"[3] A friend took her to Silver Bay, Minnesota, where she observed the environmental degradation of Lake Superior,[4] the largest body of fresh water in the world.

[4][5] The waste being dumped by Reserve was 50 times greater in quantity than the natural sediment deposited into the lake by all the rivers on the American side.

[8][4] She visited personally with governors, EPA officials, and others showing them a bottle of dirty, milky water from the lake.

[9] She was a sharp critic of Reserve's attorneys, telling a reporter she did not understand why they were not wearing masks and adding, "I think they'd be ashamed to come in and show their faces.

"[9] At the trial, evidence was introduced that the waste material included billions of particles of asbestos and that water supplies in several communities along the lake were unsafe.

[8] In 1980, Michigan Governor William Milliken honored Mize with the title "First Lady of Lake Superior".