Badger season

LUDINGTON — Dozens of people lined up along the pier to watch the S.S. Badger leave port officially for the first time Friday morning. The first cross-lake sailing of 2014 will be smooth but certainly cold.

The first sailing is about a week later than normal. However Bob Manglitz, president of LMC, said he is optimistic about this year’s season despite there still be ice in parts of northern Lake Michigan.

This is the first year the ship is sailing under a consent decree from the United States Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Dept. of Justice, allowing it to dump coal ash into Lake Michigan. Owner Lake Michigan Carferry has until the end of 2015 to come up with a retaining system. The company has spent over $1 million in creating a solution on the ship.