LANSING, MI – The 2010 ban against recreational use of the Kalamazoo River in areas where water was tainted by spilled oil was lifted in June of 2012. 

 

Now the finalized public health assessment of the oil spill has concluded that no long-term harm to people's health is expected from contact with chemicals in the river's surface water during recreational activities such as wading, swimming, or canoeing, according to a news release Wednesday from Michigan Department of Community Health.

 

The finalized the Public Health Assessment evaluates chemicals in surface water and fish in the portions of the Kalamazoo River affected by the spill.