Southport

Southport is not just storage yards, chemical labs, and processing facilities.

It’s home to families, students, and churchgoers. For decades, West Side residents in the Southport area have had to fight for their right to a clean environment, safety, and dignity alongside industrial development. Community health and quality of life should be as important as shipping schedules or profit margins.

Decisions about Southport must center the people who live there every day.

What is Southport?

The Southport Industrial District is a 99-acre business center zoned for general industry. It sits on the Mississippi River just south of the Saint Paul Municipal Airport. It is owned by the Saint Paul Port Authority and private businesses, with 11 of the 15 companies along Barge Channel Road operating as Port Authority tenants. A barge channel, dug in 1964, supports river commerce.

Directly next to this industrial district is a family neighborhood, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and GAP School. Traffic in and out of Southport has steadily increased since the 1970s—trucks, barge, major highway, and rail all converging on a neighborhood that is also home to families, a school, and church. For decades, residents of the West Side have organized for environmental justice in response to Southport’s impacts.

↪ Learn more about the Southport neighborhood’s organizing history

Current Issues and Community Concerns

Emergency Exit

The single access point into Southport—Barge Channel Road—remains a glaring vulnerability. When trains cross the intersection, traffic is halted. Observers have documented trucks backing up to Concord Street and even Cesar Chavez, creating congestion and diesel emissions from idling vehicles. More importantly, when the road is blocked, fire trucks, ambulances, and other emergency responders cannot reach the area.

The City’s Emergency Management Department, housed within the Police Department, coordinates response efforts to major incidents such as hazardous material releases, severe weather, or acts of terrorism. However, the City does not maintain geographic evacuation plans for neighborhoods. Evacuation decisions are made on a case-by-case basis depending on the event. Emergency Management leaders have acknowledged that while planning could be done for specific zones like Southport, staff and resources have not been allocated. A 2016 estimate put the cost of a hazard mitigation plan for Southport at approximately $70,000. GAP School, with Port Authority support, applied for an EPA Environmental Justice grant in 2017 to fund such a plan, but the application was unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, trains traveling through Southport carry a range of cargo, including automobiles, coal, lumber, grain, fertilizer, chemicals, and hazardous materials. Federal law requires railroads to transport hazardous substances, and for security reasons, railroads cannot publicly disclose the specific contents of shipments. While the probability of a major rail accident is low, the consequences of such an event would be severe, especially with Southport’s current access limitations.

Air Quality Monitoring

Southport has been under the microscope of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) for years – and for good reason.

⏵ In 2014, a temporary MPCA monitor on the roof of Our Lady of Guadalupe found elevated levels of arsenic, formaldehyde, and fine particles, even if they technically met standards.

⏵ In 2020, MPCA installed a permanent monitor to further investigate these findings. Since then, the secondary TSP daily standard (which measures the pollution limit that affects visibility, crops, animals, and buildings) has been exceeded every single year. More alarming: in 2023, the primary TSP daily health standard (the pollution limit that protects children, the elderly, and people with asthma) was breached more than once.

Although MPCA data indicate that the West Side overall does not have higher average air pollution than other metro ZIP codes, spikes exceeding health standards have been recorded here but not at nearby monitoring sites. Health outcomes in the neighborhood tell the real story. From 2017–2021, asthma-related emergency visits in ZIP code 55107 were more than twice as high as the state and metro averages.

According to MPCA staff, none of the businesses along Barge Channel Road currently hold air emissions permits, nor do they have stacks that emit from combustion sources. Instead, air quality concerns stem from dust generated by material handling activities, truck traffic, and stockpiles.

What’s Being Done?

Several actions are underway to address long-standing concerns in Southport. In 2025, Southport action meetings have brought together key stakeholders—including representatives from City Council, the MPCA, the Port Authority, WSCO, and Emergency Management—to revisit and advance WSCO's demands listed in the Board Resolution regarding the Southport Industrial District.

Weekly street sweeping on Barge Channel Road, currently under contract through the end of the year, is showing early signs of reducing dust levels.

Meanwhile, Southport residents have begun meeting regularly to share lived experiences, document ongoing harms, and organize a community-led campaign for change.

Get Involved

Southport neighbors are organizing and they need your support.

⏵ If you’re a West Sider ready to stand in solidarity, we invite you to attend a Land Use Action Circle meeting and sign up for our e-newsletter to stay informed. You’ll be the first to know when we call on community members to show up and speak out.

⏵ If you live near the Southport Industrial District and want to get more directly involved:

👉 Join the Southport Resident Action Team! Be part of a core group of deeply involved residents leading the effort to transform our neighborhood. We meet weekly on Mondays from 7:15–8:15 PM (mostly virtually, occasionally in person). Connect with our Southport organizer, Miguel, to learn more.

👉 File a Complaint – Use the MPCA complaint form to report noise, dust, odor, or safety issues. Every report strengthens our case for change.

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