The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency announced cleanup plans for the defunct Hibbing Gas Manufacturing Plant site. The agency explained its cleanup plan for this site in a draft Minnesota Decision Document, which is available for public comment until July 9, 2026.
Under the draft plan, the MPCA plans to remove contaminated soil and place land-use restrictions on property to protect human health and the environment as mandated by state law. The site has contamination from gas manufacturing including coal tar, coal ash, and boiler slag.
The cleanup project is governed by the Minnesota Superfund law, formally known as the Minnesota Environmental Response and Liability Act of 1983.
The Legislature will be asked to fund the estimated $2 million cleanup cost because the Hibbing site is on Minnesota’s Permanent List of Priorities. The list identifies contaminated sites that require cleanup under the state Superfund program.
Most of the cleanup work focuses on the former manufacturing area of the site. The MPCA plans to remove and dispose of the free-phase coal tar, certain contaminated soil, and remove below ground building and pipes remnants. Clean soil will replace the excavated area under the plan.
The cleanup plan also includes an environmental covenant that restricts the land to commercial or industrial use and requires fencing to limit access and exposure to the site. Groundwater monitoring is ongoing and will continue.
From 1918 to 1969 the Hibbing Gas Manufacturing Plant made gas for the community at 235 W. 41st St. in Hibbing. The plant produced coal gas and carbureted water gas. The manufacturing buildings were demolished in 1980.
In 1984, the MPCA began its oversight of the defunct manufacturing site, according to the Minnesota Groundwater Contamination Atlas. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also investigated the property.
Studies have determined the amount and extent of contamination that is present in and around the site. The MPCA used those findings to create the cleanup plan presented in the draft decision document released June 9.