Case Study: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency achieves faster, clearer, more transparent data insights with Tableau Software

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Clears View of Data

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) protects the state’s environment and is committed to transparency and accountability, so it created a Data Analysis team to handle frequent, high‑visibility information requests from staff, policymakers and the public. The team struggled with scattered data across Oracle, SQL Server, Esri, Access, Excel and PostgreSQL, slow, error‑prone spreadsheet workflows, and the need to produce reproducible, consistent answers for hearings and public inquiries.

The team adopted Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server to connect disparate sources, build reusable visualizations and publish interactive workbooks to the agency’s 900 employees. Analysts now produce automated, reproducible dashboards (about 2,600 workbooks to date), respond faster to ad‑hoc questions, save roughly 30–60 minutes per request, and achieve measurable ROI within weeks—improving productivity, consistency and public transparency.

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Leslie Goldsmith

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency