What are we, chopped liver?

Whilst you folks were up in Canada did you happen upon Pumper?

http://www.pumper.ca/

It's been a long while since we've heard anything about her.

The media always refer to the Badger as the last coal-burning passenger steamer on the lakes, but I wonder if it is not the last coal-burning, reciprocating passenger steamship in THE WORLD? Certainly it (and the Spartan) were the last built. Does anyone know of any other coal-burning liners or ferries still in commercial (not museum) service in some remote place? I believe this makes the Badger significant at the world-heritage level.

When I rode it last fall, there was a TV crew aboard, but I couldn't manage to get interviewed. I presume they were reporting on the ash issue. I even had a sound bite ready, which anyone else is free to use: "This ship is the last of its kind in the world. The last one! For the EPA to kill this ship is like finding the last brontosaurus in your back yard and shooting it because it's eating the grass." At first I was gonna say ". . . because it poops on the grass" but I figured that was less likely to get broadcast.

According to the Detroit Free Press, it appears the car ferry SS Badger will continue to ply Lake Michigan between Manitowoc and Ludington. The Badger is the last operational car ferry of the once enormous fleet of railroad ferries, and the last coal-fired cargo vessel on the lakes.

And therein lies her problem. The SS Badger has been on the endangered species list since 2008, when the Environmental Protection Agency leveled the ship into its crosshairs. Coal-fired vessels disposed of coal ash by mixing it with water and pouring it overboard. The Badger is no different, and has been disposing of coal ash into the lake since it was built in 1953. The EPA claims the coal ash is a pollutant and ordered the dumping stopped in 2008. The operators were given until 2012 to stop dumping or cease operations. The legal battle has continued ever since.

On October 10, 2013, U.S. District Judge Janet Neff approved a revised deal between the EPA and Lake Michigan Carferry, parent company of the S.S. Badger.

The agreement allows the Badger to continue operations while modifications are made to the ship. The deal calls for a reduction in the amount of ash discharged during the 2014 sailing season and by the start of the 2015 season, the Badger will have to store coal ash on board for later disposal on shore.

With this ruling, it appears the Queen of the Great Lakes Car Ferries (and the last of her breed still sailing) will continue to be an operational historical landmark.