Chicago Tribune

Lake Michigan Should Not Suffer A Daily Dose Of Tons Of Coal Ash

October 2, 2011 by The Political E...

The routine dumping of coal ash into Lake Michigan every day during the shipping season from the boilers of the Manitowoc, WI-to-Ludington, MI steam-powered ferry gets Sunday, page-one exposure in the Chicago Tribune.

Boaters who throw their garbage into the lake would and should get cited, but the Badger gets a pass for burning 55 tons a day and discharging overboard 3.8 tons of coal ash - - and, in fact, the pollution that comes out of the smokestack even has a separate legislative exemption from Wisconsin lawmakers.

How big a dose of pollution is this?

The Trib says..".the Badger dumps nearly 4 tons of coal ash into Lake Michigan — waste concentrated with arsenic, lead, mercury and other toxic metals. During its spring-to-fall season, federal records show, the amount far exceeds the coal, iron and limestone waste jettisoned by all 125 other big ships on the Great Lakes combined."

In the name of nostalgia for the last steamer working Lake Michigan?