Crab Orchard Lake
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Crab Orchard Lake is a 6,965-acre (28.2 km²) artificial lake in Williamson County, Illinois. It is the centerpiece of the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge.
Crab Orchard Lake was created when Crab Orchard Creek, a tributary of the Big Muddy River in southern Illinois, was dammed in the 1930s for purposes of recreation and flood control. During World War II, munitions such as TNT were produced here.
The lake offers opportunities for boating, camping, fishing, and swimming. Many users of the lake live in the large nearby communities of Carbondale and Marion.
[edit] Controversy
Crab Orchard Lake is located in an area of Illinois known for high-sulphur coal and former coal-fired heavy industry, including the smelting and refining of heavy metals. Chemists have found that much of the lake and the watershed that drains into it is contaminated with lead and other toxic substances.
In addition, the World War II-era Illinois Ordnance Plant left the refuge contaminated with TNT, and a postwar factory, Sangamo-Weston, used an extensive quantity of PCBs.
Under a mandate from the U.S. Congress, the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge is charged with the dual duties of maintaining recreational facilities and leasing lakeside land to factories.
