Cleaner, updated S.S. Badger to set sail on May 16

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2014/04/report_cleaner_updated_ss_badg.html

MASON COUNTY, MI – The S.S. Badger in Ludington is undergoing some major improvements, but will be set to sail on May 16, according to theMason County Press.

Officials are working on the first phase of the S.S. Badger’s new combustion control component ash retention system and that work is expected to be completed before the start of the 2014 sailing season on May 16, according to the Press.

The current changes will bring the ship into compliance with the federal government-ordered consent decree. The changes reportedly are designed to end the discharge of ash by the start of the 2015 sailing season.

The Badger — the last coal-fired ship operating on the Great Lakes — is operated by Lake Michigan Carferry between Ludington and Manitowoc, Wis. The Environmental Protection Agency had ordered the Badger to quit dumping coal ash into Lake Michigan,according to an MLive article.

MLive Muskegon Chronicle reported in October that U.S. District Court Judge Janet Neff had signed a three-way agreement between the operator of the coal-fired S.S. Badger, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice.

The agreement allows the Badger to keep sailing, but sets a schedule for the Badger to quit dumping coal ash into Lake Michigan, with fines for non-compliance.