SUPERIOR, Wis. — A three-day summit looks to celebrate and educate the progress and history of the St. Louis River.

The St. Louis River has been a major area of concern after parts of the tributary were contaminated by a former US Steel Superfund site. At this year’s summit, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency was proud to announce some success.

Last year it was announced that an 500-acre site around Spirit Lake is now contaminant free. A coordinator from the agency said that about 80% of the riverway is cleared of pollutants.

“Back in the 1950s and 60s, people could never have envisioned this kind of recovery,” said Barb Huberty, a St. Louis River Area of Concern Coordinator for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. “And now people don’t even realize that there had been a negative history for newcomers that have come. So it’s really gratifying that everyone’s work is coming to fruition.”

A wide variety of people from state agencies, research groups, students, and community members attend the summit each year. Some topics explored this year were how tribal sovereignty, federal land, and local jurisdictions all have a part in keeping the river mouth clean.

“I think people are in a reconnection phase to the river, realizing that the river is becoming healthy again,” said Deanna Erickson, the director of the Lake Superior Estuarine Research Reserve. “That we can paddle there, that we can explore, that the wild rice beds are coming back. That as a habitat it’s a beautiful place for our community to get together and enjoy, go fishing, go boating.”

The summit will conclude on Thursday and has been an annual event for the last 15 years.