nuclear-news

Background to  Proposed radioactive waste dump in Deep River -opposition from indigenous and non-indigenous groups

Gordon Edwards 11 Aug 23

A consortium of multinational corporations, headed by SNC-Lavalin, was hired by the government of Canada in 2015 to “reduce the liability” associated with federally owned radioactive wastes. The dollar value of that liability has been estimated to exceed $7 billion.

For the last 5 1/2 years, the consortium has been proposing to store the most voluminous waste in a “megadump” intended to hold about one million cubic metres of radioactive and nonradioactive toxic wastes in perpetuity. The proposed dump is essentially a landfill operation one kilometre from the Ottawa River, a heritage river that courses through the nation’s capital and feeds into the St Lawrence River at Montreal. 

The project is opposed by all but one of the 11 Algonquin communities on whose unsurrendered territory the megadump is to be sited. It is part of the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories site – land that was stolen from the Algonquin Nation in 1944. The federal government expropriated the site on national security grounds, required for the World War II Atomic Bomb Project, without asking or notifying or compensating the Algonquins for whom the site had cultural and religious significance for thousands of years.

On Thursday August 10, 2023, three Algonquin communities gave their final arguments to two members of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). Both of these Commissioners had previously worked for many years for the nuclear industry. The Algonquins were not allowed to present in person before the Commissioners, so they rented a hall for $8000 and had their own live audience to witness the proceedings as they made their presentations to the Commissioners by zoom.

In addition to Chiefs, elders, councillors, researchers and lawyers from three Algonquin communities – Kebaowek First Nation, Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, and Barriere Lake First Nation – there were in attendance members of several Algoquin communities, as well as many non-Indigenous people. The latter included representatives from federal parliamentarians, mayors of local communities, Ottawa city councillors, and representatives of the following Non-Governmental Organizations:

Ottawa Riverkeeper, Grennspace Alliance of Canada’s Capital, Ecology Ottawa, Ottawa River Institute, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, Canadian Environmental Law Association, The Atomic Photographers’ Guild, First United Church Water Care Allies, Old Fort William Cottagers’ Association, Ottawa Charter of the Council of Canadians, Sierra Club Canada Foundation, Pontiac Environmental Protection, Friends of the Earth, Ottawa Raging Grannies, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (Ottawa Valley), Biodiversity Conservancy International, Bonnechere River Watershed Project, Council of Canadians Regional, Coalition Against Nuclear Dumps on the Ottawa River, National Capital Peace Council.

Mony of the non-Indigenous representatives who came to hear the Algonquin Nations final arguments before the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) signed their names to the following statement:

“NO CONSENT, NO DUMP.      August 10, 2023″Today, CNSC conducts its final hearings on the planned ‘megadump’ at Chalk River – a gigantic mound of radioactive and non-radioactive toxic wastes, seven stories high, one kilometre from the Ottawa River. Most of the radionuclides to be dumped have half-lives of more than 5000 years. 99 percent of the initial radioactivity is from profit-making companies – waste that is imported for permanent disposal at public expense.

“Chalk River is sited on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin Nation. The Kebaowek and Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Algonquin communities do not consent to this radioactive and toxic dump, which is euphemistically called a Near Surface Disposal

Facility (NSDF).“We are non-Indigenous citizens. We do not presume to speak on behalf of Indigenous peoples, but as proud Canadians we wish to state clearly that if CNSC grants permission for the NSDF despite the lack of free, prior and informed consent from the Kebaowek and Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, it will be an act that dishonours all Canadians.

“We – and many others across Canada – regard such a decision as a blow to the process of reconciliation. It will set a dire precedent by suggesting that Indigenous consent is not a priority. Such a development could set back the cause of reconciliation for  generations.”[56 signatures by attendees]

August 13, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, indigenous issues, opposition to nuclear