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Drowning Voices and Drowning Shoreline: A Riverside View of the Social and Ecological Impacts of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2008

Heather M. Cox ,
Brendan G. DeMelle ,
Glenn R. Harris ,
Christopher P. Lee  and
Laura K. Montondo
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Extract

The St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project was a massive restructuring of the St. Lawrence River bordering Canada and the United States. The river had always been used for human transportation, and a shipping canal for commercial vehicles was constructed and enhanced throughout the nineteenth century. However, the river grew increasingly incapable of handling an international fleet composed of larger boats during the twentieth century. Proposals to undertake major renovations for shipping were debated at the highest levels of policy for several decades. Finally, the St. Lawrence River was substantially altered during the 1950s. These changes created a Seaway able to accommodate vessels with deeper drafts and permitted the development of hydro-electric generating facilities through the construction of dikes and dams. All of this activity involved numerous agencies in the governments of the United States, Canada, the Iroquois Confederacy, New York, Ontario, other states and provinces, as well as commercial and industrial entities in the private sector.

Type
Research Article
Information
Rural History , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , October 1999 , pp. 235 - 257
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

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References

Notes

1. See, for example, Stephens, George Washington, The St. Lawrence Waterway Project (Montreal, 1930)Google Scholar; United States Department of Commerce, The St. Lawrence Survey, Part V: The St. Lawrence Seaway and Future Transportation Requirements (Washington 1941)Google Scholar; Willoughby, William R., The St. Lawrence Waterway: A Study in Politics and Diplomacy (Madison, 1961).Google Scholar

2. The common power dam is 3200 feet long and 167 feet high. Each power plant has 16 turbine/generator units, yielding a total of 912 MW: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Scoping Document 1 for Relicensing the St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project (FERC No. 2000–010) (Washington: FERC Office of Hydropower Licensing, April 1997), p. 11.Google Scholar

3. Most interviews were conducted with single individuals, even if other family members were present. In three cases, however, wives and husbands interjected responses to such a degree that it seemed unnecessary, if not inappropriate, to distinguish precisely who had said what. Consequently, no distinction between the two respondents was made for these three interviews.

4. Association of American Railroads, The Entering Wedge (Washington: Transportation Building, May 1953)Google Scholar; Association of American Railroads, The Great Delusion (Washington, October 1947), pp.20–26Google Scholar; New York State Conference in Opposition to the St. Lawrence Project, The St. Lawrence Project Affects You (NewYork, circa 1953).Google Scholar

5. Needham, Paul E., ‘The St. Lawrence Seaway-in Opposition’, North Country Life 2:1 (Winter 1948), 6–10.Google Scholar The Welland Canal, Chicago Drainage Canal, and New York State Barge Canal also resulted in total expenses two to three times initial estimates: Rochester Chamber of Commerce, The St. Lawrence Waterway and Power Project, Report of a Special Committee (Rochester, November 20, 1933), p. 52.Google Scholar

6. Rochester Chamber of Commerce, p. 53.

7. Murrow, Lacey V., ‘St. Lawrence Seaway Seen as Harmful to Essential Industries and a Hazard to National Defense’, Civil Engineering 20:3 (March 1950), 168–172.Google Scholar

8. ibid. p. 169.

9. Needham, p. 7.

10. National St. Lawrence Project Conference, Is There A Case for St. Lawrence Power? (Washington, January 1948), p. 4.Google Scholar

11. Murrow, p. 171.

12. ibid.

13. Baxter, R. R., Documents On the St. Lawrence Seaway (London, 1960), pp. 2–4.Google Scholar In 1951, it was announced that Canada was prepared to undertake the Seaway on its own, but the St. Lawrence Power Project would be a joint endeavor between the Province of Ontario and the State of New York. A proposal for the power project was approved by the International Joint Commission on October 29, 1952. Unhappy that the Seaway would become an entirely Canadian enterprise, the Congress of the United States then initiated passage of bills which resulted in the St. Lawrence Seaway Act, signed into law on May 13, 1954.

