BEAVER ISLAND, MI – It costs money every time a vehicle is ferried 32 miles offshore to Beaver Island in northern Lake Michigan – and it costs more when it’s hauled back to the mainland.

That explains why so many broken-down vehicles end up dilapidated on Beaver Island. Now a community project is working to round up these clunkers to prevent them from leaking chemicals and to reduce blight across the island.

“A lot of times people just pull them up beside their garage, and they start leaking fluids and stuff. And most of us on the island have well water. So, we’re trying to protect our well water and just help the looks of the island,” said Vic Van Deventer, one of the project participants and an innkeeper on the island .

About 150 vehicles have been removed from the island in about a

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