Activists Allege Hennepin County Surveilled Opponents of Minneapolis Trash Incinerator
Activist groups allege that newly released emails show Hennepin County officials surveilled environmental justice activists who were working to close a controversial waste incinerator in north Minneapolis. The Guardian reported on the allegations on October 29, 2026.
The groups, including the Zero Burn Coalition and the Minnesota Environmental Justice Table, obtained the emails through a Freedom of Information Act request, the US process for requesting government records. They published some of the emails in a report.
The facility is the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center, known as HERC. It burns garbage to generate energy and incinerates 365,000 tons of trash each year. The emails concern efforts by activists to close it.
According to the groups, the emails show that Hennepin County sent an employee who is also an environmental justice activist to collect intelligence on activists. A county employee presenting himself as an ally allegedly tried to learn the identity of a whistleblower, as shown in a recording. Other employees were allegedly sent to build close relationships with activist groups in order to gather information, and the county allegedly developed reports and dossiers on local environmental justice leaders.
Environmental groups have also alleged that the county monitored activist events and closed-door meetings to learn about protest plans against the trash burner, as KSTP reported.
The groups allege that information collected was shared among top county environmental officials. In some instances, they say, it was passed to industry, including the company that owns the incinerator. They further allege that information gathered through surveillance was used to help kill state-level environmental legislation opposed by the incinerator's leadership.
Minneapolis organizer Audua Pugh was among those surveilled, according to the allegations. Pugh questioned county leadership about the matter during a board meeting.
Hennepin County told the Guardian that the allegations mischaracterize the county's community engagement work and staff responsibilities.
The county has previously said that closing HERC is complex and involves operational, legal, financial and environmental considerations.
