This editorial calls "radical" both enlarging the St. Lawrence Seaway to admit larger oceangoing ships and closing the Welland Canal to block invasive species, and calls for a middle ground. But the damage being done to the Great Lkaes by invaders is real and massive and potentially terminal to the ecosystem as we know it. And the shipping industry won't get serious until a deadline for cutoff of the Canal -- or deployment of a control technology close to 100% effective -- is issued. The region has got to get serious about this and this editorial is faint-hearted.
"Some distinguished voices are suggesting the only way to save the Great Lakes from future invasions of exotic destroyers is to bar the doors. This could come at a great cost to the Midwest economy. The alternative to doing nothing, though, seems just as daunting. Billions of dollars have been spent over the past decade to deal with the problems caused by zebra mussels and other exotic species."
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1105710304101440.xml
Posted by Dave at January 15, 2005 07:56 AM