14. See, for example, Sussman, Gennifer, The St. Lawrence Seaway: History and Analysis of a Joint Water Highway (Montreal, 1978).Google Scholar

15. Mabee, Carleton, The Seaway Story (New York, 1961), p. 205.Google Scholar

16. Moses, Robert, Chapin, William S., and Moore, Thomas F. Jr., Land Acquisition on the American Side for the St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project (New York: Power Authority of the State of New York, July 18, 1955) p. 1.Google Scholar

17. Mabee, p. 205.

18. ‘Relocation of Villages is Gigantic Task’, Watertown Daily Times (February 27, 1956), p. 20Google Scholar; Jermyn, Chris, ‘Some St. Lawrence Seaway Communities 1959–1969’, Canadian Geographic Journal LXXIX, 5, 155–63 (November 1969).Google Scholar

19. ‘Hydro's Rehab Plans Unveiled at Iroquois’, (Cornwall, ) Daily Standard-Freeholder (June 28, 1958), p. 8.Google Scholar

20. ‘Much Unrest in Valley at Start of Project’, (Cornwall, ) Daily Standard-Freeholder (June 28, 1958), p. 10.Google Scholar

21. Mabee, Carlton, ‘Moving People for the Seaway’, The Clarkson Letter 15 (September-October 1960), 1–4Google Scholar; Mabee, , The Seaway Story, pp. 204–222.Google Scholar

22. Mabee, , The Seaway Story, pp. 204–205.Google Scholar

23. ‘250 Canadian Cottage Owners May Not Receive Pay for Sites’, The (Syracuse) Post-Standard (January 9, 1956).Google Scholar

24. ‘Say Agreement Reached for Relocating Cottages’, (Cornwall, ) Daily Standard-Freeholder (December 8, 1956), p. 12.Google Scholar

25. Moses, Chapin, and Moore, Jr., p. 3.

26. ibid.

27. ‘$300,000 Claim Case in Court’, Watertown Daily Times (January 21, 1958), p. 22.Google Scholar The house, barn, and other outbuildings were burned to make way for the construction of a new clubhouse: ‘112,890 Golf Club Going Up’, Massena Observer (June 5, 1958).Google Scholar

28. Tabu, Peter B., ‘Land Acquisition is Project Headache: “Confusion” is Decried by Owners’, Watertown Daily Times (August 22, 1955), p. 30.Google Scholar Taub editorialized that ‘In any undertaking of this nature, the band of – habitual gripers – is bound to make itself heard. In the case of land acquisition for the St. Lawrence project, observers may conclude that this faction is unusually large’.

29. Mabee, , The Seaway Story, p. 210.Google Scholar

30. Alice and Lowell Putney, Personal Interview, December 4, 1997.

31. Stuart Armstrong, Personal Interview, November 18, 1997.

32. Tucker Doelger, Personal Interview, December 8, 1997.

33. Tom Carroll, Personal Interview, December 1, 1997.

34. Hiram and Helen Badlam, Personal Interview, November 11, 1997; Hiram Badlam, Telephone Interview, February 27, 1998. Hiram Badlam explained that he leased a building for a gas station and automotive repair garage starting in 1952. He was given one year to vacate, and received no compensation for the burden of moving. He relocated his business to a new site and continued to operate it for 40 years.

35. Winnifred Veitch, Personal Interview, December 1, 1997.

36. Albert Russell, Personal Interview, December 10, 1997.

37. Badlam, Personal Interview.

38. ‘Moses Calls Power Firm $14,500,000 Suit Outrage’, Watertown Daily Times (April 24, 1958), p. 36Google Scholar; ‘Moses is Pledging Fight on Power Firm's Claim in Barnhart Land Issue’, Watertown Daily Times (April 28, 1958), p. 22Google Scholar; ‘Niagara Power Suit is Settled for $2,000,000’, Watertown Daily Times (August 8, 1958), p. 18.Google Scholar

