365,000 tons: The volume of waste processed by the incinerator targeted by monitored activists

Emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show that Hennepin County staff systematically monitored environmental justice activists campaigning to close a waste incinerator in Minneapolis. The facility processes 365,000 tons of trash annually. Advocacy groups, including the Zero Burn Coalition and the Minnesota Environmental Justice Table, state that the county used this intelligence to defeat state-level environmental legislation and anticipate protest activities.

The alleged monitoring operation centered on Joe Vital, the county's environmental engagement coordinator. Hired in 2021, Vital previously served as chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Native Peoples Caucus and worked with activists against the Line 3 pipeline. In June 2023, advocates held a public Zoom meeting to plan their next steps. Organizers screen attendees to exclude industry or political opponents, but Vital attended without detection. He compiled a dossier on participants, including a state representative and a former city council member, detailing their planned activities.

Nazir Khan, executive director of the Minnesota Environmental Justice Table, said organizers would have recognized Vital's name had it been displayed. The dossier was sent to Rosemary Lavin, the county's energy and environment department director. Emails indicate supervisors planned to report the findings to Lisa Cerney, a top public works official who has publicly supported the incinerator. Cerney reports directly to political leadership. A recording also shows Vital attempting to confirm the identity of a whistleblower during a conversation with Khan.

Vital did not respond to requests for comment. When confronted, he told Khan that he was working for the activists and gathering intelligence on county officials. Khan stated that Vital described the arrangement by saying, "You have to offer a pound of flesh to maintain inside the room." Khan noted that activists received little of value from Vital and do not believe he is on their side.

Information from the monitoring operation also reached industry representatives. In March 2024, county employee Mallory Anderson forwarded advocates' organizing emails to David McNary, a county official on the board of the Minnesota Resource Recovery Association. Anderson had joined the advocates' email list without their knowledge. McNary forwarded the messages to industry attorneys and Tim Steinbeck, president of the operator of the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center. Steinbeck called the pending bill "detrimental" and urged testimony against it. The bill, which would have allowed cities to phase out polluting land uses, was defeated.

Audua Pugh, a Minneapolis organizer who was monitored, asked county leaders at a board meeting why public resources were used to watch residents organizing to shut down the aging facility. Hennepin County stated that the allegations mischaracterize its community engagement work. A spokesperson described the actions as ordinary functions of government, noting that working together does not mean agreement on every issue.

Hennepin County employs 9,000 people. Khan said the county relies on individuals seen as part of the community to build relationships and pass information up the chain. Seven of the nearly 100 municipal or hazardous waste incinerators in the United States are located in Minnesota.