TORCH LAKE – Although cleanup has taken place on several sites, the toxic legacy of the copper-mining era in the Copper Country is still an issue in some locations, including Torch Lake.

The Torch Lake Superfund Site was created by the federal Environmental Protection Agency in 1986, and recently some of the areas of concern in the site have been delisted, such as the Quincy Smelting Works site in Ripley.

Torch Lake itself was used as a dump site for stamp sands created by the milling process for copper, slag from the smelting process and other toxic materials, such as polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, which are still an issue.

Amy Keranen, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Remediation and Redevelopment Division project manager for the Abandoned Mining Wastes project at Torch Lake, said most of the surface stamp sands in the Superfund site have been capped with soil and vegetation.

In 2007, Keranen said, the water level of Torch Lake dropped, exposing some copper processing waste, including arsenic, lead and PCBs. An underwater survey of the lake by the DEQ in 2014 found metal drums, which were broken open and either empty, or had material leaking out of them.

Keranen said in 2013, Michigan Technological University made a presentation to the DEQ and the EPA about the contaminants in the Torch Lake area, including PCBs found in the surface water between 2005 and 2008.

“They had suggested there must be some ongoing source,” she said.

So far, the ongoing source of PCBs hasn’t been defined, Keranen said.

“We’re verifying locations of debris fields on the lake bottom,” she said. “There are PCBs in the sediment of Torch Lake.”

Once it’s determined how extensive the debris is on the bottom of the lake, including the metal drums, Keranen said it will then be decided what steps to take.

“We need to determine if these drums are the source of the PCBs,” she said.

There are also sources of PCBs on land at former industrial sites in the Hubbell area, Keranen said.

Brian Cadwell, Torch Lake Township supervisor, said he and the township board of trustees have some concerns about the lake.

Recently, some material, including slag waste, became exposed at the water’s edge.

“I’ve had a couple concerns about Hubbell Beach,” he said. “Occasionally, things are washing out of the old dump.”

Cadwell said state agencies have not been able to make a determination on the overall safety of swimming in Torch Lake.

In a document about Torch Lake called “Evaluation of recreational uses at beach areas at Lake Linden and along Torch Lake Houghton County, Michigan” dated Sept. 30, 2014, from the former Michigan Department of Community Health, now the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, it’s stated:

“MDCH is unable to determine if the chemicals present in the Lake Linden area will harm people’s health, as there are not enough data to make that determination. Only a few samples have been analyzed from this area, which includes the Lake Linden Village Park (LLVP). Measurement of chemicals in the field indicates that chemical levels vary widely in this area. Bright blue water was previously seen in the LLVP, but the reason the water was colored blue has not been determined.”

At its most recent meeting, Cadwell said the board of trustees decided to post warning signs at the beach in Hubbell.

“It wasn’t an easy decision,” he said.

The warning sign states: “Torch Lake Township advises not to swim in this area due to potential hazards posed by wastes present in the beach sand and in the water as a result of historic activities in this area.”

Cadwell said there is a plan to cover the beach area in Hubbell with soil and grass.

Jennifer Gray, toxicologist with the Toxicology and Response Section, Division of Environmental Health, with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services in Lansing, said recreational uses of Torch Lake are possible with caution. Swimming in relatively shallow water for short periods of time is safe. The water from the lake should not be used as drinking water, however.

Any areas of the water with swirling colors should be avoided, Gray said, because that indicates the presence of chemicals. People who discover such areas should report them to the DEQ or the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department.

Gray said PCBs are more a problem from eating fish caught in the lake.

“It’s not so much a contact issue with PCBs,” she said. “They tend to accumulate in the fish.”

The larger the fish, the more PCBs are likely to be in its flesh, Gray said. The DEQ has a website where information about Great Lakes fish can be found at michigan.gov/eatsafefish. General information about Torch Lake can be found at michigan.gov/mdch/0,4612,7-132-54783_54784_56159-278958-,00.html.