No outlets for Iron Mountain lake used as storm water drain for the city

IRON MOUNTAIN -- It could take millions of dollars to clean up an Iron Mountain lake that's become a public health problem.  That's the conclusion from Michigan Tech Civil and Environmental Engineering students, who have been researching Crystal Lake for three months.

Wednesday they released their results to the public.

This winter, while evaluating the water quality of Crystal Lake, the students found no oxygen in the water, meaning no fish could survive.  They say it's due to high levels of phosphorus and bacteria that are twice the level of swimming standards.  The reason, according to their research, is because the lake is used as a storm water drain for the city, and it has no outlets.

"For a lake this small that has no natural surface water inflows or outflows, to put storm water in is basically just putting all the pollution in the area, concentrated in one area," said student Joe Reinke.

On Wednesday city commissioners listened to what can be done to clean up Crystal Lake.

"Some of the solutions were to divert the storm water or drudge it,” said student Hannah Willette.  “You'd have to have both managements dredge the entire lake and divert the storm water out of Crystal Lake and into another path."

So now the city commission has to decide if they want to spend anywhere from three to seven million dollars needed to restore the lake.

"Quite frankly, the city doesn't have millions of dollars, so we have to evaluate the needs at the Crystal Lake area versus the needs all over the city," said City Manager John Marquart.