As a young person, I heard a lot of elders talking about the lower St. Louis and where the reservation was originally.
According to our people, what we were told was [our tribe] was supposed to start...down there at Spirit Lake.
- Member of the Fond du Lac Band, 2013
Site History
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Spirit Lake is a large open area in the St. Louis River estuary near the former U.S. Steel Duluth Works site that plays an important role for local people. Spirit Island, a sacred place for the Fond du Lac Band, is located within the lake. The island was a stopping place in the southwest migration of the Anishinaabe people. Spirit Lake is also important to the Morgan Park neighborhood, which began as a company town for U.S. Steel plant workers. The plant shut down in 1981 and became a Superfund site soon after.
Although many cleanup projects around the former plant have reduced risks to public health and the environment, contamination remains in Spirit Lake sediment. An investigation reveals that the contaminants include heavy metals, PCBs, PAHs, and dioxins. Local residents have tracked these projects and eagerly anticipate remediation of the lake's sediment. This voluntary Great Lakes Legacy Act sediment project is in the design stage and a cleanup is not expected until 2019, at the earliest. |
Former U.S. Steel Duluth Works site near Spirit Lake (Credit: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency)
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The U.S. Steel site is located near the Morgan Park neighborhood of Duluth, MN and is within the St. Louis River Area of Concern.
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