REGIONAL— A Lake Vermilion resident is among those cited as harmed in a lawsuit challenging a proclamation by President Donald Trump, issued July 17, 2025, that exempts all taconite plants in the U.S. from stricter mercury emissions standards established in 2024 by the Environmental Protection Agency. The proclamation, which suspends the requirements for two years, would cover seven plants on Minnesota’s Iron Range and one plant in Michigan.
The lawsuit, led by the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and the Natural Resources Defense Council, filed in February, contends that Trump’s order violates the Clean Air Act. While the federal act does allow for a presidential exemption in cases where technology to meet the new standard is not available, the EPA has already cited available “cost-effective” technologies that would allow the taconite operations to comply with the required mercury reductions. Some of those technologies, such as wet scrubbers, have been used by taconite plants for decades.
President Trump also cited national security grounds in his proclamation, because taconite is used in the production of domestic steel, but plaintiffs in the case argue that such broad rationale doesn’t meet the narrow requirements of the exemption provision on the law and that the claim is simply a pretext to allow the administration to delay implementation while it seeks to repeal the 2024 rule administratively. Over the past year, the Trump administration has worked consistently to allow more air pollutants in the U.S., including mercury.
Among those cited in the suit is Craig Beveroth, a Lake Vermilion resident and a member of the MCEA. The lawsuit states that Beveroth has reduced his consumption of fish from Lake Vermilion due to concerns about mercury. Taconite plants in northeastern Minnesota now contribute just over half of the mercury released to the environment in the state. While most other industries in the state have significantly reduced their mercury emissions, the taconite industry has been a conspicuous holdout.
The administration is seeking to consolidate several similar cases filed by environmental groups seeking to block the president’s efforts to loosen pollution standards. The case is filed in the U.S. District Court in D.C. and is being overseen by Judge Christopher Cooper.