Ontario NDP Calls On Province’s Environment Commissioner To Probe Risks Of Shipping Radioactive Scrap Through Lower Great Lakes

(In an effort to keep readers up to date on plans to ship radioactive-contaminated material through the lower Great Lakes, including the Welland Canal, Niagara At Large is posting the following letter from Ontario NDP environment critic Peter Tabuns, urging the province’s environment commissioner, Gord Miller, to prepare a special report on the risks such shipments may pose to the world’s most abundant supply of fresh water.)

February 16, 2011
Mr. Gord Miller
Environmental Commissioner of Ontario

Dear Commissioner,

I am writing to ask that your office prepare a special report on the environmental risks associated with the proposed transport of radioactive nuclear steam generators from Bruce Power’s plant in Kincardine across
Ontario’s roads to Owen Sound and then through the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway to Sweden for volume-reduction processing.

Ontario NDP environment critic Peter Tabuns

The Government of Ontario is actively supporting this project by allowing Ontario Power Generation, of which the province is the sole shareholder, to amend its agreement with Bruce Power in order to permit the transport of these 16 radioactive steam generators thousands of kilometres instead of following the previously agreed upon plan between OPG and Bruce Power (approved by a 2006 federal environmental assessment) to store the generators in a surface facility until 2043 and then in underground storage. In addition, the province is further supporting this project by providing permits through the Minister of Transportation for the transport of the steamgenerators on Ontario roads.
The plan to ship these radioactive generators overseas has not been subject to either a federal or provincial environmental assessment and hence the risks of the plan – and better alternatives – have not been considered.
A growing number of international experts argue that there are minimal public benefits to shipping the generators overseas whereas the project poses significant risks to Ontario’s drinking water supply, to the purity
of the international scrap metal supply, and to the Ontario environment more generally.

Over 200 cities bordering the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River have passed resolutions challenging the plan to ship the steam generators, which would exceed International Atomic Energy Agency regulations for the
maximum allowable amount of radioactivity allowed on a single ship.

The Government of Ontario could put a stop to this risky plan with a stroke of a pen. However, it has refused to acknowledge its role in the project or to examine the project’s environmental and health risks.

I urge you to pursue your mandate to protect Ontario’s environment by conducting a special report on the potential environment risks posed to the province should the Government of Ontario allow this shipment of
radioactive steam generators to take place on Ontario’s land and water.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
Peter Tabuns
Critic, Environment and Energy
Ontario’s NDP

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