LAKE LINDEN, MI — How do you pull 400 deteriorating metal drums of mining waste off the bottom of a deep inland lake?
Very carefully.
In September, federal contractors will begin a pilot cleanup project in Torch Lake near Houghton, where hundreds of scattered metal barrels with leftover copper mining waste have littered the Upper Peninsula lakebed for decades.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to figure out the best method for removing the drums, as well as other debris and contaminated sediment which are helping drive fish consumption advisories for species like bass, pike and walleye.
The agency is holding a project open house from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Lake Linden-Hubbell High School on Tuesday, Aug. 20.
“It’s very unusual…
