On Feb. 16 three Members of Parliament and 50 environmental and citizen groups signed a statement opposing the upcoming Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s (CNSC) hearing to license a near-surface disposal facility (NSDF) in Chalk River.

The statement calls for the suspension of the upcoming hearing for the construction of the NSDF for nuclear waste on unceded Algonquin Anishinaabeg lands alongside the Ottawa River.

It was signed by three MPs–Laurel Collins, NDP environment critic; Elizabeth May, Parliamentary Leader of the Green Party of Canada; and Monique Pauzé, environment spokesperson for the Bloc Québécois, as well as organizations such as Friends of the Earth, National Council of Women of Canada, Ontario Clean Air Alliance, and Quebec’s Front commun pour la transition énergétique. Ottawa Valley groups include Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area, Old Fort William Cottagers’ Association, and Pontiac Environmental Protection.

The proposed facility would be an aboveground 60-foot-high mound for one million cubic meters of nuclear waste, located one kilometre from the Ottawa River, upstream from Ottawa and Montréal. The mound would be directly across from the Municipality of Sheenboro, on the Chalk River Laboratories property of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL).

If the facility leaks and over time disintegrates, radioactive and other wastes will contaminate groundwater, wetlands and the Ottawa River. The source of drinking water for millions of people, the National Capital and the metropolitan community of Montreal, as noted in the statement.

The statement calls on the Government of Canada to pause the licensing hearings for the NSDF. Community members also proposed to set up an independent body to address Canada’s radioactive waste problems in ways that are socially acceptable and will not compromise the safety of future generations.

The statement underlined that all the MPs and groups who signed it stand with the Kebaowek First Nation who have asked that the hearings be halted until a consultation framework between them and the CNSC is in place.

“This has been a longstanding request from Kebaowek First Nation, and it remains outstanding. Reconciliation and meaningful dialogue must be a starting point for any government decision affecting Indigenous lands and rights,” said in the statement.

Chief Lance Haymond of Kebaowek First Nation highlighted in a Jan. 31 press release that there has been a lack of meaningful consultation from the CNSC with the First Nation communities and that they have been left out of the conversation since the review of the project began in 2016.

“The CNSC as yet has not discharged its duty to consult nor undertake consultation with Kebaowek before deciding to proceed with the licensing and environmental assessment (EA) hearing for the NSDF,” he said.

In light of the concerns raised by the Kebaowek First Nation in terms of not being properly consulted on the matter of building the NSDF on unneeded land, and with the support they are receiving on this issue from three other federal MPs and many civil society groups, The Equity asked Pontiac MP Sophie Chatel if she agreed to postpone the hearings until the matter in Chalk River can be properly resolved.

“I am aware of the many issues surrounding the proposed near-surface disposal facility in Chalk River. Since being elected in September of 2021, I have met with several stakeholders including executives at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and department leaders,” she said in an email response.

She added that over the next few months she is planning to continue having discussions with key stakeholders, including the constituents from the municipalities along the Ottawa River, and read all the documentation in relation to “this important issue for Pontiac.”

Chatel expressed that, “as a Member of Parliament my primary objective is to ensure the safety of the residents of my riding and of all Canadians, and ensure due diligence is exercised by our government throughout the legislative and regulatory process.”

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development began a review of the governance of nuclear waste in Canada and its impacts on the environment. In addition, an audit on nuclear waste management is currently underway by the Auditor General of Canada.

The report is expected to look into nuclear waste management, and could propose a better way of addressing the $16 billion waste liability that’s been created, such as looking at doing a proper assessment of alternative sites and alternative technologies, as explained by Ole Hendrickson in a Feb. 9 interview with THE EQUITY.

Nuclear waste site needs to be moved away from the river say Pontiac residents

140 municipalities have opposed the project and are concerned about the contamination of their drinking water and the watershed.

“It’s not incidental. It’s not a little trifle.” Carl Hager a concerned citizen told THE EQUITY “The worry about nuclear radiation polluting our earth, our water, our plants, our air, that worry is a genuine worry. It’s insidious, it creeps into everything,” he emphasized.

Local residents spoke up and many agreed on one major aspect, that the facility is dangerously close to the river and it needs to move far away to avoid leakage into the Ottawa River for generations to come.

Hager, who has lived on the river for over 30 years, just east of Quyon noted that he is worried about the radiation poisoning, referring to it as “insidious.”

“It’s not like a piece of dirt in the river, you can clean out. It seeps into the land and seeps into the plants, it gets into the animals, into the air we breathe. So you can’t grab it and say, ‘Oh, I got it, I’m gonna clean it,’” Hager explained.

In 2015, ownership of CNL was transferred from AECL to SNC-Lavalin and Texas-based Fluor and Jacobs through a 10-year, multi-billion-dollar contract. Due to that partnership, Hager noted that the nature of the consultation process and the notion that it is not an independent commission review leaves him to believe it is not genuine.

He feels that he is left with more questions than answers around issues of maintenance and what sort of material is going to be dumped at the waste site in the coming years.

President of Pontiac Environment Protection, Deborah Powell expressed that although nuclear power is not new, organizations have a way of making it sound so good, but seem to be unsure of how to dispose of wastes. A long-time resident of Pontiac, Powell has lived downriver from Chalk River for almost 20 years.

“We’re not good at looking ahead, and we’re not good at paying attention to our garbage and the fact that it’s only now that they’re even looking for the deep geological repository site.”

Although it is not happening in Pontiac’s backyard per se, Powell explained that the Pontiac still shares a river, and folks should be concerned. “I just think it’s important, although not everybody can take the time to stand up and ask questions, it is important to support the people who are doing that,” she said.

Powell recalled that, in 2017, CNL held multiple information sessions, and although there is still a lot to be improved in the proposal, she said, “there have actually been improvements made to the plan for the new surface disposal facility, which is good. But, I mean, what we’re saying now is, it’s not good enough, it’s still close to the river.”

Some days are harder than others, and at times it may feel discouraging, pointed out Powell, but even then, she added, citizen groups have had a positive impact on the whole process.

Sheenboro resident, Martin Flood, a retired public servant, who is outspoken on the issue started getting involved after the information sessions by CNL back in 2017.

During those sessions, Flood said he was met with more confusion rather than answers, said that CNL aired on the side of providing very general statements.

Flood echos the sentiment, to postpone the hearing after the Auditor General conducts his study that might better inform the CNSC’s decision.

“No one denies that something has to be done about nuclear waste, but how they’re going about it defies common sense,” he stated.

The CNSC has scheduled licensing hearings on February 22 and May 31. No separate environmental assessment hearing is scheduled.

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