Spirit Lake Near Duluth Reopens After $186 Million Toxic Cleanup

The Environmental Protection Agency in Washington on Jan. 4, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

A four-year, $186 million cleanup and restoration project at Spirit Lake near Duluth, Minnesota, is now complete, and the lake is open for public use, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on July 10.

The lake had been contaminated by decades of excessive pollution from industrial and shipping activities but, after extensive dredging and construction, it now includes protected aquatic habitat, a sheltered bay for fish spawning, a cleaner lake bottom, and a two-mile waterfront trail, the agency said in a July 10 statement.

The lake, south of the Morgan Park neighborhood in Duluth, had been labeled part of the St. Louis River Area of Concern.

U.S. Steel—which operated a steel mill known as the Duluth Works along the river between 1916 and 1981—shared the cost of the cleanup project with the EPA, which contributed $92 million overall.

That funding was provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative; the initiative provides federal funding to remedy contaminated sediment in the Great Lakes Areas of Concern.

The project was aimed at addressing toxic chemicals in the sediment, primarily polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals including lead, copper, and zinc, according to the EPA.

Those chemicals—which pose a threat to public health and contaminate fish and wildlife—settled into the sediment at the bottom of the river before modern pollution laws were introduced, according to the agency.

Work on the cleanup project began in 2020, and a total of 1.3 million cubic yards of material was remediated, with 460,000 cubic yards of sediment dredged and placed into two newly built disposal facilities at the site.

Protective caps were also placed over 96 acres of aquatic habitat, a new 42-acre shallow sheltered bay was created for fish spawning habitat, and a waterfront trail was built, according to the EPA.

“With today’s grand opening, we’re seeing firsthand how Great Lakes Legacy Act partnerships are transforming affected land and water into restored ecosystems and recreational opportunities,” Debra Shore, regional administrator for EPA Region 5, said.

Ms. Shore, who manages the Great Lakes National Program, said that a “significant portion of a legacy contaminated site has been cleaned up and restored to beautiful habitat.”

The EPA is currently working to restore the remaining 22 areas of concern across the United States, according to the agency, and funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law directly supports 11 of these cleanups, including those in the St. Louis River Area of Concern.

Nearly four years after the cleanup project first began, the EPA and U.S. Steel are “one step closer to restoring the entire St. Louis Area of Concern,” Ms. Shore said.