Judge orders St. Paul metal refinery to pay worker safety fines
The Minnesota Department of Labor found the business failed to offer eye protection or safety training to its workers.
ST. PAUL – Judge Adam Yang ordered W E Mowrey Co. to pay a $14,437 fine following a failure to pay penalties after several inspections of its University Ave. facilities found a litany of work place violations.
The inspections, from June 25, 2024 to August 23, 2024, found that the business, founded in 1899, failed to offer face protection and eye washing stations for its workers in both its smelting and refining areas.
Metal refining exposes workers to splash hazards from molten metal and corrosive chemicals used in the refining process.
The business failed to pay several of those penalties after the department fined it in September 2024, resulting in additional penalties in the department’s Oct. 14, 2025 filing in Ramsey County District Court.
Other workplace violations by W E Mowrey Co., according to the Department of Labor:
- Failure to probably label hazardous chemicals like Nitric Acid and Hydrochloric Acid or provide its workers with information about the physical and health hazards of those chemicals.
- Failure to provide safety data sheets of hazardous chemicals
- Failure to provide safety training to workers regarding hazardous chemicals
- Failure to develop and implement a written hazard communication program
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