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S.S. Badger owners say ferry will operate this year
Is coal ash the same as fly-ash ? Lots of reddi-mix plants add fly-ash. I’m surprised dumping it over the side was allowed for this long.
Just amazing. With all of the sewerage still being dumped into the Great Lakes everytime there is a moderately heavy rain, the EPA is gonna fret over the comparatively miniscule amounts of ash being released from this single remaining carferry??? Its not like there is a whole fleet of these carferrys steaming around Lake Michigan. What is the EPA going to do next? List rainwater as a pollutant so they can levy fines against mother nature…
As long as the owner can make ends meet financially, let it run. Just don’t bottom out in the river. Insurance companies don’t like hulls dragging bottom. Even if the hull can bust up ice.
Meanwhile, any railfan who at the same time considers himself to be an environ-mentalist, should seriously consider labeling himself as a full time hypocrite. Shut down the Badger? What is to stop the EPA from shutting down steam locomotives? Shutting down the Badger for “environ-mental” reasons would set the precedent. Then all the EPA would have to do is argue “precedent” in court to shut down any and all steam locomotives in the name of global warming. And there are plenty of scum lawyers out there willing to do just that. For a price, of course.
Sure hope it can operate. Is EPA objecting to ash in the exhaust stack that ends up in lake?
It is more than a relaxing way to avoid several hours of traffic through northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana. The trip across the narrowest part of Lake Michigan quickly goes out of sight of land, giving Midwesterners an idea of how great the Great Lakes really are, and an inkling of what a lot of European immigrants faced when crossing the Atlantic enroute to a new life. I hope they are not put out of business by EPA fiat.
Ever ride the High Speed Ferry out of Milwaukee and notice the wide plume of diesel exhaust behind the boat?
So, what’s worse, dumping a slight amount of ash into the lake, or taking these speedboats and other pleasure craft out into the lake that virtually inject their exhaust into the water. If you’ve ever been on a large diesel passenger boat, I’m sure you’ve seen the enormous smoke plue that follows the boat, that eventually settles onto the water. I think the EPA should go back on it’s lunch break.
Ash and cinders are great for icy roads in lieu of salt. Give it to WDOT and MDOT. They get free road traction, the Badger gets rid of her ash. Problem solved, every wins.
In between the comments about what else gets washed into the lake I have to ask what was the ferry operator doing in the grace period from 2008 to 2012? I mean surley they knew they were going to have to have a solution before 2012?
Coal ash dumped overboard in a deep lake is not considered to be dangerous to the environment - some even say it’s beneficial. During most of the 20th Century scores of coal burning lake steamers and ferries dumped ashes without problem and the amount discharged only by SS Badger today would seem to be trivial.
I for one applaude the efforts to continue the SS Badger in service. Leave it to the EPA in their normal-anti-business fashion to try to find a way to discourage the SS Badger operation. Of course such policy is in keeping with the Emperor’s wishes.
The ash is the residue left after burning that drops into the ashpan below the firebox. Some goes up the stack, some ends up in the ashpan. I assume it is difficult to remove it by bagging it and loading it onto trucks at the dock. Not sure what volumes are involved.
Imagine for a minute the pan under your Weber Grill after a few cycles of grilling steaks. That is what being dumped in the lake. It is probably locally pretty impacting, especially if this is done in harbor but if done out in the lake I doubt it would have any lasting impact.
The ash is the residue left after burning that drops into the ashpan below the firebox. Some goes up the stack, some ends up in the ashpan. I assume it is difficult to remove it by bagging it and loading it onto trucks at the dock. Not sure what volumes are involved.
Imagine for a minute the pan under your Weber Grill after a few cycles of grilling steaks. That is what being dumped in the lake. It is probably locally pretty impacting, especially if this is done in harbor but if done out in the lake I doubt it would have any lasting impact.
The issue is the ash from the fireboxes that is dumped into the lake, not the stack smoke. Sewage dumping when it rains is an emergency, I suppose, as opposed to this ash dumping which is normal. Railfans who like steam should be concerned, particularly if the engines burn coal. I heard people in Durango, Colorado complain about the dirty smoke from the steam engines. I do not know if they were visitors or locals. Enforcing so many of our laws are don e with no common sense.
I would be willing to bet that most, if not all, of you voted for Obammy because you thought he would save your precious Amtrak. Well now you are going to get what you reap. This ferry will be first then steam locomotives. There are plenty of people who have no appreciation for this stuff and just want o cause problems. I hope when the fires go out for good you’re satisfied.
If the EPA shuts down the Badger, the “war on coal” won’t stop there.
The article says the Badger is now “exclusively for passengers and automobiles”. Not so. It easily accommodates trucks of all sizes, and they vigorously pursue the truck business.
The sooner we get rid of the Obama Administration and the EPA, the better.