Incident at oil refinery near Lake Superior could harm environment

The Twin Ports area of Lake Superior made national headlines Thursday, April 26, when a series of explosions and intense fire erupted at the Husky Energy oil refinery in Superior, Wisc.

Located about 115 miles from Grand Marais, news of the incident spread quickly up the North Shore. By Thursday night, many residents of Superior had to evacuate their homes as a result of the fire and potentially hazardous material in the air or water resulting from the incident.  

As the scene in Superior returns to normality, there remains the issue of lingering after-effects to both humans and the environment.

In a statement sent to WTIP from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, they wrote:

“On April 26, EPA deployed emergency responders to support local and state agencies at the Superior Refining Co. fire in Superior, Wis. EPA has conducted air monitoring to support city evacuation determinations and continues to collect air data. EPA is also providing oversight of waterway monitoring for oil and runoff impacts.”

For more information on future monitoring of the site and potential environmental impacts as a result of the explosions and fires at the Husky Energy oil refinery, WTIP’s Joe Friedrichs spoke with Kristy DeVera, the water resources program coordinator for the City of Superior.