Key facts
- Minnesota officials allegedly surveilled environmental justice activists working to close a waste incinerator.
- Emails show county employees collected intelligence on activists and shared it with industry.
- The collected information was allegedly used to influence state environmental legislation.
- A county employee, Joe Vital, attended activist meetings and compiled dossiers.
- County officials claim their actions were ordinary community engagement.
Newly released emails indicate that local government officials in Minneapolis have allegedly surveilled environmental justice activists who are campaigning to close a controversial waste incinerator. Activist groups claim that county officials used tactics such as sending an employee, who presented himself as an ally, to gather intelligence on activists and their campaigns. This information was reportedly shared among county environmental officials and, in some instances, with the company that owns the incinerator, and was allegedly used to influence state-level environmental legislation.
The emails, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by groups including the Zero Burn Coalition and the Minnesota Environmental Justice Table, detail how county employee Joe Vital allegedly attended activist meetings and compiled dossiers on participants and their planned activities. These dossiers were sent to his superiors, including Angie Timmons and Rosemary Lavin. In one instance, Vital allegedly attempted to obtain the identity of a whistleblower.
A county spokesperson denied the allegations, stating that the actions were "ordinary functions of government" and that officials "routinely attend public community meetings... to listen, learn, share information, and understand different perspectives." However, activists argue that public resources were directed toward monitoring community members. The Hennepin Energy Recovery Center, the incinerator in question, processes 365,000 tons of trash annually and is known to release pollutants like PFAS.