EMILY HSUEH
OTTAWA Feb. 18, 2021
Nearly 100 people gathered on Zoom to attend a virtual town hall meeting on Feb. 18 regarding nuclear waste in the Ottawa River.
The presentation was hosted by the Council of Canadians’s Ottawa chapter and hosted three invited guest speakers. It featured Larissa Holman, the director of Science and Policy for the Ottawa Riverkeeper, Ole Hendrickson of the Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area and Barry Stemshorn of the Pontiac Environment Protection.
The meeting was . . .
by registration only, and was open to all questions in either French or English. It was organized due to a motion being brought up to Ottawa Council on Mar. 30, delayed from Feb. 24.
“A motion has been tabled with city council last week asking the city to oppose the Chalk River nuclear waste dump and the Rolphton reactor entombment,” moderator Eva Schacherl said to open the meeting. “Over 140 municipalities in the past three years have passed resolutions against these plants, so it’s time we feel for Ottawa to step up and respond to this issue.”
Schacherl then went over what would be discussed and introducing the speakers.
First, Larissa Holman spoke about how the Ottawa Riverkeeper is addressing the nuclear waste issues.
“Our main role is to be an advocate for the Ottawa River,” Holman said. “We work really hard to protect the Ottawa river and try to hold different authorities to account when different issues arise.”
She added that though they are mainly worried about the Ottawa River, their concerns extend to the entirety of Canada’s regulations.
“While there are a number of concerns that we have at the Chalk River site, we’re also very concerned about the fact that Canada lacks good regulations when it comes to nuclear waste, specifically non-fuel related waste,” she said. “What we are continuing to work on is to try and really pressure for as stronger policy around nuclear waste … so that non-fuel waste is properly regulated so we don’t get a repeat of what we’re seeing at the Chalk River site.”
Hendrickson took the podium next, diving into history of nuclear waste disposal and how the river has been affected. He explained that the land is owned by the federal government which created Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) as a subsidiary to Atomic Energy of Canada Limited.
“CNL is sending federally owned waste from across Canada to Chalk River under a strategy that has never been reviewed or proved by the government,” he said. “It wants to build a giant waste mill at Chalk River and wants to entomb two federal reactors in concrete.”
The waste site would be along Perch Creek, and according to Hendrickson, would hold a million tonnes of radioactive waste in a 18-metre high mound. Radioactively contaminated water would be run through a treatment plant and then discharged through a pipeline to Perch Lake.
“In our view, the mound project is badly flawed because it can only accommodate a tiny fraction for the government’s radioactive waste without violating international safety norms set by the International Atomic Energy Agency.”
Stemshorn spoke about waste policy and projects, government-contractor relationships and pro-industry bias. He described that some of the most significant ways the issues of nuclear waste dumping could be solved are government reforms and engaging opposition parties.
“I’ve sat in on cabinet committee discussions and believe me they have healthy debates. At the moment, the arrangement with the independent Canadian nuclear safety commission, their decision is final, there’s no cabinet review, end of story, it’s done. I question whether that is appropriate.”
The main issue with the dumping is the tritium contamination in the water. The radioactive isotope binds easily to living cells and causes damage, which can lead to higher rates of birth defects and other health issues, Schacherl said. Canada’s minimum tolerance is 10 times higher than the United States.
What the Council of Canadians hopes comes from the motion on Mar. 30 is for Ottawa council to:
- Oppose the Chalk River mound and Rolphton entombment
- Express the city’s opposition to federal ministers, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories
- Present the city’s opposition at the CNSC’s hearings
- Share council’s opposition with the Anishinabek Nation and municipalities
The group encouraged those who want to support the cause to call their local councillors and get involved with the Ottawa chapter of the Council of Canadians.
