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Nemadji River

Coordinates: 46°42′12″N 92°01′39″W / 46.70333°N 92.02750°W / 46.70333; -92.02750
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Nemadji River
Nemadji River is located in Minnesota
Nemadji River
Mouth of the Nemadji River
Native nameNemanjitigweyaag (Ojibwe)
Location
CountryUnited States
StateMinnesota and Wisconsin
CountiesCarlton County, Minnesota, Pine County, Minnesota, Douglas County, Wisconsin
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationNickerson, Minnesota
 • coordinates46°24′03″N 92°30′29″W / 46.4007777°N 92.5079727°W / 46.4007777; -92.5079727
MouthLake Superior
 • location
Alouez Bay, Wisconsin
 • coordinates
46°42′12″N 92°01′39″W / 46.70333°N 92.02750°W / 46.70333; -92.02750
Length70.8 miles (113.9 km)

The Nemadji River is a river rising in Pine County, Minnesota, United States, which flows through Carlton County, Minnesota, and Douglas County, Wisconsin, to Lake Superior.[1] The river is 70.8 miles (113.9 km) long measured from its source in Maheu Lake in Pine County, and 34.9 miles (56.2 km) from its confluence with the South Fork in Carlton County just east of the Minnesota-Wisconsin border.[2] The Nemadji River empties into Lake Superior in an industrial neighborhood at Allouez Bay in the city of Superior's east-side neighborhood of Allouez and Wisconsin Point.

Course

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Most of the rivers' length flows in Douglas County, Wisconsin, entering near Foxboro and exiting in East End, Superior, near Loons Foot Boat Landing, USH 2/53, and the BNSF Taconite Plant

History

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Nemadji comes from the Ojibwe language, "ne-madji-tic-guay-och" (Nemanjitigweyaag in the current spelling), meaning "left river,"[3][4] opposed to the Saint Louis River, which when viewed from Allouez Bay is the "right river."

In the 1992 Nemadji River train derailment a Burlington Northern train derailed south of Superior, releasing nearly 22,000 gallons of aromatic hydrocarbons including liquid benzene, a highly toxic chemical, into the Nemadji River. Fish, wildlife, and other resources were severely affected by the incident. In March 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a draft that would use funds received from a settlement with Burlington Northern to restore a portion of the Lake Superior basin affected by the incident. The river runs through the City of Superior, Town of Summit, Town of Superior, and the counties of Douglas, Carlton, Pine.[5][6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Nemadji River
  2. ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed May 1, 2012
  3. ^ Lake Superior Streams – Nemadji River
  4. ^ "Namanjinik (Ni) | the Ojibwe People's Dictionary".
  5. ^ UPI Archives, June 30, 1992 'Benzene spill forces evacuation of some 80,000' https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/06/30/Benzene-spill-forces-evacuation-of-some-80000/2171709876800/
  6. ^ US NOAA, 'Incident News,' June 30, 1992, followed by updates through September 8, 1992, 'Superior, Wisconsin Train Derailment; Intersection of State Highway 35, the Nemadji River, and the Burlington Northern rail line, Superior, Wisconsin' https://incidentnews.noaa.gov/incident/6890#!

Further reading

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