Tribe continues work to recover and test barrels of military waste in Lake Superior
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.
Good for you, Red Cliff Band! Apparently the military doesn’t think their stuff stinks.
What if a Russian Cargo plane dumped a load of military waste in Lake Superior? Would they write that off too? Or does the Russian stuff stink more than ours?
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What if a united states train derailed caring illegal chemicals in a illegal fashion. From some were in ohio. Shut up about Russia before you’re nuked by your own country.
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Three things:
First, the United states and Russia have been Allies since the fall of the soviet union in 1991 so talk all you want about RUSSIA you won’t get nuked.
Second, It would have been very impractical for the U.S.S.R. to drop military waste all the way in lake superior. Especially in that particular super tense era of the Cold War when they could have deposited their waste somewhere in the Yukon because they still owned Alaska up until the mid 1950′s.
and Finally, Go Lake Superior people! WE NEED TO TAKE ACTION BEFORE WE GET TO ANOTHER PUGET SOUND, OR CHESAPEAKE BAY!
Thumbs up if your a level headed individual ready to take action and do whatever we can to save our world.
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