FORT GRATIOT -- A community that lived through the deadly water tunnel explosion 40 years ago watched as their memories officially became a piece of history Sunday afternoon at Fort Gratiot County Park.

During the ceremony held at the memorial, Tom Truscott of the Michigan Historic Commission dedicated a new historical marker -- a sign that details how 22 men working on a water intake tunnel deep underneath Lake Huron died in a powerful methane gas explosion Dec. 11, 1971.

The Lake Huron Water Supply Project was started by the Detroit Metro Water Department in 1968 to build a new water intake for the then-growing cities of Detroit and Flint....