'Killing Cass Lake' documentary explores human toll of contaminated Superfund site

CASS LAKE — For Leo Anderson, the St. Regis Paper Co. Superfund site in Cass Lake is not just the focus of a new documentary. It is part of his family and community's story of living with decades of contamination.

Anderson grew up in a neighborhood south of the railroad tracks in Cass Lake, near the wood treatment plant that operated from 1957-85. As a child, he played with family and friends on land and near water with contamination.

"They were literally putting these stinky, steamy logs as close to someone's house as they could legally get them, just so they would force people out of the neighborhood," Anderson said. "That's pretty much what happened with us."

Over the years, he lost many family members and friends to cancer.

A new documentary from Hunterbrook Media, Killing Cass Lake, examines the legacy of the St. Regis Paper Co. Superfund site and its impact on the people who live in the area.

Anderson and Hunterbrook journalist Laura Wadsten, who is originally from Brainerd, joined the KAXE Morning Show and talked about how the documentary came together and what it revealed about an under-told story.

Community stories

Those in the investigative newsroom Hunterbrook Media were already interested in investigating the St. Regis site and its impact on Cass Lake when the team came across Anderson's own work.

In the early 2000s, Anderson began documenting the site and the people who lived nearby. He eventually posted his footage on YouTube, preserving images and stories from a community that has changed dramatically over time.

By the time Wadsten and her colleagues began reporting, many of those who worked and lived near the plant had died. That left fewer people available to interview. Anderson's footage offered firsthand stories the journalists couldn't easily recreate.

His work became an important part of Killing Cass Lake, giving the documentary a personal perspective and authenticity.

"I hope the world can see what happened to these people, to my community, and my family," Anderson said. "Every day goes by and there's another funeral or someone else dying prematurely. I just don't want that to happen in silence."

Local News

A Superfund site in Cass Lake is spreading, disrupting the tribe’s way of life

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Little progress has been made despite 40 years of cleanup on Leech Lake Reservation. Locals fear for the health of surrounding lakes and the Mississippi River downstream.

Investigating the human toll

Wadsten examined 13 years of Minnesota public health data as part of their investigation. Cass Lake stood out.

They found:

• Life expectancy in Cass Lake is 17 years shorter than the Minnesota average
• Half of Cass Lake residents die before age 65, versus 1 in 5 statewide
• Among communities adjacent to other Superfund sites across Minnesota, Cass Lake residents die at the youngest ages

The findings raised troubling questions about the community's health and the legacy of contamination. As they began to investigate the story, Wadsten visited Cass Lake and spoke with many people from the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.

"The thing from that first visit that stuck with me was so many of the people I talked to said, 'Yeah, nobody lives over there anymore. And they've either moved away or they died,'" Wadsten said.

Telling the stories wasn't easy though, she said.

"It's hard, right? Because there has already been so much damage caused and you can't bring back the people who have already passed away."

The history of Cass Lake's Superfund site

The St. Regis wood treatment plant began operating in Cass Lake in 1957. The facility used chemicals including creosote and pentachlorophenol to treat wood. The site was added to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund National Priorities List in 1984.

Indigenous news outlet Buffalo's Fire collaborated with the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk to publish a story earlier this year examining how pollution from the Superfund site is disrupting the tribe's way of life.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health, workers and some nearby residents appear to have been exposed to toxic levels of pentachlorophenol while the plant was operating. The department has also identified environmental contamination from pesticides.

Buffalo's Fire reports the site sits between Highway 371 and Pike Bay. Groundwater pollution stretches east beneath the channel and is migrating to the surface. And recent testing shows that the groundwater pollution is spreading south to Fox Creek, which flows into Pike Bay.

The site has been the focus of cleanup efforts for decades, but concerns about effects on the surrounding community remain.

"The primary solution is a water treatment plant that takes groundwater from multiple wells on the site, filters out the toxic pollutants and pumps the treated water into Pike Bay Channel, which connects Pike Bay and Cass Lake," according to Buffalo's Fire. "The system is meant to clean the contaminated groundwater and prevent its spread."

But Leech Lake's Superfund coordinator Eric Krumm told Buffalo's Fire it's failing in both respects.

Additional information about the site's history and cleanup is available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as well as the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.

Documenting community experience

For Anderson, documenting his hometown of Cass Lake was a way to make sure the experiences of the people who lived there weren't forgotten.

Although Wadsten grew up in nearby Brainerd, she had never heard the full story of what happened at the St. Regis Paper Co. Superfund site.

Wadsten said, "I didn't know that used to be a whole neighborhood with families living there. You wouldn't know that. I hope this helps people remember."

By combining Anderson's footage with investigative reporting of Wadsten and Hunterbrook Media, Killing Cass Lake brings renewed attention to a place and a community whose experiences might otherwise go unseen.

Find out more and listen to the KAXE Morning Show conversation above.