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S.S. Badger sets sail to a greener future

S.S. Badger

A Lake Michigan icon sets sail today with a new lease on life.

The Ludington-based car-ferry S.S. Badger will still give passengers the experience of riding a historic, coal-fired vessel. But the largest coal-fired passenger ship operating in the U.S. will no longer dump its coal ash into the lake.

Owners have installed a two-million-dollar system of ash-holding bins.

The Environmental Protection Agency had been after them to solve the problem for years and the issue had threatened to ground the ship for good.

But the new fix should allow passengers to continue enjoying this four-hour trip between Ludington and Manitowoc, Wisconsin for years to come.

That makes business owners happy, says Community Development Director Heather Tykoski.

“We see a large influx of people in the summer that use the boat for transportation,” Tykoski says. “Some of them use it for recreation and sightseeing, and some of them ride it just for the nostalgia of what that ship represents.”

She says the ferry brings about 100,000 visitors and $35 million to town each year.