Minnesota laws authorize the MPCA to oversee spilled, leaked, or otherwise released petroleum and hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants. These releases can contaminate soils, surface water, sediment, and groundwater. Certain types of chemical releases can also produce vapors that can migrate to nearby homes and business and potentially create a health risk to building occupants. Other types of contamination, such as agricultural chemicals and nuclear waste, are addressed by other state agencies.
Remediation Division programs and initiatives oversee the identification, investigation, cleanup, and redevelopment of sites where contamination exists or may exist with the goal of protecting human health and the environment.
- Petroleum Contamination
Minn. Stat. Ch. 115C
Petroleum tank release cleanup act (Petrofund)- Petroleum Remediation Program (PRP)
- Petroleum Brownfields
- Hazardous Substances, Pollutants and Contaminants
Minn. Stat. Ch. 115B
Minnesota Environmental Response and Liability Act (MERLA)- Brownfields - Voluntary Investigation and Cleanup (VIC)
- Site Assessment
- Superfund
- Closed Landfill Program (CLP)
- RCRA
The remediation process
A site enters one of the programs in the Remediation Division after contamination is discovered and any emergency conditions are addressed under the oversight of the MPCA's Emergency response program. Sites may enter remediation programs via voluntary enrollment using MPCA’s e-services or may be entered via the Minnesota Duty Officer reporting process. Sites may also be referred between programs. Once in a program, the remediation process may include:
- investigation of sites to assess the presence and extent of contamination
- cleanup of sites that pose a risk to human health or the environment
- monitoring of sites to ensure contamination does not spread
The applicable statute describes who is legally responsible for contamination. Our program staff work with those parties to conduct the necessary work. If there is not a viable or willing responsible party, the program staff will investigate and clean up a site and pursue recovery of the associated costs. The exception to this regulatory process is the Brownfield Program, which is a voluntary, fee-for-service program.
Each Remediation Division program or initiative is described briefly below.
For technical guidance for the environmental professional, please see our Remediation guidance and resources page.
Remediation programs
Petroleum remediation
The Petroleum Remediation Program addresses petroleum contamination from leaking storage tanks such as underground tanks at gas stations or home heating tanks. The program works with responsible parties — usually the tank owners — to conduct the necessary investigation, risk evaluation, and cleanup when contamination poses a risk to human health or the environment.
Brownfields
Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or underused industrial and commercial properties where actual or suspected environmental contamination complicates the financing of expansion or redevelopment. The MPCA Brownfield Program (comprised of the Voluntary Investigation and Cleanup and the Petroleum Brownfield programs) provides technical assistance and liability assurance letters to promote the investigation, cleanup, and redevelopment of Brownfield sites.
Superfund
The Superfund Program investigates and cleans up sites where hazardous substances have been released and where contamination poses an actual or potential threat to human health or the environment. Superfund is a "polluter pays" law. Responsible parties — such as waste haulers or generators who dumped material on the site or past or present property owners or operators— are legally responsible for the cleanup.
The Superfund Program requires specific investigation and cleanup processes and may provide funds for certain types of cleanups. Sites listed on the Minnesota Permanent List of Priorities are eligible for state cleanup dollars when there is no responsible party to pay. The MPCA will sometimes request that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency list Minnesota sites on the federal Superfund National Priorities List to make them eligible for additional cleanup dollars.
Closed landfills
The Closed Landfill Program exists to maintain certain mixed municipal waste landfills in the state over the long term. Closed landfills must be monitored and managed in perpetuity to protect the environment and human health.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act remediation
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is a federal law covering a range of programs dealing with waste disposal, recycling, and recovery.
The RCRA Remediation Program is focused on investigating and cleaning up improperly managed hazardous waste. There are three types of hazardous waste sites subject to RCRA corrective actions in Minnesota, all of which enter the RCRA Remediation program in different ways:
- Facilities with RCRA permits to treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste enter the RCRA Remediation program through the permitting process.
- Interim status facilities are facilities that at one time applied for a RCRA permit but did not complete the process. These sites entered the RCRA Remediation program through a negotiated process initiated by the MPCA.
- Hazardous waste generators usually enter the RCRA Remediation program through evidence of suspected releases to soil or groundwater from improper management of hazardous wastes or hazardous constituents uncovered during hazardous waste inspections conducted by state, county, or city inspectors.
Other initiatives
East Metro/3M PFAS contamination
From the 1950s through the early 1970s, 3M disposed of wastes from the manufacture of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) primarily at four locations:
In late 2003, the MPCA discovered PFAS in groundwater at and near some of these disposal sites. In 2004, PFAS were found to have contaminated drinking water supplies in parts of the East Metro. Further investigations identified an area of groundwater contamination covering more than 150 square miles and affecting the drinking water supplies of more than 174,000 Minnesotans. In spring 2007, the MPCA and 3M negotiated a consent order to bring investigation and cleanup of the three disposal sites under the formal Superfund process. The Washington County Landfill is addressed under the state Closed Landfill Program.
In 2010, Minnesota’s attorney general sued 3M, alleging that the company’s production of PFAS chemicals had damaged drinking water and natural resources in the southeast Twin Cities metro area. The state of Minnesota settled its lawsuit against 3M in return for a settlement of $850 million in 2018.
St. Louis River Area of Concern
The MPCA is collaborating with many federal, state, and local partners to clean up sites in the Duluth Harbor and St. Louis River that are contaminated from a century of industrial and shipping activities.
- Sediment cleanup sites in the St. Louis River Area of Concern
- Habitat restoration progress in the St. Louis River Area of Concern
- St. Louis River Area of Concern
Natural Resource Damage Assessment
When oil or other hazardous substances are released into the environment and harm wildlife, water, air, or other natural resources, the state is authorized to seek compensation from the responsible parties to restore what was lost. A Natural Resource Damage Assessment may be initiated after significant environmental harm. In this process, the MPCA assesses the environmental harm and develops the claim to hold responsible parties accountable while the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources oversees restoration planning and implementation. If federal or tribal natural resources are involved, a trustee council is established to coordinate assessment and restoration activities.
Harmful Substance Compensation Program
The Harmful Substance Compensation Program (HSCP) compensates people who suffer certain kinds of injury or property damage from exposure to harmful substances in Minnesota. The program was established to provide an administrative alternative to filing lawsuits against the person or company responsible for the damage. Decisions on compensation are made by the MPCA commissioner, who receives advice as necessary from experts, including physicians, health professionals, and staff from the state Attorney General’s office.
Find contaminated sites in Minnesota
What's in my neighborhood — Search for known contaminated properties by location, type of contamination, or project/business name. You'll find both sites currently being investigated and cleaned up and those where remediation is complete.
Groundwater Contamination Atlas — Find in-depth information about sites with groundwater contamination, including site histories and investigation and cleanup activities.
Leaking and registered tanks sites — Find locations of reported petroleum tank spills and releases in Minnesota.
Petroleum Remediation Program maps — See petroleum sites in relation to wellhead protection areas, drinking water supply management areas, and source water assessments.
Submit an information request to obtain information not available through MPCA’s data tools.