BNSF Allouez Taconite Facility in Superior Lays Off 31 Workers

 SUPERIOR, Wis. – Half of the employees at the BNSF Allouez Taconite Facility were laid off effective Saturday, according to the Transportation Communication Union.

Union spokespeople said Friday 31 out of 62 employees will be laid off at the Superior facility. The BNSF facility loads taconite pellets aboard lake freighters for shipment to steel mills on lower Lake Michigan.

Northern News Now reached out to BNSF about the layoffs. They released the following statement:

“As a business tied to the industrial and consumer economies, we must always adapt our resources to meet demand. To ensure our long-term success, it is necessary to make workforce decisions that respond to a complex and ever-changing freight environment.

“While these decisions are never easy, we must position ourselves to continue providing the industry-leading service our customers expect. We will continue to reevaluate our needs at this location to ensure we remain aligned with evolving market conditions and operational priorities.”

On March 20, Cleveland-Cliffs announced plans to lay off approximately 600 workers at two taconite mines on the Iron Range. The layoffs are the result of the steel manufacturer’s plans to temporarily close its Minorca Mine in Virginia and also temporarily idle part of Hibbing Taconite Co. in Minnesota.

Northern News Now

Harbor Dredging Uncertain With Federal Spending Cuts

Grand Haven, MI – Harbor dredging efforts along the Lake Michigan shoreline are uncertain right now with federal spending cuts. Congresswoman Hillary Scholten of Grand Rapids says this is as ports are increasingly busy. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducts dredging operations every few years in Grand Haven, Holland, Muskegon, South Haven, and St. Joseph.

 Listen to the story here: https://wghn.com/2025/04/11/harbor-dredging-uncertain-with-federal-spending-cuts/

Anxiety increases over possibility that Duluth EPA Great Lakes lab could close

 DULUTH ‐ Anxieties are mounting that a water pollution laboratory buttressing Lake Superior’s North Shore is slated to be closed, potentially terminating work for dozens of scientists and shuttering an economic engine for northern Minnesota.

So far, no closure to the Environmental Protection Agency laboratory has been announced.

But on Tuesday, U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith sent a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin asking a series of questions about rumored cuts and offering a blunt warning.

“Firing career scientists and shutting down a lab that leads the nation in freshwater toxicology research would have huge impacts on Minnesota and all Americans,” wrote Klobuchar and Smith.

Molly Vaseliou, a spokeswoman for the EPA, provided the Star Tribune with a statement that the agency is taking “exciting steps” toward “organizational improvements.”

The agency did not comment if any job cuts were coming to the lab.

Last month, the New York Times reported that officials with the EPA introduced a plan to cut more than 1,000 jobs across the federal agency’s research arm as part of a cost-cutting campaign.

Anxiety has mounted in Duluth since. People protested outside the facility, worried that water quality and other environmental effects would be affected with a closure or cutback.

The Duluth laboratory first opened in 1967 as the National Water Quality Laboratory before being subsumed by EPA in 1970.

Scientists use water from nearby Lake Superior to test effects of chemicals such as PFAS on freshwater ecosystems, and also the effects of invasive species and pollution.

In total, according to the facility’s website, more than 170 people are employed at the field office, producing more than $15 million in revenue through salaries and contracts for the region.

A 2018 University of Minnesota Duluth study found the lab’s economic impact to the region then was $24 million annually, considering employee spending.

Closure of a lab that employs highly and specifically trained scientists who may not find similar work locally could force the workers to move, said Monica Haynes, director of UMD’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research.

Those jobs are there to fulfill a mission set by Congress in the Clean Water Act of 1972, said research biologist David Bolgrien, who retired from the Duluth EPA lab in 2022. Along with freshwater quality research, the Duluth lab helps states ensure swimmable, fishable, drinkable water. If that work is not done, it would be hard for states to meet federal criteria, he said.

Minnesota Star Tribune

Help Wanted: Isle Royale ferry seeks engineers, deckhand

2025 “Know Your Ships” available now