the proposed permit from August 1 to 31 via our online commenting website. The draft air permit includes limits on usage of natural gas and heating oil; hours of operation, and emissions from combustion of natural gas and home heating oil, along with more frequent testing and monitoring. The change limits the entire facility's emissions while it transitions from an aging heating plant to an updated one.
The MPCA has posted the meeting’s notice 30 days before prior to the meeting as required by Minnesota regulations (Minn. R. 7007.0850).