Lake Superior (known as Gichigami, or ‘big lake’ in Ojibwe) is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area and the third largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh water. The lake straddles 150 miles of Minnesota’s northeastern border, with its most western edge ending along the city twin ports of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin.
July 14, 1978 - Glenn Maxham tells the story of Silver Islet and of long-lost silver along the shores of Lake Superior. Miners were known to “high-grade” on the small island in the late 1800s, tying chucks of silver ore onto logs and floating them out onto Lake Superior in hopes of retrieving them later.
June 29, 1979 - MPR’s Tom Meersman interviews Lee Botts, chairman of the Great Lakes Basin Commission. She discusses the present and future status of the Great Lakes. Topics include phosphorus and algae problems, the definition of “dead lakes,” and pollution.
July 25, 1979 - MPR’s Lee Axdahl provides a report on pollution concerns of PCBs (aka - polychlorinated biphenyls) in the Great Lakes. Axdahl tours the Environmental Protection Agency's research ship Crockett as it traverses Lake Superior. Scientists on the vessel are examining the health of the water.
November 10, 1980 - A storm chronology of the Lake Superior gale storm on November 10, 1975, that sank the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, a massive iron ore carrier.
March 18, 1981 - Results show water quality has shown marked improvement since Reserve Mining stopped discharge of taconite tailings directly into Lake Superior. Environmentalists believe fibers found in the taconite tailings have carcinogenic characteristics of asbestos.
November 28, 1984 - MPR’s Jo Ann Shroyer reports on University of Minnesota-Duluth hypothermia study in the freezing waters of Lake Superior. Shroyer views and describes an actual human experiment in the dangerous waters.
July 27, 1985 - Weekend’s Paula Drake interviews Clarence Young, who spent time at the Split Rock Lighthouse in the early 1900s. His father, Orren "Pete" Young, was the lighthouse's first head keeper from 1910 to 1928. Clarence recalls the experience of travel to lighthouse, playing there as a child, and weather along Lake Superior.
July 17, 1987 - MPR’s Jerry Cassidy reports on the ongoing concerns and efforts to address pollution of Lake Superior waters. A growing culprit is coming from the toxic airborne sources.
April 22, 1988 - MPR’s Jim Neumann reports on scientific conference being held in Duluth to discuss researching water quality of Lake Superior. Neumann interviews two scientists that are attending conference.
April 22, 1988 - MPR’s Jim Neumann reports on wolf and moose research on Isle Royale. While scientific observations of wolves on the large Lake Superior island has taken place for years, for the first time scientists will physically study wolf health conditions in an effort to figure out if wolf population on island is sustainable.