GRANT TOWNSHIP, MI-- About 400,000 gallons of untreated wastewater leaked into the Lake Superior watershed from a Keweenaw County lagoon earlier this month.
The Daily Mining Gazette says the release happened sometime between March 1st and 5th in Grant Township. Operators believe the wastewater flowed under the lagoon, through the soil and to the bedrock. They saw the bedrock seeping along the shoreline into Lake Superior.
A Department of Environmental Quality geologist doesn’t think there’s a risk to the drinking water supply, as township wells are in the opposite direction of how the groundwater flows.
The township reported the incident to the Western U.P. Health Department. The department didn’t take water samples because contact with Lake Superior in that area is limited until summer. Officials say the water has been diluted by the lake, and there’s little threat to the public.
The township is working to replace the lagoon liner.
