$186M cleanup transforms Minnesota lake, creates 14-acre fish habitat

For over a century, the industrial engines of Minnesota’s Iron Range drove the economy of Duluth. Raw iron ore moved down through the St. Louis River basin, feeding massive manufacturing plants along the shore. But that industrial output came with a long-term environmental tax. At Spirit Lake, which is a broad stretch of the river just upstream from Lake Superior, decades of heavy manufacturing left a quiet disaster resting on the riverbed. What looked like open water from the shore was actually a repository for toxic waste, trapping dangerous chemicals beneath the surface and cutting off local residents from an ecosystem that should have been a community sanctuary. But in 2020, a transformative effort began. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a $186 million cleanup and habitat restoration project was launched under the Great Lakes Legacy Act. This made it one of the most significant environmental recoveries in the region. Four years later, the results speak for themselves: 1.3 million cubic yards of contaminated material remediated, protective caps placed over 96 acres of aquatic habitat, and a new 14-acre shallow sheltered bay created to support...