In a letter to the editor published in today’s Globe and Mail, Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow writes:
“The statement that the move by New York State to tighten up rules on ballast flushing in the St. Lawrence Seaway could make commercial shipping ‘disappear’ from the Great Lakes is alarmist and misleading (Environmental Standoff Threatens Traffic On The Seaway – Feb. 7). Since the seaway was opened in 1959, over 185 invasive species have entered the lake in ballast from ocean-going vessels, many doing great damage to both native species and commercial activity. Canada has taken a weak position on fighting invasive species, putting commercial interests above the safety and integrity of the Great Lakes. Contrary to The Globe’s cheery prognosis, the Great Lakes are in serious trouble from over-extraction, toxic dumping, energy exploration, wetland loss, climate change and invasive species. New York State should be congratulated for setting the gold standard in ballast flushing rules.”
Maude’s letter to the editor can be read at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/letters-to-the-editor/feb-9-letters-to-the-editor/article1899650/page2/. The original article by John Ibbitson can be read at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/environmental-standoff-threatens-traffic-on-st-lawrence-seaway/article1896937/.
An October 2010 campaign blog additionally noted that the Associated Press reported, “Ballast discharges are blamed for the majority of invasions since the Seaway opened, including zebra mussels, quagga mussels, round gobies, spiny water fleas and, most recently, the bloody red shrimp. Ships take in ballast to steady less-than-full vessels on the high seas, and then that water – and whatever life is lurking in it – can get discharged as cargo is loaded at port. By 2006, a new species was being discovered in the lakes, on average, every 28 weeks, according to McGill University professor Anthony Ricciardi. Since then, the U.S. and Canada have begun requiring all overseas ships bound for the Great Lakes to flush their ballast tanks with mid-ocean saltwater in an attempt to kill or expel unwanted species. …(But) total sterilization is considered a technological impossibility at this point…” The Toronto Star reported in 2007 that, “a group of more than 90 U.S. environmental organizations want ocean-going tankers banned from entering the Great Lakes.” A Globe and Mail article on the 50th anniversary of the seaway notes, “the seaway has wreaked so much havoc on the world’s greatest supply of fresh water that some critics now propose that it be abandoned as a route for saltwater ships…”
That’s at http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=4897.
More on the threats to the Great Lakes that Maude notes at http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=3796.
