Fort William First Nation and Gull Bay First Nation are among a dozen regional Indigenous communities that are formally opposing a plan to transport spent nuclear-fuel rods to a potential underground storage facility near Ignace.
In a letter to Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) president Laurie Swami that was made public on Friday, the chiefs of the 12 communities collectively "cite the potential for spills or leaks that could happen on site, or while the waste is being transported through their communities, watersheds, air sheds, and lands they rely on for their way of life."
"They note that the waste will remain dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years, far longer than any human structure ever built."
The other 10 First Nations whose chiefs signed the letter to Swami are: Grassy Narrows First Nation, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (Big Trout Lake First Nation), Wapekeka First Nation, Neskantaga First Nation, Muskrat Dam First Nation, Ojibways of Onigaming, Wauzhushk Onigum Nation, Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg, Shoal Lake 40 First Nation and Gakijiwanong Anishinaabe Nation.
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization has maintained that the transportation of nuclear waste has a safe track record and that the nuclear fuel rods to be hauled — whether by rail or truck — will be in specialized containers designed to withstand hard impacts, fiery collisions and immersion in waterways.
The nuclear waste group, which is funded by the country's nuclear power industry, is to select sometime this year its preferred site for the underground storage facility among two remaining candidate areas: the one near Ignace, or another location in southwestern Ontario near an existing nuclear power plant.
An organization spokesman confirmed on Friday there is no specific timeline as to when the site selection will be made. The organization has said earlier that it won't locate the storage facility in areas where locals are opposed to it.
In their letter to Swami, the 12 First Nations said they hadn't been consulted about the transportation and storage plan.
Wendy O'Connor, a member of the We the Nuclear Free North citizen opposition group, said the chiefs' letter sends "a very clear message . . . voicing united opposition to the disposal and transport of highly radioactive nuclear waste in the North.
"Opposition to the (Nuclear Waste Management Organization's) dangerous proposal is growing daily," O'Connor added. "The North does not want this waste."
In July this year, just over 77 per cent of Ignace residents who took part in a vote said they would support having the underground storage site near their town, if that's the location the Nuclear Waste Management Organization chooses.
Carl Clutchey is a local Journalism Initiative reporter with the Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal
