Next season, the SS Badger may no longer be the “the filthiest ship on the Great Lakes.”  With the end of the current sailing season, SS Badger will no longer dump coal ash into Lake Michigan.  For years, there has been a running argument over whether the ship is a national historic treasure or an environmental hazard. The SS Badger, a passenger and vehicle ferry operating on Lake Michigan, is the last large coal burning vessel in the United States. Until recently, the Badger has been dumping  around 500 tons of coal ash each year into into Lake Michigan. The ash is toxic, containing containing mercury, arsenic, and lead.  Two years ago, the owners of the ship entered into a consent decree with the EPA to reduce the amount of ash being dumped and to end the dumping entirely by the beginning of the 2015 sailing season.

As reported by the Huffington Post: A spokeswoman for Lake Michigan Carferry, which operates the Badger, told The Huffington Post that an ash retention system will be installed over the winter, and that the boat’s next season will proceed as usual. 

Lake Michigan Carferry last winter dropped $1.5 million to install a combustion control system on the ship. The pricey upgrade allows ash to be stored on board byreducing both the amount and temperature of the ash produced, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Thanks to Miroslav Antic for passing the news along.