Montreal Gazette:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/Technology/Green+challenges+Seaway/1446134/story.html
Green challenges for Seaway at 50
Stricter regulations called for; But steps have been taken to improve environmental impact, waterway says
By MONIQUE BEAUDIN, The Gazette
March 31, 2009
Ceremonies kick off this morning to mark the St. Lawrence Seaway's 50th anniversary, but some environmental groups say it's not a celebration for the waterway or its shoreline communities.
Since the Seaway, which links the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, opened in April 1959, the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes have seen oil spills, the loss of coastal wetlands and the introduction of invasive species - problems that cost state, provincial and municipal governments millions of dollars every year, three environmental groups said yesterday.
With millions relying on the waterway for their drinking water and the risk of water levels dropping because of climate change, the groups said the Canadian and U.S. governments, the Seaway administration and shipping companies must take drastic steps to protect one of the world's largest sources of fresh water.
"As the impacts of climate change start to be felt throughout the world, this freshwater resource is going to become more important," said Jennifer Caddick of Save the River, a community group based in Clayton, N.Y.
Stricter regulations are needed to halt the spread of invasive species, and shipping companies must prepare for lower water levels by adapting the way they transport goods - not by dredging the river bottom or lake beds, the environmental groups said.
That means using the Seaway differently - instead of allowing oceangoing ships into the Seaway, their cargo should be transferred to smaller domestic ships for the trip along the river and through the Great Lakes, a practice called trans-shipping, said Jennifer Nalbone of Great Lakes United, a cross-border coalition of environmental, conservation and community groups. That would reduce the risk of invasive species, some of which enter the waterway on the hulls of oceangoing vessels or when ships take in or dump ballast water.
Invasive species like the zebra mussel have had a huge impact in the Great Lakes. They eat bacteria and plankton that is the foundation of the Great Lakes food chain, said Marc Smith of the U.S. National Wildlife Federation. The mussels also clog municipal water supply lines, which cost millions of dollars to repair, he said.
The Seaway has already taken several steps to address environmental issues, said Richard Corfe, president of St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. In 2008, all vessels entering the Seaway were tested to ensure their ballast water had been treated to kill invasive species, and some trans-shipping already takes place, he said. The agency has no plans to dredge waterways to compensate for future changes in water levels, he said.
"Marine transportation, globally, is good for the environment if you do it in a good way," Corfe said. "There is less greenhouse gas emissions, less carbon emissions, less fuel used. It can take congestion off the roads and out of communities."
In 2008, about 3,000 vessels used the Seaway, transporting 40 million tonnes of cargo.
mbeaudin@thegazette.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
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Standard-Freeholder :
http://www.standard-freeholder.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1502257
Seaway not so green, says environmental group
David Nesseth
CORNWALL — A reality check is needed for Seaway officials painting their operations as lean and green before the upcoming 50th anniversary celebration, conservation groups say.
The groups are calling for policy and operational changes that address decades of environmental and economic damage caused by the operation of the Seaway.
Jennifer Caddick, executive director for Save the River, says Seaway claims such as toting waterborne shipping as “the most benign mode of transport for the earth’s ecosytem,” are irresponsible.
“Their celebratory tone rings a bit hollow here on the shores of the St. Lawrence River and in many communities throughout the Great Lakes region,” Caddick told reporters today.
More than 185 million invasive species such as zebra and quagga mussels have entered the Great Lakes, disrupting the food chain, beaches and damaging infrastructure, said Marc Smith, state policy manager for the National Wildlife Federation. Smith said one new non-native species is determined every 28 weeks, primarily from the discharge of ballast water.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation announced that inspections of ballast tanks has increased by 25 per cent last year over 2007. St. Lawrence Seaway president Richard Corfe said he sees diversification of cargo and more container traffic as part of the waterway’s future as it celebrates 50 years in June.
“I see a changing use of the seaway but I see it being very useful and very valuable,” he said.
The conservation groups said the navigation industry must prepare for future challenges associated with the impacts of climate change.
“Do you call yourself healthy if after smoking for 50 years you have heart disease but not lung cancer?” asked Jennifer Nalbone, campaign director of Invasive Species and Navigation.
Caddick said the promises made when the Seaway opened have gone unfulfilled. The economic growth, jobs and population boom that were supposed to transform small shipping towns into world-class cities never happened. On top of this, she said, the environment has suffered for 50 years. The conservation groups singled out a comment by Terry Johnson, administrator of the Seaway Development Corporation. In an 2007 interview, Johnson said, “the environmental benefits of waterborne (travel) have been drowned out by the invasive species dialogue.”
