submitted by gilmerje@augsburg.edu
In The South Minneapolis neighborhood of East Phillips, on Dakota territory, there is a building known as the “Roof Depot.” Community members, and especially those living at the Little Earth housing complex, want to turn it into a community center and indoor farm, with rooftop solar. The city of Minneapolis wants to demolish it, to build a highly polluting truck yard and diesel fueling station.
The Depot suppresses an arsenic plume deposited by a pesticide factory that operated next door from 1938-1963. If it gets demolished, residents would be at risk of toxic arsenic exposure. The city has no stated plan for remediating this arsenic or ensuring that it won’t poison community members.
To learn more, visit their website and follow them on Instagram @defendthedepot for updates!