FMC Corp. (Fridley Plant)

Overview

The FMC Corp. (Fridley Plant) is an 18-acre former industrial site in Fridley, Anoka County, Minnesota. Operations from the 1940s to 1969 generated solvents, paint sludge, and plating wastes that contaminated soil and groundwater. The site was added to the National Priorities List on September 8, 1983, which means EPA determined it needed formal investigation and cleanup.

Eleven chemicals have been identified as contaminants of concern, all found in groundwater. They include trichloroethene, tetrachloroethene, benzene, toluene, xylene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, 1,1,2-trichloroethane, 1,1-dichloroethane, 1,1-dichloroethene, 1,2-dichloroethane, and 1,2-dichloroethene. EPA determined that each of these poses an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment based on the amounts present and potential health effects from exposure.

Cleanup has involved both federal and state actions, with input from potentially responsible parties. Contaminated soil was excavated and placed in a double-lined on-site containment and treatment facility built in 1983. That facility has leak detection and leachate collection systems and operates under a state-issued permit. A groundwater pump-and-treat system has been running since December 1987. In 2013, an Explanation of Significant Differences modified the groundwater remedy to add air stripping technology and update certain requirements. Physical construction across the site is complete, and groundwater migration has been stabilized. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency leads ongoing remedy implementation.

The most recent five-year review, completed August 28, 2024, found that current actions protect human health and the environment in the short term. However, human exposure has not yet been confirmed as fully under control due to insufficient data from response efforts still underway. Continued protectiveness requires further evaluation of the groundwater extraction system, expanded monitoring, compliance with institutional controls, and completion of a new risk assessment. The site has not been deleted from the National Priorities List. Solar panels installed in 2009 supply roughly 30 percent of the electricity needed for the remediation system, reducing carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by 41,000 pounds per year.

Community members can attend the Southwest Fridley Community Advisory Group meeting on Thursday, April 23, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. in the Fireside Room of Fridley City Hall, 7071 University Avenue NE, Fridley. The meeting is open to all residents and interested parties. For questions, contact EPA community involvement coordinator Kirstin Safakas or remedial project manager Nicole Goers using the information below.