We The Nuclear Free North/Facebook Page
A new group against nuclear waste in Northwestern Ontario is voicing their concerns, ahead of the Nuclear Waste Management’s site selection for a geological repository.
Since 2010 the NWMO has been looking for a new site and has narrowed it down to the Ignace area and South Bruce.
“We are volunteers, we don’t have any funding. We’re a group of local environmentalists, Indigenous peoples, people from all different walks of life, who all have the same view of opposing transporting and burying of nuclear waste in our area,” said Charles Faust, a member of the newly launched group ‘We The Nuclear Free North’.
The group has mailed out nearly 30 thousand postcards to households, farms and businesses from Upsala to the Manitoba border outlining their concerns of hosting a repository in the northwest, with hopes engage and inform the public.
Faust explains their biggest concern is water contamination, as he says the NWMO’s proposed mining with-drawl area near Revell Lake is in the head waters of two major water sheds.
“The Wabigoon tertiary water shed which flows through Wabigoon River, into the English River and on into the Winnipeg River, as far away as Nelson River in Manitoba. The other side, is the Turtle River, which joins the Rainy River and flows into Lake of the Woods, then up into the same Winnipeg River, where they meet and on through Manitoba up into Nelson River into Hudson’s Bay. So, this is pretty serious if it (nuclear waste) ever does get through the ground water into the surface water, there are huge ramifications that we think people should know about.”
Faust says now is a critical time to get their message heard, as the NWMO hopes to have a site decision by 2023.
“We question, they (the NWMO) have not told us, what would determine whether a community is willing (to host a repository) or not and that’s a problem. If they’re talking to Ignace, 12 hundred people, is that enough to make a decision of this nature? We don’t think so. We need to broaden the conversation through all of Northwestern Ontario and even further.”
Faust adds this is not the first time he’s been involved in the fight against burying of nuclear waste, as he’s a current member of Environment North Thunder Bay and was previously on a committee in Red lake.
The group says they will continue meeting with people, keeping an open dialogue, with plans for petitions and other opportunities to reach people COVID-19 dependent.
‘We The Nuclear Free North’ also has a website and social media for those looking to learn more.