39. ‘Indians Still Battling for Barnhart Rights’, The (Syracuse) Post-Standard (January 24, 1958).Google Scholar

40. Doelger, Personal Interview.

41. Veitch, Personal Interview.

42. Doelger, Personal Interview. Dan Cuglar, head of the Association, retained his home and 45 acres, while agreeing to sell 200 acres at a price of $112 per acre: ‘Agreement Reached on Cuglar Property’, Watertown Daily Times (February 8, 1958), p. 11.Google Scholar

43. Bob and Mary Ann Ritter, Personal Interview, November 18, 1997.

44. Frances Laflame, Personal Interview, December 12, 1997.

45. Elizabeth Philips, Personal Interview, November 18, 1997.

46. ‘Agreement in Land Expropriation by Power Authority is Reached’, The (Syracuse) Post-Standard (February 8, 1958), p. 16.Google Scholar

47. In addition to higher taxes to maintain facilities provided by NYPA, some interviewees expressed concern about the loss of taxable property due to land acquisition. In their opinion, this loss resulted in further tax increases on real estate that remained after the project was completed.

48. ‘Rule Against Massive Grave Relocation’, (Cornwall, ) Daily Standard-Freeholder (June 28, 1956), p. 3.Google Scholar

49. ‘Relocation of Cemetery Major Task’, (Cornwall, ) Daily Standard-Freeholder (June 28, 1958), p. 11.Google Scholar

50. ‘Odd Shaped Building Demolished’, (Cornwall, ) Daily Standard-Freeholder (June 28, 1958), p. 7.Google Scholar

51. ‘To Preserve Historic Homes’, (Cornwall, ) Daily Standard-Freeholder (June, 29, 1957), p. 22.Google Scholar

52. Olds, Carelton B., ‘Historic Waddington Island House Must Give Way to St. Lawrence Seaway Work’, Massena Observer (August 8, 1955), p. 5.Google Scholar

53. Charles Condlin, Personal Interview, November 17, 1997. Albany is the capital of New York State.

54. ‘One of North's Beauty Spots, Massena Weir, Will Disappear’, Watertown Daily Times (February 27, 1956), p. 23.Google Scholar

55. Armstrong, Personal Interview.

56. Durand, Loyal Jr., ‘The Historical and Economic Geography of Dairying in the North Country of New York State’, Geographical Review 57 (1967), 24–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

57. Putney, Personal Interview.

58. Owens, Jack, ‘Hard Task in Taming of Long Sault Rapids’, (Cornwall, ) Daily Standard-Freeholder (June 29, 1957), p. 2.Google Scholar Many interviewees recounted childhood memories of the rapids and how wonderful they were. One respondent recalled swimming down the rapids for the first time and ‘what a big deal that was’: Frances Reagan, Personal Interview, November 17, 1997. Another respondent recalled the rapids as a place for lovers: LaFlame, Personal Interview.

59. ‘North to Prosper from Seaway-Power Project’, Watertown Daily Times (May 10, 1954), p. 5.Google Scholar

60. Brior, John H., Taming of the Sault (Watertown, 1960), p. 45.Google Scholar

61. ‘Venice-Like City Proposed Along Power Project Area’, Watertown Daily Times (November 14, 1955), p. 18.Google Scholar

62. ‘Population Hike Guess For Ogdensburg Varies’, Watertown Daily Times (November 12, 1956), p. 5.Google Scholar This estimate was made by New York State Department of Public Works. Another estimate, made by the Ogdensburg Chamber of Commerce, projected that the population would reach 35,000 by 1960.

63. The population of Ogdensburg has continued to decline over subsequent years, standing at 13,521 in the 1990 census.

64. For an early account of failed expectations, see ‘Ogdensburg Still Awaits Boom’, Watertown Daily Times (June 30, 1958), p. 16.Google Scholar

65. ‘Seaway Provides Hope for Reviving Port of Ogdensburg’, Massena Observer (June 25, 1959)Google Scholar, sec. 3.

