Steal This River:
Another Fight Over the Future
of the St. Lawrence Seaway Looms
by C.D. Stelzer
As the excursion boat traverses the Gananocque
narrows, a pre-recorded voice launches into the
history of the area, while sightseers lean against the
ship's rails and gaze in awe at the unfolding scenery.
The voyage zigzags past island after island: Spits of
land with granite outcropping and larger islands lined
with summer cottages; cabins cloaked by spruce and
castles rising from the shore. Vistas of green and
blue drift by, merging earth, sky and water.
|
Tourists have been drawn to the beauty of the
Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence River for a long
time. Beginning in the mid-19th Century, American
tycoons built palatial resort homes throughout the
50-mile-long archipelago. The Astors and the Pullmans
were followed by 20th Century entertainers and
artists. Singer Kate Smith rested her pipes here.
Crooner Arthur Godfrey came to escape the rigors of
his network TV show. Irving Berlin composed Always at
his island retreat.
Because the St. Lawrence acts as the boundary between
the United States and Canada, island lore is also
steeped in tales of assorted rumrunners, rebels and
rouges. In the period following the War of 1812,
pirates preyed on the British fleet. According to
legend, a conspirator in the Lincoln assassination was
murdered on Maple Island in 1865. During Prohibition,
bootleggers used the islands as a haven for smuggling
operations.
On board the excursion boat, the recorded raconteur
recounts all these stories and more. One name
conspicuously absent from the list, however, is the
late Abbie Hoffman, who hid out on Wellesley Island
from 1976 to 1980. Assuming the identity of
environmentalist Barry Freed, the fugitive, anti-war
activist organized opposition to a U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers plan to open the St. Lawrence Seaway to
wintertime navigation with the use of Coast Guard
icecutters. If carried out, the project could have
destroyed wildlife habitat and caused irrevocable
damage to the fragile river ecology. Once reviled by
the powers that be, the 1960s anti-establishment icon
won accolades as Freed from President Jimmy Carter,
New York Gov. Hugh Carey and Sen. Daniel Patrick
Moynihan. More importantly, Save the River, Hoffman's
grassroots campaign, succeeded in stopping the plan.
More than a quarter century after Hoffman's efforts,
the Corps is now studying a larger scale project that
Save the River and other environmental group believe
could have even more catastrophic consequences.
In May, The U.S. Department of Transportation and its
Canadian counterpart approved the second phase of a
30-month, $20 million study to determine the future of
the 43-year-old St. Lawrence Seaway and the entire
Great Lakes transportation system.
The ongoing analysis, which received $1.5 million in
funding from Congress this year, is considering
enlarging 15 locks and deepening shipping channels to
allow 1,000-foot ocean-going container vessels to
travel more than 2,300 miles inland, from the Atlantic
Ocean as far west as Duluth, Minn. The cost of
completing the renovation over the next two decades is
estimated at $10 billion.
Influential shipping and business interests in the
U.S. and Canada argue such improvements will spur
economic growth to the region. The 730-foot-long
lakers that currently transport iron ore, grain and
other products via the seaway comprise only 13 percent
of world's commercial fleet, according to industry
sources.
Advocates of the project says expanding the size of
the locks and deepening the St. Lawrence Seaway's
channels from 26 to 35 feet will increase trade
opportunities to keep pace with 21st-Century demands.
They point to the 70-year-old Welland Canal between
Lake Erie and Lake Ontario as an example of the
seaway's obsolescence. Inland ports of the Chicago,
Detroit and Cleveland would all serve to gain from
modernization.
Opponents counter that projected economic growth in
the upper Midwest is taking precedence over
environmental concerns in the Corps decisions.
Memories of the 1977 tanker crash that spilled
hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into the St.
Lawrence near Wellesley Island have not been
forgotten. Environmentalists say that dredging will
only stir up contaminants and lead to further
pollution. Underwater surges by larger ships would
probably have a similar negative effects. Moreover,
parts of the Thousand Islands will have to be blasted
away to accommodate the wider channels. Further
changes to the river could also lead to other
problems, including the possible introduction on
non-native species. In addition, dredging would most
likely alter water levels in the Great Lakes,
disrupting aquatic habitat and changing the lake
temperatures. More than anything else, critics worry
that the overall impact of such a project on the Great
Lakes ecosystem - the largest reservoir of fresh
water on the planet - is not being adequately
addressed.
For it's part, the Corps has assured environmentalists
that their questions will be factored into its final
evaluation. In its preliminary review the agency even
acknowledged one of the risks already voiced by foes
of the plan. "Currently low water levels in the Upper
Great Lakes are also a critical factor, both in terms
of environmental implications and in terms of the
potential effects of wider locks and deeper channels,"
according to a report issued by the Corps earlier this
year. In short, the proposed engineering feat could
make floating a boat in the Great Lakes more difficult
instead of easier.
The Thousand Islands have captured the imaginations of
travel writers since Charles Dickens steamed
downstream on his way from Kingston, Ontario to
Montreal in 1842. How long they remain a source of
inspiration remains to be seen. This spring, the
pleasure boaters and anglers will take to waters
again. Tourists will board the excursion boats at the
river port of Gananocque, Ontario, as they have since
early in the last century. They will lean against the
ship's rails once more and marvel at the splendor of
the passing islands. The recorded recitation will be
broadcast over the vessel's loudspeakers as it is each
year. Perhaps this year the tale of "Barry Freed" will
be added to the mix.
- – C.D. Stelzer
|
C.D. Stelzer is a St. Louis-based freelance writer, and the North American editor of Blue.
|
|
