MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ) – The oldest car ferry that crosses Lake Michigan will open its season on Friday.
The coal fired S.S. Badger will renew its trips between Manitowoc and Ludington Michigan, after it installed a new coal-ash retention system which met the terms of a long-standing federal mandate.
The EPA tried for years to get the Badger to remove coal-ash it dumped into Lake Michigan — but the company said it needed to find the most efficient method possible, and it received a number of extensions in its deadline.
The Badger is the last coal-fired steamship on the Great Lakes. Some congressional representatives from the region tried but failed a few years ago to give the Badger an historical designation, with a goal of exempting it from the EPA mandates.
The Badger’s owner, Lake Michigan Car Ferry, spent almost $2.5 million on improvements over the past two years.
The 410-foot ferry was launched 63 years ago. It carries up to 180 vehicles and 600 passengers across Lake Michigan.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