The groups responded to the comment by noting that the issue of invasive species is “not a red herring.”
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News 10 Now:
http://news10now.com/default.aspx?ArID=136567
St. Lawrence Seaway turns 50, but environmental groups not in partying mood
Updated: 03/31/2009 05:22 AM
By: Brian Dwyer
CLAYTON, N.Y. -- Fifty years encompassing 50 nations. Two billion tons of cargo worth $300 billion.
From Montreal to Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence Seaway has been a major player in the world's economy. But the 50th anniversary doesn't have everyone in the partying mood.
"As the St. Lawrence Seaway begins their big celebrations they have planned in June and July, we also hope they're taking some time to look back at 50 years of environmental damage that's been caused," Save the River Executive Director Jennifer Caddick said.
Various groups, including Save the River and Great Lakes United, are asking that all shipping on the seaway be done in an alternative way, like barges, until U.S. and Canadian governments come together and implement environmentally safe laws.
They say 185 different invasive species have been found in the system since 1959 with one new one being found every 28 weeks. And damages are costing hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
The groups also see the climate change affecting water levels. Over the next 50 years, they expect lower levels, but have yet to see any vessels adapting. "From our perspective, the idea that we can physically mold a shallow freshwater ecosystem to fit shippers desires is antiquated," Great Lakes United Campaign Director Jennifer Nalbone said.
The groups are also concerned about the safety aspect of opening the season so early in the year. Unlike most years, ice won't be a problem because it's been gone for a few weeks now. But this year, they point to things like the navigational buoys in Clayton that are still docked instead of out in the water.
Officials with the Seaway System say ballast water inspections and operator compliance drastically increased in 2008 to 99 percent of ships and they are pushing for even more testing in the coming years.
International officials say closing or halting seaway traffic, which has been brought up by some groups, at least in idea form, isn't realistic and won't prevent future invasive species from entering the system .
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Cleveland Plain Dealer :
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/03/environmental_groups_say_50th_1.html
Environmental groups say 50th anniversary of Seaway opening no cause for cheering
Posted by mscott March 30, 2009 13:30PM
Tuesday marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway -- an entrance to the Great Lakes that makes it one of the most important international waterways in the world. Environmentalists, however, have decried the Seaway because it has also allowed hundreds of damaging aquatic invasive species into the lakes.
The St. Lawrence Seaway -- arguably one of the world's most vital economic waterways -- is also viral environmental pathway for damaging invasive aquatic species into the Great Lakes.
That's what a trio of international environmental groups said today in advance of Tuesday's annual re-opening of the Seaway -- a day in which officials in the United States and Canada will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the waterway's opening in 1959.
"They're still thinking of this fresh water resource as a highway and it's not," said Jennifer Caddick, executive director of Save the River, a New York state environmental advocacy group. "It's a living, breathing ecosystem which provides drinking water to millions and millions of people."
Caddick and officials with Great Lakes United and the National Wildlife Federation talked with journalists this morning, calling for the Seaway, shipping companies and even ports in Great Lakes cities to start working more collaboratively to stop future invaders from damaging the lakes as badly as species like sea lamprey, zebra and quagga mussels and Eurasion ruffe have already done.
All three groups -- part of a 90-member coalition -- in 2007 called for a temporary moratorium on ocean vessels entering the lakes until more stringent federal regulations can be put in place to completely stop new species from entering the lakes system.
Researchers have said that nearly 200 new aquatic species have been brought into the Great Lakes system via ocean-going vessels that have come from the Atlantic Ocean, through the Seaway and then into lakes Ontario, Erie and then into the upper Great Lakes.
But Seaway officials have pointed to a U.S. government report released earlier this month that showed an increase last year in the number of ballast tank inspections on those ships entering the Seaway and lakes.
The report found that 99 percent of all oceangoing ships bound for the Great Lakes Seaway System ports from outside U.S. or Canadian waters in 2008 received a ballast tank exam, compared with 74 percent in 2007 -- and that 98.6 percent of all ships were in compliance with ballast water management requirements.
"The new Seaway regulations, along with those of Transport Canada and the U.S. Coast Guard and best management practices, strengthen environmental oversight of oceangoing ships prior to entering the Seaway," Collister Johnson, administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation said in a news release. "This collective inspection regime is critical to preventing the further introduction of invasive species into the Great Lakes."
But environmentalists said this morning that stronger federal ballast water regulations are still needed in both the United States and Canada and that right now the regulations are a state-by-state patchwork that only confuses shipping companies and conservationists alike.
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