Black Beach Tacđnite EarthCache
Black Beach is located 4 miles South of Tettegouche State Park and just 10 miles north of Split Rock Lighthouse, along the shore of Lake Superior. In 2015, the City of Silver Bay and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources entered into a Lease Agreement with Northshore Mining for 31.6 acres (approx 3,500 ft of shoreline) of property for the purpose of public beaches. Since then, these beaches have quickly become a âhotspotâ for tourists traveling the North Shore. Read on to see exactly what makes this place so unique!
To get credit for this EarthCache, be sure to complete the logging tasks at the bottom of this page.
Before We Begin:
- To get to this EarthCache: The waypoint titled "Closest Parking" is where the trailhead is located however there are a limited number of parking spots here. If the lot is full, you may park to the north at the alternate parking location.
The story of taconite and Silver Bay.
This EarthCache is going to discuss the man-made effects on the local environment here which began as far back as the 1950's. The Taconite EarthCache about 23 miles north of here describes in greater detail how taconite is processed to get the iron out of it. Here is a quick summary.
Taconite is a sedimentary, iron-bearing, high-silica, flint-like rock which is mined from the Mesabi Iron Range. Shortly after World War II, most of the local high-grade iron ore was mined out. Mining companies then turned to taconite once there was an economical process discovered that allowed them to take the iron ore out the rock. Using explosives, taconite is blasted into pieces that are then crushed into smaller pieces at a processing plant. After the iron ore is separated from the taconite, the tailings are the remaining by-product. One-half to two-thirds of all processed ore-bearing taconite rock ends up as tailings. This is where our story begins.
Photo courtesy of Twin Citian Magazine
In 1956, Reserve Mining opened the first taconite-processing facility in North America and began dumping the tailings into Lake Superior at an incredible volume. For nearly 25 years, 67,000 tons of taconite tailings were dumped into the lake every day... the equivalent of a full railroad car every two minutes. By the time this practice ceased in 1980, a total of more than 600 BILLION tons had been dumped, forever changing the local environment. Itâs hard to appreciate that quantity of waste entering Lake Superior unless you observed firsthand this roaring deluge of black, mucky tailings.
When the processing plant first began production, it was situated right off the shore of Lake Superior. But in the 25 years that the company was operating, the distance between the plant and water's edge slowly grew. A vast delta had been created by the accumulation of the waste-rock. As the delta grew from the plant out into the lake, the chutes would be extended and the process would continue. By 1980, the delta had grown to such a degree that the processing plant was over one-third of a mile from the edge of Lake Superior!
In the beginning, few questioned the discharging of materials into Lake Superior. Silver Bay was a mining town and the majority of its citizens relied on Reserve as their primary source of income. But by the late 1960's, residents and local sportfishing groups were detecting changes in the water. Their efforts to get the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency involved got the attention of the Environmental Protection Agency, who intervened and took legal action against Reserve in 1969. Unfortunately, through court cases, appeals and political red tape, it took another 11 years until the dumping stopped. For a more detailed story, please read the Star Tribune's article from March, 2020.
Photo courtesy of Environmentandsociety.org
While Reserve's pollution cannot be undone, don't count out Mother Nature's abilities to bring some healing. The delta, which can be clearly seen on a satellite view just to the south of here, has begun to grow grasses and wildflowers through the flinty ground, slowly turning the waste-rock into soil.
The beach you are standing on is evidence of the tailings washing ashore for decades. The fine tailings, mixed with natural sand, gives a diamond-like sparkle with a black hue. The color of this sand is unique to any other place in the state and gives a look usually reserved for the beaches of volcanic Hawaii, Japan, or Iceland!
To Get Credit For This EarthCache
Copy the questions below and send your answers via geocaching messages.
- DO NOT post the answers in your log.
- Group answers are fine, just let me know who all was there.
- Note: The photo task is a requirement for each account claiming a find. See acceptable EarthCache logging tasks effective June 10th, 2019.
- Please send the answers in a timely manner or it may result in the deletion of your log (no offense intended).
Logging Tasks
  1| The name of this EarthCache: Black Beach Tacđnite
  2| Scoop some sand near the water's edge and compare it to the sand further inland on the beach. What are the differences you see?
  3| Look at the nearby outcropping of rock (pictured at the top of this EarthCache page) and notice the difference in color. In your opinion, do you think this beach will eventually go back to showing the underlying colors of rock and sand that used to be visible here? Why do you think that?
  4| How many tons of taconite tailings were estimated to have been dumped into Lake Superior over the 25 year period? (Note: 67,000 is NOT correct, answer given in text above.)
  5| In your log, please provide a photo of yourself at this beach.
- If you prefer, the photo can be of a personal item here instead. Just make the photo unique to you and your visit. Feel free to have fun with this!
*IF YOU ENJOYED THIS EARTHCACHE,
CONSIDER GIVING A FAVORITE POINT!*
Sources:
Permission for this EarthCache placement was granted by the Silver Bay Parks and Recreation Department.