Militarizing the Great Lakes

I was alerted to this last week by e-mail, but when I didn't write about it immediately, I kept forgetting to. It appears that the Coast Guard doesn't believe there's enough weapons activity on the Great Lakes. Don't worry, though--they've got a plan to remedy that.

After September 11, 2001, the Coast Guard decided that it needed to expand its armaments on its Great Lakes vessels to keep the nation safe against terrorists sailing against the upper Midwest from the north. Three years ago, the United States and Canada reinterpreted the Rush-Bagot Agreement of 1817, which had banned heavy cannons on vessels in the Great Lakes, to clarify that heavy machine guns weren't quite the same and would be allowed. The Coast Guard lost no time in arming their vessels, but then they realized that if they wanted to be prepared to use those armaments, they'd better be able to practice with them. So they did just that starting in January, in what they called "temporary safety zones." But in August, the Coast Guard felt it needed to establish 34 permanent safety zones where they could safely train as necessary.

That decision didn't go over quite as well. The announcement received more attention than had the previous reinterpretation of the Rush-Bagot Agreement, and it didn't go quite as smoothly on this side of the border or the other. When people on both sides of the border rose up in arms, the Coast Guard realized it had a PR issue on its hands.

Aside from the issues surrounding the militarization of the Great Lakes, one of the main arguments against the free-fire zones is an environmental one. If all went according to plan, the live fire zones might see 430,000 bullets fired each year, which would result in more lead being introduced into the lakes than what's released throughout the entire state of Michigan.

The Coast Guard knows it's got a problem. It's set up a Website to address the issue, and it's begun to hold public meetings on the issue. Public opposition has been strong enough that the Coast Guard has suspended the practice for the time being. There are still some more public meetings to come. If you're in the Chicago or Milwaukee area, you can attend a meeting on November 1. Unfortunately, the location of that meeting has alternately been identified as Gurnee or Waukegan. This press release, dated October 24, locates the meeting at The Genesee Theater at 203 North Genesee Street in Waukegan at 5:30 in the evening (with an open house beginning at 4:00). If you're interested in attending, you might call ahead, just to be sure.