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Is it safe to go in the water or is it not?
Residents have been enjoying the beach in Hubbell for years while different agencies conducted tests and cleanup projects.
Torch Lake Township Supervisor Brian Cadwell says the most recent report from the Michigan Department of Community Health expressed concerns over their findings.
Torch Lake Township Supervisor Brian Cadwell said, “The results of their study showed that there were some elevated lead levels above the safety level they recommend just below the surface of the sand and some concerns of potentially other heavy metals in the sand and the water area. Also, there was some physical hazards that would wash up out of the old dump and come to the shore. There was some broken glass. We have tried to maintain that on a daily basis by walking the shoreline and picking that up out of the water.”
The report was inconclusive on whether it was safe to swim at the beach but Cadwell says they would rather err on the side of caution.
Cadwell said, “I did ask if they recommended we close the beach and they said it was a local political decision. So, we took the step of instead of closing the beach, putting up signs warning folks that may use the beach that there is historical uses here that may pose potential hazards.”
Further testing is recommended by the state and if those tests were to indicate a danger to the public, then the beaches will be closed.
Caldwell said, “Our next actions are going be to contact somebody who will do some water testing here, have some samples taken, analyzed and get results back. Further, we may cover the sand with topsoil and grass seed and sod and make it not, obviously, a bathing beach but more of a park with a waterfront.”
Health officials say that their concerns are not limited to the Hubbell Beach area so if you decide to swim anywhere in Torch Lake, signs or no signs, you swim at your own risk.
