Nuke dump critics urge city to object

A proposal to build a nuclear waste disposal facility upstream from the City of Ottawa could have council soon deciding if the municipality should oppose the project.

The planned “near surface disposal facility” at the Chalk River nuclear research site, about 200 kilometres west of Ottawa, has opponents calling on councillors to state the city's objection.

Coun. Theresa Kavanagh had been expected to ask council on Wednesday to oppose the project and add the City of Ottawa to a list of municipalities that have registered their protests.

However, Kavanagh said Monday she'll ask council to refer her motion to the environment committee and allow public delegates a chance to speak on the matter. The next meeting of the committee is scheduled for March 30.

The matter has the potential to attract several skeptical speakers concerned about the proximity of the proposed waste facility to the Ottawa River, which is the source of the City of Ottawa's drinking water.

“I look back on my years of taking my kids to the river to swim and how important the river is in Ottawa as part of our lifestyle, and it's the source of all of our drinking water,” said Eva Schacherl, a volunteer with the Ottawa chapter of the Council of Canadians.

“I want to know that we really look after the nuclear waste we've created, that we do it as safely as possible and away from our watershed.”

The project by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) would create an engineered disposal mound with room for one million cubic metres of solid “low-level” waste regulated by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

The waste would include contaminated soil, building fragments from demolition activity and personal protective equipment. The disposal facility would be in operation for 50 years and the mound would have a life of 550 years under the proposed design. The project includes a waste water collection and treatment system.

The Chalk River nuclear research facility has been operating for more than 70 years and has accumulated government-owned radioactive waste. CNL calls the disposal project “the right design for the job,” one that can withstand floods, earthquakes and wildlife intrusion.

CNL is the private-sector consortium led by SNC-Lavalin that operates the Chalk River site, which was identified as the most suitable location for a new disposal facility since 90 per cent of the waste is already located there.

The project launched in 2016 and is in an environmental assessment phase. Last month, the nuclear safety commission told CNL to provide more information about engagement with Indigenous groups.

Schacherl said it's time for the City of Ottawa, as the closest major city downstream, to weigh in on the project and comment on possible impacts to the drinking water.

The City of Gatineau signalled its opposition to the project in 2017, followed by mayors of Montreal-area municipalities in 2018.

Ottawa council's environment committee received an update last week on the city's drinking water protection program and Coun. Catherine McKenney asked staff about the potential impacts of the CNL's proposed disposal facility.

Tessa Di Iorio, a city risk management official and inspector, told the committee that the Chalk River nuclear laboratories are identified as a potential risk in the Mississippi Valley source protection plan and staff are keeping an eye on the disposal project.

The city does radiological monitoring of the water at the intake locations for the Britannia and Lemieux Island purification plants.

Di Iorio said the city provided some comments on the project “and we're monitoring the situation.”

The city's August 2017 letter to the nuclear safety commission identified four areas of interest.

The city supported in principle CNL's plan to have an engineered storage facility but raised questions about management of leachate, handling of stormwater and the emergency notification protocol.

(“In the past, the City of Ottawa has received notification of environmental discharges or spill events, but not consistently,” the city's letter said).

Ole Hendrickson, who has a doctorate in ecology and is a member of the Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area, said the chances of major accident causing a radioactive release is small, but the consequences are huge.

A site close to the Ottawa River just isn't a good location for a radioactive waste facility, he said.

“We don't want to turn the Ottawa River into a sewer for nuclear waste for the federal government,” Hendrickson said.