66. ‘Growing Pains Besetting Waddington; Lack of Boat Dock is Major Complaint’, Massena Observer (June 25, 1959)Google Scholar, sec. 4.

67. ibid.

68. Jack Smith, Personal Interview, December 8, 1997. Smith explained that some people sold their farms to go work on the Seaway and Power Project. When the project was completed, farmers had nothing to return to: neither farms nor other jobs. Another individual described how the project attracted a large number of contractors into the area, which bolstered local businesses, but that after the project was finished, everyone left and businesses suffered: Francis Dunn, Personal Interview, December 4, 1997. A third interviewee said specifically that ‘there used to be five bars on the main street in Waddington. The bars did real well during that time because of all the workers’: Doelger, Personal Interview. At the time of the interview with Doelger, only one bar was still open in Waddington.

69. Don Logan, Personal Interview, November 19, 1997. Logan observed that almost everyone was involved in some aspect of farming before the Seaway and Power Project was constructed. Twenty dairy farms existed in the vicinity of the village then; only two remain now.

70. Phillips, Personal Interview.

71. In May of 1997, Reynolds Metals Company employed 589 individuals, and 307 persons worked at General Motors Powertrain Division: Massena Economic Development Council, Massena, New York Community Profile (Massena, May 1997), p. 39.Google Scholar

72. Smith, Personal Interview.

73. Quig, L. F., ‘Useful Fishing Facts for Visiting Nimrod’, (Cornwall) Daily Standard-Freeholder (June 29, 1957), p. 10.Google Scholar

74. Mullin, Alex, ‘How Will the Seaway Plan Affect Your Fishing and Hunting?’ Forest and Outdoors 49:7, 6–7, 23 (July 3, 1953).Google Scholar

75. Russell, Personal Interview.

76. Mullin, p. 7.

77. ‘Thousands of Fish Taken From Dewatered Dam Area’ (Cornwall, ) Daily Standard-Freeholder (June 28, 1955), p. 9.Google Scholar

78. ‘Few Game Fish in Rapids Area’, (Cornwall, ) Daily Standard-Freeholder (June 29, 1957), p. 34.Google Scholar

79. ‘Creel Census of Yellow Pickerel Set’ (Cornwall, ) Daily Standard-Freeholder (June 29, 1957), p. 7.Google Scholar

80. Quig, pp. 10, 31.

81. Kelly, Chuck ‘Fishing on St. Lawrence Not Seriously Hurt by Seaway; Big Comeback Expected’, Massena Observer (June 25, 1959)Google Scholar, sec. 3.

82. Elizabeth, ‘Bessie’ Valois, Personal Interview, November 12, 1997.Google Scholar Most interviewees said they fished less frequently after the Seaway and Power Project was built. Moreover, they were less successful when they did go out. In the words of one respondent, ‘I do not fish as much as I used to. A lot of people that used to fish lost their favorite fishing holes. The whole river changed’: Robert Thompson, Personal Interview, November 13, 1997.

83. Floyd Gushea, Personal Interview, November 6, 1997.

84. Veitch, Personal Interview.

85. Phillips, Personal Interview. Mayor Phillips remembered four or five men, including her father, who ran profitable sturgeon lines in Waddington. The men received good prices for sturgeon eggs in New York City.

86. Ritter, Personal Interview.

87. Russell, Personal Interview. Russell specifically stated that ‘bass fishing has returned to almost the same as it was before, as has walleye’. He also noted how walleye have been stocked for the past nine years by the Ogdensburg Hunting and Fishing Club, whose members gathered eggs in the vicinity of Massena and then raised fish in four breeding pools that were part of a fish hatchery abandoned by the State of New York in the early 1950s. Albert Russell, Telephone Interview, March 27, 1998.

