Funds OKed For Removing Mine Sands From Lake Superior Harbor
DETROIT (AP) — The federal government has come up with money for removing additional waste mining sands from a section of Lake Superior off Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula.
The Environmental Protection Agency is providing $946,000 to dredge stamp sands from an ancient riverbed north of Buffalo Reef.
The coarse, black sands were generated in the early 1900s as a byproduct of copper processing and dumped in the lake. They're drifting toward the 2,220-acre reef, an important fish spawning area.
EPA previously gave $3 million to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to design and carry out the dredging.
Officials say the extra funding will pay to dredge an additional 50,000 cubic yards of the sands, bringing the total being removed to 157,500 cubic yards.
The Corps says the work will be done next year.
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