Since the Defense Department and even the CIA were also kept in the dark, the Lake-brokered "no instructions" decision amounted to a covert action, taken with as little regard for its pernicious long-term implications as for the "need-to-know" of other parts of the U.S. government.
Finding microbes in the frigid, dark waters of the lake could help scientists better understand the origins of life on our own planet and the potential environments in which it could arise on other planets.
Plying the waters of Lake Ontario after dark in boats laden with contraband cigarettes, freelance tobacco merchants became indistinguishable from the cocaine and marijuana smugglers with whom they shared the night.