88. Taylor, Christopher, ‘Life of an American Eel is a Long and Winding Road from Sargasso Sea to St. Lawrence’, Watertown Daily Times (November 30, 1997), p. B6.Google Scholar American eels breed in the Sargasso Sea and migrate to the mouths of freshwater rivers along the North American and European coastlines. Here, females leave the males for extended journeys upstream, usually lasting approximately a decade. Upon returning to the Atlantic Ocean, females reunite with males for the return voyage to the Sargasso Sea.

89. Other possible causes of population decrease include (1) overfishing in Lake Ontario, where commercial fishing for the American eel is permitted by the Province of Ontario, (2) chemical contamination by persistant pollutants, although levels of these pollutants have diminished since the 1970s, and (3) climatic change affecting the oceanic Gulf Stream: Castonguay, M., Hodson, P. V., Couillard, C. M., Eckersley, M. J., Dutil, J. D., Verreault, G., ‘Why Is Recruitment of the American Eel, Anguilla rostrata, Declining in the St. Lawrence River and Gulf?’ Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 51 (1994), 479–488.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

90. Marcogliese, Lucian A., Casselman, John M., and Hodson, Peter V., ‘Dramatic Declines in Recruitment of American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) Entering Lake Ontario-Long-term Trends, Causes and Effects’, Plenary Presentation at the 3rd National Ecological Monitoring and Assesment Network Meeting (Saskatoon, January 22, 1997).Google Scholar

91. See, for example, Dunning, Dennis J., Tarby, Martin J., and Evans, Joseph T., ‘Technical Report D: Adult Fisheries Study’, Environmental Assessment of the FY 1979 Winter Navigation Demonstration on the St. Lawrence River (Syracuse: SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1978).Google Scholar These studies were conducted in preparation to extend the navigation season throughout the winter months. Eventually, the proposal to extend the season, by breaking ice during the winter, was abandoned due to a large number of issues raised during preparation of the environmental impact statement under the United States National Environmental Policy Act. Perhaps the best current summary of the ecological literature is The St. Lawrence River, Past and Present (Cortland: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1984).Google Scholar

92. ‘Valley's Plant Life Studied’, (Cornwall, ) Daily Standard-Freeholder (June 28, 1958), p. 5.Google Scholar

93. Dore, W. G., and Gillette, J. M., Botanical Survey of the St. Lawrence Seaway Area in Ontario (Ottawa: Canadian Department of Agriculture, 1955).Google Scholar

94. ‘Land Clearing Creates Confusion Among Birds’, Watertown Daily Times (April 29, 1957), p. 15.Google Scholar

95. Condlin, Jr., Personal Interview. At the same time, Condlin bemoaned the clearing of trees and shrubs along the shoreline because ‘there were no good places to hide and shoot the ducks’.

96. ‘Manure Not the Least of Power Job's Cares’, Watertown Daily Times (June 23, 1959), p. 17.Google Scholar

97. Mullin, p. 7.

98. LaFlame, Personal Interview.

99. Robert Casselman, Personal Interview, December 1, 1997.

100. Reagan, Personal Interview.

101. Marie Parmerter, Personal Interview, December 1, 1997; Phillips, Personal Interview.

102. Carson, Rachel, Silent Spring (Boston, 1962).Google Scholar For background on the passage and early implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act in the United States, see Liroff, Richard A., A National Policy for the Environment: NEPA and Its Aftermath (Bloomington, 1976).Google Scholar For an early evaluation of the comparative effectiveness of environmental impact assessment in Canada and the United States, see Hollick, Malcolm, ‘Who Should Prepare Environmental Impact Assessments?’ Environmental Management 8 (1984), 191–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

103. Doelger, Personal Interview. Another interviewee mentioned how he would like to see local schools, especially those in municipalities impacted by the Seaway and Power Project, devote a proportion of their curriculum to local history: Armstrong, Personal Interview. Armstrong commented that ‘if we teach the children, then maybe people won't forget what their communities have been through’.

104. Thompson, Personal Interview.

105. Russell, Personal Interview.

106. Rutherford ‘Doc’ Delmage, Personal Interview, November 6, 1997.

107. Russell, Personal Interview.