Killing Cass Lake | Documentary

Hunterbrook Media’s investment affiliate, Hunterbrook Capital, does not have any positions related to this film at the time of publication. Positions may change at any time. See full disclosures below.

Decades of contamination. Families displaced. A neighborhood erased. Tribal lifeways disrupted.

Alarming public health data led Hunterbrook to investigate the St. Regis Superfund site located on the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe reservation in Cass Lake, Minnesota.

Leo Anderson bought a camera to document what the contaminated site was doing to his hometown. His tapes sat in storage for 20 years – until now.

Killing Cass Lake explores the history and lasting impact of the former wood treatment plant on the local community and the Leech Lake Band. More than 40 years after the EPA added the site to its National Priorities List, cleanup remains unfinished and the health, cultural and economic harms endure.

Hunterbrook analyzed 13 years of Minnesota death records (2011–2024, MN Department of Health individual-level data). Our analysis found:

• Life expectancy in Cass Lake is 17 years shorter than the Minnesota average
• Half of Cass Lake residents die before age 65, versus roughly one in five statewide
• Among communities adjacent to other Superfund sites across Minnesota, Cass Lake residents die youngest

While our analysis cannot conclusively prove a causal link between any single death and the toxins at the site, decades of persistent contamination have harmed the community in myriad ways.

Local residents feel that the current owner of the former plant, International Paper, has evaded meaningful accountability by delaying, litigating, and trying to limit what it pays for cleanup. International Paper did not respond to Hunterbrook’s repeated requests for comment.

Despite years of pushback from International Paper, the Band and local residents continue fighting for a proper cleanup.

This is the latest investigation in Hunterbrook Media’s series Poisoned USA. For decades, companies have polluted communities and ecosystems across the U.S. We've built a nationwide database to expose this harm and drive accountability. After reporting from a dozen states across the country, this investigation takes us to Minnesota.

–

Leo Anderson contributed videography, voiceovers, photos and reporting. Leo grew up on and around what would become the St. Regis Superfund site in Cass Lake, where his grandparents, cousins and many friends also lived. As a kid, he played with family and friends on contaminated ground and around contaminated water. In the early 2000s, he began filming the people he grew up with so their stories wouldn’t be lost with them.

Dhruv Patel contributed data analysis and visualization. Motion Graphics by Blue Panda Collective.

Authors

Laura Wadsten is an investigative journalist specializing in healthcare. She began her career reporting on antitrust and healthcare as a Correspondent for The Capitol Forum, a premium financial publication. Laura was a Hodson Scholar and Editor-in-Chief of The News-Letter at Johns Hopkins University, where she earned a B.A. in Medicine, Science & the Humanities.

Nick Hampson is a British-American film producer, director and editor, most known for his 2020 Emmy award nominated documentary, In The Cold Dark Night, which aired on ABC and Hulu in the US, and SKY in the UK. The film was produced by RadicalMedia, and exec produced by Biz Stone (founder of Twitter) and Greg Yaitanes (producer of L.O.S.T, Grey’s Anatomy). Nick also directed the 2017 political documentary, EuroTrump (Hulu/VICELAND), about notorious, controversial right wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders. The film premiered at DOC NYC and Sheffield Doc Fest. Nick produces, directs and edits all of Hunterbrook’s film content, including the 2026 short documentary, Killing Cass Lake. Nick is a graduate from the University of Oxford, where he studied Music, and when not making films he’s touring internationally as a pop artist under his pseudonym, Now Ex. Nick is based in London.

‍

Editors

Wendy Nardi joined Hunterbrook after working as a developmental and copy editor for academic publishers, government agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and international scholars. She has been a researcher and writer for documentary series and a regular contributor to The Boston Globe. Her other publications range from magazine features to fiction in literary journals. She has an M.A. in Philosophy from Columbia University and a B.A. in English from the University of Virginia.