Eden Prairie, Minnesota tonight voted to ban coal tar pavement sealants. The close-in suburb of the Twin Cities (population over 60,000) has a history of high marks for quality of life. This action marks the 18th community in Minnesota to pass a ban since White Bear Lake became the first.
During the discussion of the ordinance at the April 17, 2012 meeting, City Manager Rick Getschow explained how this is both an environmental issue with contaminated ponds, but also an economic one. The State of Minnesota has pond clean-up grants available for communities that have passed bans. There was no opposition to this ordinance and was passed unanimously.
The ban is expected to go into effect immediately.