MACKINAW CITY, Mich. (AP) - Officials say underwater photos show two electric cables were severed in what Michigan’s attorney general says was a tugboat anchor strike in the waterway that connects Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.
An investigative team led by the U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday a remotely controlled vehicle had obtained images of the damage site beneath the Straits of Mackinac. The two severed cables were among six owned by American Transmission Co. that are stretched along the lake floor.
Officials said with the visual assessment finished, the company and its contractors plan to cap the ends of the damaged cables to prevent more pollution. About 600 gallons (2,270 liters) of mineral oil insulation fluid spilled into the water when the cables were struck April 1.
Crews have removed about 590 gallons (2,230 liters) that didn’t leak.
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