The court said the state agency must determine, again, whether the planned expansion of a basin holding back mine waste near Lake Superior requires an environmental impact statement.
Under the 2018 settlement, Maplewood-based 3M agreed to pay the state $850 million for contamination from PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
The notice came after the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency denied U.S. Steel's request allowing downstream Hay Lake to have sulfate levels nearly 8 times higher than the state wild rice standard.
With an average temperature of 44.6 degrees, Duluth felt the effects of El Nino punctuating a decades-long warming trend due to greenhouse gas emissions released by human activities.
The state funding will go toward infrastructure, with an equal match to be provided by the city and the land owner to reclaim the former Superfund property.
