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Houghton native Verna Mize is well known as the First Lady of Lake Superior, and had a piece written about her by Charles Esbach.
According to him, she performed as a pioneer in the environmental movement back in 1967. A subsidiary of Armco Steel, Reserve Mining Company, was making iron ore pellets in Silver Bay, Minnesota and pumping their dangerous asbestos-based byproducts into Lake Superior at the rate of 67,000 long tons per day. The delta formed by the byproducts reached 6 miles into the lake. This was during the time where the vast majority of environmental consciousness hadn’t developed yet, and the general approach to it was to simply dilute the chemicals.
Verna Mize confronted the company, and when she was unhappy about their reply that they couldn’t afford to dump it on land, she eventually convinced the Federal Government, the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota as well as several environmental organizations to bring a lawsuit against the company. During the next thirteen years, she lobbied and testified with governmental entities, and eventually the lawsuit was ruled in favor of the people.
Her fight was preserved in history, and there is a triathlon in her honor. You can register either for the “Main Mize” or the “Mini Mize” races, and must preregister by phone, text, or email before Aug 3 at 5pm. The triathlons will take place on August 5th at the East End of the Ray Kestner Waterfront Park.
Sign up and find more details here.
