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The site of a former service station in Paynesville, where a petroleum leak was discovered in the 1980s and forced the city to close two of its wells. The city received state funding in 2015 for a water treatment system. Courtesy of city of Paynesville
A longtime employee of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has filed a whistleblower lawsuit, claiming he faced retaliation for raising concerns about how the agency handles petroleum leak sites.
Mark Toso resigned in June after nearly 30 years at the MPCA, the last decade as a hydrologist in the petroleum remediation program. In November, Toso sued the MPCA in Ramsey County District Court, alleging that the agency penalized him for voicing concerns that the program was failing to protect groundwater and endangering the public.
"I'm hoping this lawsuit brings changes to the agency because they're sorely needed,” Toso said in an interview in December. [Continue reading]
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