Summary sheets for each of the fourteen potential impairments to beneficial uses are accessible through the panel on the left.
This website was created by students Jim Gondec and Bill Beaver, who are both enrolled in the Environmental Policy Program at Michigan Technological University.
June 1998
The Torch Lake Area of Concern (AOC) is located on Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula and includes Torch Lake and the surrounding watershed.
This site has been identified as an AOC by the International Joint Commission, a body with representatives from both the U.S. and Canada and which has responsibility for overseeing the implementation of the Great Water Quality Agreement of 1978. The Torch Lake AOC is one of 43 such sites within the Great Lakes identified by the IJC. Our initial review of the Torch Lake AOC shows that there are relatively few impairments to beneficial uses associated with the site.
The lake itself is about 4 miles long and 1.5 miles wide, encompassing approximately 2,700 acres. Several small communities lie along the western edge of Torch Lake, including Lake Linden, Hubbel, and Mason. The area surrounding Torch Lake was once the scene of intensive copper mining, and the effects of mining activities can still be seen, with the most visible reminders being the tailings deposited along the shore of Torch Lake and the surrounding waterway.
The site came to the attention of environmental protection agencies in the 1970s. At that time, the discovery of tumors in fish raised concerns. These tumors included abnormal growths on the skin and livers of walleye and sauger. As a result, the Michigan Department of Health issued a fish consumption advisory on these two species in 1983. Soon after, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency placed the site on its Superfund list, and the IJC designated the site as an AOC. No causative agent was ever found for the tumors. In addition, the advisory was lifted in 1989 after fish samples indicated that the tumors were no longer present.
Currently, a Public Advisory Council (PAC) has been formed for the Torch Lake AOC for the purpose of drafting a Remedial Action Plan (RAP), which is required as part of the AOC process. This RAP will review the fourteen beneficial use impairments outlined in the AOC process.
Copper mining in the Torch Lake area began the 1860s and ended in the 1960s, resulting in over 5 million tons of elemental copper being produced. By the time mining activities ceased in 1968, over 200 million tons of copper ore tailings had been deposited into Torch Lake. The main impact of this past mining activity on Torch Lake has been the physical presence of these tailings. Other concerns associated with the discharge of waste material and the leaching of contaminants from tailings are relatively minor compared to other industrial sites.
Initially, copper-bearing rock was crushed and the copper was separated out using gravity methods. Leftover sands and tailings were discharged into the lake. The tailings were known to contain considerable amounts of copper. In 1915, it became economically feasible to extract copper contained in the submerged tailings using an ammonia leaching process. The residual material left from this process, which included a very fine material, was discharged back into the lake causing turbid conditions in the lake and an altered shoreline. Creosotes and xanthates were also used as part of a flotation process to increase the efficiency of this reclamation process.
The leaching process ceased in 1968. The Lake Linden leaching plant was salvaged in 1972. During this salvage operation, some leaching liquor was discharged to the lake.
In additon to the mining activities, there were also intensive copper reclamation efforts in the area. Copper containing scrap was shipped into the area, and the copper was recovered. Waste material created in this process was discharged into the lake. There is some concern that this area of the lake bottom contains elevated levels of contaminates.
Once a site has been identified as an AOC, the community must conduct a review of the site and prepare a Remedial Action Plan (RAP) that is supported by the community and addresses any concerns that exist. The local community is encouraged to form a public advisory council (PAC) to create the RAP.
The PAC is a group of local stakeholders whose main task is to write the remedial action plan (RAP) for the AOC. The PAC is comprised of the following interest groups: general public, shoreline land owners, local government, native americans, environmental / human health, business/industry, and sportsman's groups / general recreationalists. By creating a broad diverse membership, the interests of the entire community are sought for inclusion into the RAP.
To guide the PAC in its task of writing the RAP, the IJC has created a list of 14 beneficial use impairments. Each of these beneficial use impairments may or may not be applicable to a particular AOC. It is the PAC's job to determine which are applicable, and any remediation or monitoring efforts that would be required to address them. This will form the foundation for RAP.
The submittal of the RAP to the IJC is the first stage of the AOC process. The second stage consists of implementing the remediation efforts described in the RAP. The third stage consists of any follow-up monitoring as required in the RAP. This monitoring may be short- or long-term in nature. After the monitoring has been performed, then the AOC process is completed. The site is then eligible to be removed from the AOC list.
In addition to being an Area of Concern, Torch Lake is also a Superfund site. The Superfund program was established by the U.S. EPA for the purpose of cleaning up contaminated areas. The Superfund process is aimed more at protecting human health, rather than the health of the entire ecosystem. However, in the case of Torch Lake, the remedial investigation showed that little threat to human health existed.
Torch Lake was added to the EPA's National Priorities List in 1986. To facilitate the investigation and remediation effort, the Torch Lake site was divided into three operable units (OU's):