Saving America’s Last Steamship Badger
By James Donahue
The 410-foot-long car ferry Badger still makes daily trips across Lake Michigan, steaming between Ludington, Michigan and Manitowic, Wisconsin, after more than 60 years of service. The ship is unique because it is the last operating coal-fired steamship operating in the United States.
The Badger was listed on the National Register of Historic Places but for a few critical years it was feared that the vessel's days were numbered. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency moved in 2009 to regulate coal slurry from ships under the Clean Water Act. After a Ludington based group formed in an effort to save the Badger, the agency granted a temporary exemption.
The problem was that coal ash contains toxic metals that leach into drinking water. The metals are linked to cancer, lung and kidney disease, mental retardation and respiratory problems.
In 2013 the ship's owners, Lake Michigan Carferry, signed a consent decree with the EPA and US Department of Justice to install a new ash retention system and end ash discharge within the next two years. Also a new combustion control system was installed which improves the ship's efficiency. Thus Badger was especially retrofitted so that it could still operate on its coal fired engines without discharging ash into Lake Michigan.
Originally built in 1953 to carry railroad freight cars and automobiles between Michigan and Wisconsin ports, the Badger was one of four large ferries operating on Lake Michigan in its day. After railroad ferry service dwindled and the ferries went out of service, private entrepreneur Charles Conrad bought the Badger and converted it to serve the summer tourist industry.
The Badger carries leisure passengers and their vehicles on regular 60-mile trips across the lake between mid-May through mid-October. The vessel is promoted as an experience of history and an ultimate travel and vacation adventure.
By James Donahue
The 410-foot-long car ferry Badger still makes daily trips across Lake Michigan, steaming between Ludington, Michigan and Manitowic, Wisconsin, after more than 60 years of service. The ship is unique because it is the last operating coal-fired steamship operating in the United States.
The Badger was listed on the National Register of Historic Places but for a few critical years it was feared that the vessel's days were numbered. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency moved in 2009 to regulate coal slurry from ships under the Clean Water Act. After a Ludington based group formed in an effort to save the Badger, the agency granted a temporary exemption.
The problem was that coal ash contains toxic metals that leach into drinking water. The metals are linked to cancer, lung and kidney disease, mental retardation and respiratory problems.
In 2013 the ship's owners, Lake Michigan Carferry, signed a consent decree with the EPA and US Department of Justice to install a new ash retention system and end ash discharge within the next two years. Also a new combustion control system was installed which improves the ship's efficiency. Thus Badger was especially retrofitted so that it could still operate on its coal fired engines without discharging ash into Lake Michigan.
Originally built in 1953 to carry railroad freight cars and automobiles between Michigan and Wisconsin ports, the Badger was one of four large ferries operating on Lake Michigan in its day. After railroad ferry service dwindled and the ferries went out of service, private entrepreneur Charles Conrad bought the Badger and converted it to serve the summer tourist industry.
The Badger carries leisure passengers and their vehicles on regular 60-mile trips across the lake between mid-May through mid-October. The vessel is promoted as an experience of history and an ultimate travel and vacation adventure.