40th Anniversary of Tunnel Explosion Marked in Fort Gratiot

On Sunday, December 11, 2011, some 80 people gathered at the Fort Gratiot County Park to mark the 40th Anniversary of the Port Huron (Detroit) "water tunnel explosion," an accident that claimed the lives of 22 tunnel workers who died in a methane gas explosion.

The men were working at the time on a intake tunnel for the Port Huron Water Treatment Plant, then being constructed by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. The accident still ranks as one of Michigan's worst industrial accidents.

Additional resources:

• Daisy, Michael. “Disaster under Lake Huron.” Michigan History Magazine 89.2 (2005): 46+. [Gale Document No. GALE A163097965]
• DWSD, "Remembering those who died" (2003) (link) 

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