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Canal Boats January 27, 2003 WPTZ NEWS CHANNEL 5 The Barge Canal in Burlington has been an interesting public involvement program from the beginning. In 1983, the Pine Street Barge Canal was put onto the National Priorities List as a Superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency. Through an extensive public process, community organizations lead by the Lake Champlain Committee crafted an acceptable alternative to the EPA's proposed solution for capping the superfund site. The descendant companies of those that worked along the barge canal, Green Mountain Power among others and the current landowners, were charged with cleaning up the site. A part of this process, an archaeological study was conducted by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in the canal that located five canal boats. The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum determined that these canal boats were of a type known as "Enlarged Erie-Class" built around 1900. The boats were deemed eligible for the National Register of Historic Places because of the unique information that they could tell us about the past. These artifacts are among many great pieces of history recorded by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum team of archaeological experts. In May 1996, the Maritime Museum began mapping the underwater surface of Lake Champlain due to the emergence of zebra mussels and their possible impacts on underwater artifacts. Since then, hundreds of miles of Lake bottom have been mapped utilizing side scan sonar. More than 200 shipwrecks are believed to lie on the Lake's bottom. In addition to many other public and private organizations and individuals that have provided financial support for the mapping project, the Lake Champlain Basin Program has contributed more than $200,000. Links To learn more about the underwater history of the Barge Canal, other discoveries covered through the Maritime Museum's Underwater Survey, or Lake Champlain history, visit www.lcmm.org US EPA Pine Street Canal fact sheet For further information about the Lake Champlain Committee www.lakechamplaincommittee.org. For additional information about Lake Champlain or Lake George, visit www.historiclakes.org. Kid's Place | Lake Champlain Basin Atlas | Local Partners & Grants Opportunities for Action | Water Quality | Living Natural Resources Recreation & Culture | Publications & Reports | Links Lake Champlain Basin Program PO Box 204 54 West Shore Road Grand Isle, Vermont 05458 To Contact LCBP: lcbp@lcbp.org Telephone: (802) 372-3213 or 1-800-468-LCBP http://www.lcbp.org Send questions or comments on this web site to Nicole L. Ballinger at the LCBP. Last Updated: January 27, 2003 Web site design by Nicole L. Ballinger (LCBP). |