The concept of dumping 57,000 tons of nuclear waste in the Bruce is a difficult one to comprehend. It is an idea so absurd, not only from an environmental point of view, but also from a historical perspective. Yet, this is one of the options that a federal agency is studying to dispose of the most dangerous and toxic material in the country. The proposal considers building an underground network of chambers (Deep Geological Repository or DGR) to store the nuclear waste under the Teeswater River near the town of South Bruce, Ontario. The Teeswater River is in the Great Lakes Basin and is a tributary of the Saugeen River that empties into Lake Huron. This fact alone could potentially put the drinking water of 40 million people at risk.
The proponents of the DGR maintain that this is a safe way to store nuclear waste, however accidents in at least three locations, prove otherwise. Seven years ago, an explosion in a drum containing radioactive waste in a repository in New Mexico, near the town of Carlsbad created conditions extremely critical to the nearby communities and the long term cost of this accident will be close to US $2 billion.
On the other hand, it is incredible to think that the proponents of this aberration have forgotten that the Niagara Escarpment, a geological marvel that runs through the Bruce, was designated by the UNESCO as one of eighteen Canadian World Biospheres Reserves. This globally significant designation implies a serious commitment from the people of Canada and its government to living and working in harmony with nature. Dumping the most dangerous and toxic material in the country here is certainly not working in harmony with nature. Also dumping nuclear waste in the Bruce is certainly in direct violation of the commitments taken by the Canadian people with UNESCO.
From a historical point of view, the Bruce Peninsula has a rich past as a natural resource zone. Wood, fishing and farming industries in the Bruce Peninsula have all flourished early in the past century. This is the rich legacy that the residents of the Peninsula truly treasure. The unique geological features of the Peninsula and adjoining regions, particularly the Niagara Escarpment have also bolstered the tourist industry to exceedingly high levels in recent times. All these aspects make the possibility of dumping nuclear waste in this location, a monumental setback in the social and economic development of the Bruce.
The idea of dumping nuclear waste here has triggered a heated debate for obvious reasons. The Mayor of Saugeen Shores, Mr. Luke Charbonneau, has indicated that he favors the DGR solution calling it “Settled Science”; the Mayor of Kincardine, Ms. Anne Eadie, also supports it, but Mayor Chris Peabody of Brockton (Bruce County) strongly opposes the idea.
The proponents of the DGR and its supporters seem to ignore the well reported accidents of nuclear repositories in other places as previously explained above. However, if that is the solution that the federal authorities are to follow, our opinion is that they should look for a non-inhabited site and far away removed from water basins that are the source of potable water to surrounding communities. It is extremely short-sighted to think that future generations may not have to deal with a possible disaster and billions of dollars in reconstruction, repairs and damage costs to communities and the impact on community members’ health.
Lake Huron is one of the Great Lakes which connect to many rivers and as well to Georgian Bay. It would be a crime to pollute such an essential natural water resource. A glaring example of the crucial requirement for water is the serious ongoing droughts and wildfires in western USA. Any accident within this DGR would massively reverberate throughout Ontario, Canada’s highest populated province. The risk is too high.
On a personal note, I do not believe that nuclear power is the path to follow in order to meet the Canadian commitments to reduce global warming. First of all, it is not a safe power producer. Three major nuclear meltdowns have occurred within recent memory: Three Mile Island in 1979, Chernobyl in 1986 and most recently Fukushima in 2011. In addition, the cost of installing a nuclear power plant is extremely high with a high carbon footprint required for the construction
Sincerely,
Tomas Ireland, M.Sc., P. Eng.
Miller Lake
