The Seaway operates far below its capacity. Over the past 22 years, environmental, hunting, fishing, labour groups, states, municipalities, tribes, and a variety of other stakeholders have repeatedly fought back expansion proposals that would seek to allow wider, longer, and deeper vessels to enter and operate on the Great Lakes. The groups stood firm: the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River would not be degraded by the construction of larger locks, dredging, and the blasting of deeper channels in an effort to see an increase of traffic through the Seaway.

In November 2007, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Transport Canada released a 5-year binational study that backed away from physical expansion. After decades of promoting physical widening and deepening of the navigation locks, ports and channels, the authors instead outlined a host of needed repairs, modernization and maintenance throughout the navigation system.¹ In other words, we don’t need a bigger Seaway, we need a better Seaway. 

 Notes:

1     Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Study. Transport Canada et al. Fall 2007.