You won’t find a better friend to – or fiercer fighter for – the St. Lawrence River than Bea Schermerhorn of Hammond.
So we were not surprised when Bea copied us on a letter she sent to the Thousand Islands Sun.
Here ’tis:
There have been several articles about the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the St. Lawrence Seaway. As several have mentioned, the people of Northern New York were promised economic growth and cheap electricity, none of which happened. lnstead we got exotic species and an oil spill!
Yes, it was June 1976 when the worst fresh water oil spill on record to date occurred on the St. Lawrence.
The barge NEPCO and tug ran aground spilling over 300,000 gallons of crude oil in one of the most beautiful, fragile, ecological areas in the world.
ln the Chippewa Bay area one can still see the “bath tub” ring around island shores as well as the mainland. That spill contaminated more than 300 miles of island and mainland shore.
The Coast guard crew that came into the area for clean up was familiar with spills in tidal waters but not waters with a current. This problem slowed down the cleanup efforts and they ignored information from ”locals” about the currents.
The night of that spill, the stars were out in Massena and the up River area in the 1000 lslands had pea soup fog. lt was reported that the Captain of the Tug radioed Massena for permission to go to anchor but since it was clear in Massena, permission was not granted. The rest of the story is history.
Following the spill, a group of concerned citizens formed an organization called GASP (Group Against Seaway Pollution). William Hess, who was our legislator at the time, arranged several meetings with Seaway officials and local concerned people. lt was learned that 70% of the cargo moving on the Seaway at that time was toxic and if spilled could make the oil spill look like a holiday.
Through the effort of Mr. Hess and several local politicians as well as GASP members the Seaway agreed to locate a retired Tug and boom in the Chippewa area. William Schermerhorn offered dockage for the Tug, at no charge to the Seaway, as well as storage for boom. He also offered his services to pilot the Tug out where ever it might be needed, night or day, because the Seaway crew felt uncomfortable navigating in Chippewa Bay.
About that same time, Winter Navigation came on the radar screen. The Seaway planned to break ice and run ships all winter long. The damage that exercise would have done would be immeasurable. Bea Schermerhorn, a founding member of SAVE THE RIVER, an organization which mounted a successful fight to eventually see Winter Navigation put on the back burner, was put in the Seaway’s bad book!
Since Chippewa Bay area bore the brunt of the oil spill the Seaway punished the area by removing the Tug and boom from its Schermerhorn Landing location.
This is just a bit of history that probably will not be discussed at the birthday celebrations. In addition the Seaway could not pay the interest on its debt, so the interest was forgiven. Then they could not pay the principle so that was forgiven and it is now funded by U.5. Tax Payers.
Seaway decision makers, please factor into any future decisions that you make, the fact that this River is one of Mother Nature’s most marvelous creations and it is not yours to destroy.
- Bea Schermerhorn
