Delay Is Harm: Community Members Launch Hunger Strike to Close North Minneapolis Trash Burner
Natasha Villanueva, hunger striker, speaks at press conference on March 24.
After 37 years of testimony, organizing, and broken promises, residents say they have no choice but to put their bodies on the line.
MINNEAPOLIS — On Tuesday, March 24, members of the Zero Burn Coalition announced the "Freedom to Breathe" hunger strike, demanding that the Hennepin County Board take a public vote to close the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) trash burner and set a firm closure date of December 31, 2027. Hennepin County owns and operates HERC and maintains the authority to shut down the facility.
"Last year, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I have no genetic history of this disease in my family. What I do have is a lifetime of living surrounded by polluters," said Audua Pugh, Executive Director of the Jordan Area Community Council. "The people going on hunger strike are doing what I cannot. They are doing this on my behalf — on behalf of every person in this community whose body has absorbed what this board has allowed to keep burning."
Audua Pugh speaks at hunger strike launch event.
"No one should have to fight for clean air. But in North Minneapolis, people have been fighting for it for 37 years while this board looks the other way," said Nazir Khan, Executive Director of the Minnesota Environmental Justice Table and hunger striker. "The board’s own contingency plan requires a vote to move forward. Nothing happens automatically. No vote has been called. The board has been misleading this community about that for two years."
HERC has operated in a densely populated, majority-Black neighborhood since 1989 — 17 years past its intended closure date. It is the largest industrial source of air pollution in Hennepin County. EPA modeling links its particulate emissions alone to 1–2 premature deaths and $11–24 million in annual health damages. Children in ZIP code 55411 go to the emergency room for asthma at the highest rate in Minnesota.
"In July 2023, I lost my beloved hairstylist — a proud North Sider who lived just minutes away from HERC. She suffered an asthma attack and never recovered. She will never see her granddaughter graduate from high school. Her death is why I am going on hunger strike," said Janet Kitui, Hennepin County District 6 constituent and hunger striker.
Janet Kitui, hunger striker.
Scientists and public health experts say the county has systematically misled the public about HERC's risks. "The county incorrectly claims that people closest to HERC face no greater risk than those farther away," said Doug Gurian-Sherman, former EPA risk assessment scientist and author of a 2025 study on HERC’s health risks. "Our independent analysis of all of their data — including the parts they left out — found that people closest to HERC are at several times higher risk of cancer and other diseases than those farther away. When the authority to act exists, inaction is a decision. Delay is harm."
In 2023, the County Board passed a resolution to develop a closure plan — but took no vote to actually close the facility. The county's own plan states that a Board action is required before closure can begin. That vote has never happened. The county's compliance officer confirmed in a late 2024 email obtained through a public data request that there are no plans to terminate operation.
Nazir Khan, hunger striker, speaks at press conference.
"This toxic burner was supposed to run for 20 years and it has continued to poison us for nearly 40," said Natasha Villanueva, Jordan neighborhood resident and hunger striker. "Chair Fernando, I implore you to be true to your word and walk with us on a path where one antiquated, polluting facility becomes a zero waste hub — a robust network of sustainable solutions that turns waste into wealth for our community."
Former State Representative Karen Clark, who led the nation's first cumulative impact environmental justice mapping effort, connected the hunger strike to decades of documented harm. "What is happening to this community is not an accident and it is not a coincidence. The county board has the authority to act on this one — and they already have a plan. Their words. Their obligation."
Former State Rep. Karen Clark speaks at hunger strike launch.
The Zero Burn Coalition — made up of more than 70 organizations — is demanding the Board take a public vote to close HERC, set a firm closure date, and establish a community-led task force for a just transition to zero waste. When HERC closes, the site can become something this community has earned: a zero-waste innovation hub with composting, repair, reuse, community space, and good jobs for the people who have lived with this harm the longest. The Board has the authority to act today. No new legislation is required.
Note: The coalition previously paused the hunger strike announcement in response to Operation Metro Surge — the largest federal immigration enforcement operation in U.S. history, which swept through the same communities living in HERC's shadow. Community members say they are no longer willing to wait for the perfect moment to act. #FreedomToBreathe