Progress Made At 2 Toxic Hot Spots In Michigan
TRAVERSE CITY (AP) - State environmental regulators say cleanup progress has been made at two Michigan sites on a decades-old list of the most heavily polluted locations around the Great Lakes.
The U.S. and Canada designated 43 toxic hot spots in the region in the late 1980s. Among them are Muskegon Lake and the Upper Peninsula's Deer Lake.
Among the problems that put Deer Lake on the list were deformities or reproductive problems for wildlife. Another was excessive algae.
This week, the Department of Environmental quality says those problems have been largely solved, although more work remains to be done at Deer Lake.
The DEQ also says enough sediment polluted with mercury and other toxins has been removed from Muskegon Lake over the past 10 years to lift restrictions on navigational dredging.
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