In the 1990s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pulled 9 barrels of military waste out of Lake Superior. Hundreds remain submerged. Photo: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
By Jeff Gillies
jeffgillies@gmail.com
Great Lakes Echo
July 28, 2009
The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa will update officials and residents next week on its efforts to pull 70 barrels of military waste out of Lake Superior next summer, the Duluth News Tribune reports.
The U.S. Army dumped as many as 1400 barrels between 1959 and 1962 to keep bomb designs out of Soviet hands. A contractor hired by the Red Cliff Band this past fall found 591 barrels using sonar and submarines.
A 2008 report from the Minnesota Department of Health found that the barrels posed no likely threat to human health. But Red Cliff officials want the barrels tested for chemicals that could contaminate fish.
More info on the Lake Superior barrels from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency here.