torch lake

STE RTE 26 N OF QUINCY MILLS

The Torch Lake site is located on the Keweenaw Peninsula in Houghton County, Michigan. Copper mining activities in the area from the 1890s until 1969 produced mill tailings (called stamp sands) that contaminated the lake sediments and shoreline. The Torch Lake Superfund site is comprised of several areas ranging in size from approximately 10 acres to over 200 acres in size. The areas are located around the Keweenaw Peninsula, Upper Peninsula, Michigan. The area is mostly forested with numerous lakes. There is some industry in the area, but the primary business and commerce in the area today centers around recreation and tourism. About 200 million tons of copper mill stamp sands were dumped into Torch Lake itself, filling about 20 percent of the lake's volume. The contaminated sediments are believed to be 70 feet thick in some areas, and surface sediments contain up to 2,000 parts per million (ppm) of copper. The stamp sands deposited in Torch Lake and on the shoreline were dredged up during the early part of the 1900s and were processed with flotation chemicals to reclaim copper. The stamp sands and much of the flotation chemicals were returned to the lake and the shoreline. Torch Lake has also received mine pumpage, leaching chemicals, explosive residues, and by-products. In 1972, an estimated 27,000 gallons of cupric ammonium carbonate were released into the lake from storage vats. Barrels have been found at several sites along the shoreline of the lake. The only active industry on the Torch Lake shoreline is the Peninsula Copper Company, which reclaims copper oxide from scrap electronic circuit boards. During the early 1980s, the company dumped processing water, containing 2,400 times the local sewage authority's allowable limits for copper and 100 times the limit for ammonia, into the Tamarack lagoon system. Approximately 4,000 people live within one mile of the lake. Site Responsibility This site is being addressed through federal Fund-lead actions with the State of MI conducting Operation and Maintanence activities.

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