In his 2009 monograph Pandora’s Locks, journalist Jeff
Alexander analyzes the effect of the opening of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence
Seaway on the ecosystem of the Great Lakes.[1]
He argues that while this project, which began in 1959, allowed the northern US
and southern Canada to shipping powers and therefore greatly aided the
economics of the region, it also caused irreparable and costly damage to the
ecosystems of the lakes and their surrounding landscapes. In fact, he argues
that the tide of invasive species that have been rapidly trickling into the
lakes amounts to an environmental disaster well beyond a large oil spill. After
all, chemicals can be cleaned up where it is virtually impossible to eradicate
healthy invaders without massive collateral damage to the native organisms.
Alexander begins his story with the opening of the Erie Canal, initially
opening in 1825. This was only the first in a series of projects which sought
to open this region up to economic activities. As the ships moved westward they
slowly carried foreign invaders from around the world like zebra and quagga
mussels, lampreys, Asiatic carp and alefish. Additionally, salmon was
intentionally introduced into the region, to replace the dying trout for
commercial fishers, but they too suffered from lack of resources. Additionally,
the filtering effect of the mussels cleared the water in many areas which
resulted in algae blooms and even more damage to the fish and bird populations.
It also resulted in the spread of many diseases such as botulism and E.coli in the animal populations but
which also pose a great risks to human populations. Throughout the text,
Alexander demonstrates times when active measures could have reduced or
prevented this damage, but due to cost, lack of foresight and lack of
organization meant that this never happened. He addresses the fact that these
measures are complicated by the global scope of the problems and the need for
international cooperation. Additionally, it is difficult for many to recognize
the lakes as unhealthy when the water is so clear and clean looking.
For
Alexander, it is clear that the Great Lakes are examples of Latour’s
“quasi-objects,” or hybrids of nature and society. This is especially the case
since for Latour, quasi-objects have been rapidly multiplying in more recent
history and for Alexander, the human impact on the lakes has been growing
exponentially in recent decades. His argument about the exponential damage that
humans are inflicting on the lakes also reflects Rebecca Solnit’s claim that
disasters have been growing in size and scale in recent history. Like Stephen
Pyne in his history of fire, he links environmental to social order. When the
environment of the lake suffers, the people living near it suffer also. This
hybridization of the history of water with the history of technology has been a
growing field in the last decade. In his recent paper on water history, Pete
Soppelsa fits Sarah Pritchard’s Confluence
and Chandra Mukerji’s Impossible
Engineering within the larger context of natural agents in human history.
This demonstrates that Alexander’s text is extremely timely and fits
theoretically and content-wise with modern historiography. His style is also
reminiscent of Joy Parr’s Sensing
Changes. Also a North American history, Parr interviewed many people
affected by environmental changes in various regions of Canada since the
1950’s. Like Parr, he grew extremely close to his subjects and makes an
impassioned plea for the livelihoods of the scientists, fishermen and residents
who rely on the lakes every day.
Alexander’s
book is very interesting for many reasons. First, as a journalist, he presents
a well-written and comprehensive account of the opening of the St. Lawrence
Seaway. He also makes the issue relevant for those not living in the Great
Lakes region. For example, he notes two Californian scientists who drowned
trying to clear quagga mussels from the sanitation system as these mussels from
the Caspian Sea continue to move west. He also uses an excellent variety of
sources ranging from personal interview to scientific journals, to government
archives which makes for very rich evidence. His style while extremely clear
and readable does occasionally tread on the alarmist. Though his point is clear
that the St. Lawrence Seaway is an ecological and essentially human disaster,
occasionally he adds unnecessary sensationalism. For example, early in the text
he discusses Marilyn Bell’s swim across Lake Ontario. He mainly focuses on Bell’s
almost crippling fear of lampreys which she overcame to finish her swim. He
creates a visual of vampiric lampreys attacking her as she swam, only revealing
at the end of narrative that the parasitic fish cannot puncture human flesh.
Additionally, his work implies that the Great Lakes had a single and stable
ecosystem until the start of the nineteenth century, when studies in ecology
suggest that environments do not have a single stable balance and never really
have. However, this is still an excellent and interesting book which highlights
many aspects of actor-network theory in modern history.
[1] Alexander,
Jeff. 2009. Pandora's locks:
the opening of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway. East Lansing, Mich:
Michigan State University Press.
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