The first lab report is in from the recovery of some Department of Defense barrels dumped into Lake Superior during the Cold War. Mike Simonson reports from Superior.

The report says quote: “Preliminary data results show no immediate cause for concern regarding the safety of water and fish consumption” unquote. Frank Koehn is a spokesman for the Red Cliff Tribe which raised the barrels.

“There’s nothing on the table that gives us any reason to believe there’s anything to be concerned about right now. When we get the test results back and find out what’s there then maybe that changes, maybe that sheds more light on the subject. I really don’t know.”

So Koehn says questions remain. They raised only 25 of the 1400-plus barrels dumped by the Department of Defense into Lake Superior near Duluth between 1958 and 1962. Red Cliff had hoped to raise 70 for a more scientifically accurate assessment. Will more barrels be raised?

“Until we have all of the facts in, I can’t answer that. I don’t know.”

Although no radiation or harmful chemicals have been discovered so far, this three page release says ground up cluster bomb devises were found in the barrels. Koehn says that was one reason they raised only 25 barrels, is to err on the side of safety.

The report says they do know that the contents are explosive.

Koehn says more testing will be done by an independent laboratory in Florida before final conclusions are made about these 55 gallon drums. “No one’s going to duck or hide or anything else from any of the findings because we want to know what is the best way to deal with the barrels. And right now, there just is speculation.”

Violia of Neenah spent two weeks in August removing the barrels for Red Cliff. Funding for this nearly 10 year effort has reached $3.3 million from the Department of Defense.

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