WSCO launches campaign to clean up Southport

By Jake Spitzack | Staff Writer | October 2026

A string of homes along Robie Street East and Winifred Street East are at the center of the West Side Community Organization’s newest campaign to improve living conditions in the area around the Southport Industrial Park. The 99-acre business park includes 15 private businesses that specialize in everything from metal recycling to waste management, and residents report the area is notorious for pumping out stench-ridden smoke, kicking up exorbitant amounts of dust, and making a racket nearly all hours of the day. Studies have found that the rate for asthma-related emergency hospital visits is twice as high in the West Side (zip code 55107) compared to the metro area and greater Minnesota, and an air quality monitor installed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency near Out Lady of Guadalupe church shows air pollution in Southport exceeded safe levels for humans on multiple occasions in 2023.

Perhaps the more immediate problem is the fact that the homes are accessible by just one road – Barge Channel Road – which can be completely blocked by traffic backed up from trains crossing the tracks just past Robie Street. This means emergency vehicles may be unable to reach the homes if needed. It’s estimated that an average of 13 trains block Barge Channel Road each day for up to approximately 20 minutes per crossing, and the issue can be even worse during rush hour traffic jams on Concord Street. Idling vehicles stuck in traffic further contribute to air quality concerns.

WSCO’s first order of business for the campaign was releasing a short video highlighting the issue and sending a letter to the business they say is most responsible for the poor air quality. WSCO is now calling for the St. Paul City Council to establish a dust ordinance to help mitigate dust from the gravel road leading through the industrial park. They are also asking residents to support the campaign by taking the West Siders for Environmental Justice Pledge at wsco.org.

Notably, the MPCA brought its mobile monitor trailer to the West Side in September to gain deeper data on the severity of the issue. Likewise, the St. Paul Port Authority is currently studying the feasibility of creating a bridge or tunnel for vehicles to bypass the railroad crossing. Work began in January and a conceptual design is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The study is being funded by a grant from the United States Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration, however construction work will require additional funding.

“Residents have stated exactly what they want from that [feasibility study] process, but it doesn’t seem like the Port Authority is interested in pursuing the option,” said former WSCO board member and lead organizer for the WSEJ campaign Miguel Brito. “Residents feel like they’re just a box that is being checked along this process.”

Brito said WSCO garnered resident feedback and the preferred solution was to close off Barge Channel Road at the railroad crossing and build a new street connecting the portion going through the industrial park to Eaton Street, located to the north. This would reroute industrial vehicles away from the residential area and make it so traffic isn’t caused by train crossings. However, he said the port authority already had a few options of their own prior to getting resident feedback, and that the residents’ option wouldn’t be seriously considered because the St. Paul Downtown Airport owns a portion of Eaton Street and has a gate on the street which could pose security concerns for the airport.

“Residents were disappointed to hear this as they felt that these conversion between agencies were had with no participation for the community that actually lives in the area and would be directly affected by the decisions made regarding this study,” said Brito. “Residents were not convinced by the explanation given by the St. Paul Port Authority and are currently planning to meet with airport leadership to hear directly from them regarding this matter.”

WSCO first brought attention to the poor air quality in the Southport neighborhood about 10 years ago, but momentum fizzled after the City of St. Paul completed the Southport Industrial District Study in 2017. The study recommended several measures to improve air quality, including addressing dust, truck idling and diesel emissions, encouraging residents to register smoke and odor complaints with the MPCA, and encouraging Union Pacific Railroad to minimize times its trains block Barge Channel Road.

“Unfortunately, it’s a pattern in this area, a lot of apathy happens because all these studies are done and all this data is collected, and all the government agencies are able to tell us is, ‘Well, we need more information, we need more information,’” said Brito. “It leads to residents being like, ‘We’re suffering. What else do you need?’ So, after that 2017 study, I don’t think there was a lot done around the issue until 2024.”

The Southport Industrial Park serves as a major connecting point for barges on the Mississippi, a national freight train line, and trucks serving the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota. Eleven of the fifteen businesses are tenants of the St. Paul Port Authority, whose mission is to expand the City’s tax base, advance sustainable and equitable development, and advocate for river commerce.

Brito said this campaign is in some ways the culmination of decades of advocacy work for the West Side. He pointed to a 1935 city planning map by the City of St. Paul which identifies modern day Southport as a “Slum” with “Jews. Mexicans. Negroes.” He says this proves there was intentional disparity and racism toward the West Side even from the early days, and the neighborhood is still experiencing negative living conditions because of it. Additionally, in the 1960s, the City of St. Paul forced residents of the Southport area and greater West Side Flats neighborhood to move out of their homes, citing poor living conditions due to severe annual flooding of the Mississippi River. However, after demolishing nearly 600 homes, the city shortly thereafter built a floodwall to protect the area and created the Southport Industrial Park. The 1935 map can be found through the Minnesota Historical Society by searching “Social saga of two cities; an ecological and statistical study of social trends in Minneapolis and St. Paul, by Calvin F. Schmid.” It should be noted that the map also refers to several other areas north of the Mississippi as “slums.”

“We’re very conscious about city tax revenue and that it’s a real reality [of the situation],” said Brito. “Ideally, we would love for the entire industrial district to go away but realistically, we’re looking at how we can build a foundation. We want to plant that seed and care for it so that maybe 50 years down the line residents can see the fruit and phase out more business…. The hope is that, yes, we can move something in the short-term but also create a framework for the future Westside residents to be able to maybe take it a step further.”