Group hosts open day for upcoming Torch Lake pilot study

LAKE LINDEN, Michigan (WLUC) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) and Honeywell International are preparing a study to help them clean up Torch Lake.

The groups held an open house at Lake Linden-Hubbell High School on Tuesday afternoon to educate the public.

The study will examine how to remove 400 barrels of mining waste from various depths in Torch Lake, ranging from 20 to 80 feet.

“Torch Lake has a long history of mining waste in the lake,” said Heather Williams of the USEPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office. “And this project in particular is different from any Superfund cleanup work that has been done in the past. This is the Great Lakes Legacy Act program. So we at the USEPA have been working with Honeywell on the cleanup of Torch Lake since 2019.”

The contractors will spend four days each at three different locations in the Hubbell processing area, monitoring how effectively the barrels can be safely removed.

“There will be barges and cranes on the lake in late September and early October,” Williams said. “So we just need to let them know what this work entails, and the results of this study will help us plan a larger cleanup.”

Williams says barrels and contaminated debris collected during the study will be disposed of.

According to Williams, this is something the community has been asking for.

“We’ve heard at many of these meetings, ‘When are you going to address the barrels?'” Williams said. “A lot of people are happy that it’s finally starting. But there are also concerns: ‘Will there be any impacts to the lake while we’re doing the work?’ That’s definitely a reason to do a pilot study in the first place.”

The results of the study will be evaluated over the course of the winter in order to plan future remediation measures.

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