This is an open letter copied to Huntsville Doppler
Dear President and CEO Laurie Swami, Nuclear Waste Management Organization
We are writing to inform you that our First Nations in Northern Ontario say ‘no’ to nuclear waste storage and transport in the North.
We are aware that you are proposing to set up a nuclear waste storage site near Ignace, Ontario. Nuclear waste storage will negatively impact all of us. Nuclear waste poses the potential for a spill or a leak that could happen on-site, or while the waste is being transported through, or near, our communities, our territories, our watersheds, and where our air comes from. This leak or spill would impact our air, our rivers and lands, causing incredible harm to our way of life, which is already threatened.
If and when the spill or leak occurs the harm will impact us for generations and our lands will never be the same. The material that you want to store there will be dangerous for longer than Canada has existed, longer than Europeans have been on Turtle Island, and many times longer than anything that human beings have ever built has lasted. How can you reliably claim that this extremely dangerous waste will safely be contained for hundreds of thousands of years? The burial of nuclear waste within the earth is against the teaching of our collective culture and goes against our beliefs and way of life. As well, the risk of a highway spill is almost a given with the condition of the Ignace highway where accidents and highway closures are happening frequently.
We have not given our consent and we do not accept this risk to our air, our water, our land and our people.
We are also informing you that our grassroots people and our First Nations are the collective rights holder on our Territories. National, provincial, and Treaty organizations have an important role, which we respect. However, only our First Nations can speak for our people, our land, and our water. You cannot talk to and correspond with anyone else in place of us. No one else can give consent in our place to activities, like nuclear waste storage, that risk grave harm to our people and our environment.
Our Nations have not been consulted, we have not given our consent, and we stand together in saying ‘no’ to the proposed nuclear waste storage site near Ignace. We call on you to respect our decision.
Please copy all those who are copied here on all correspondence on this matter. We are united,
Chief Rudy Turtle
Asubpeeschoseewagong Anishinabek
Chief Donny Morris
Kitchenuhmaykoosib Innnuwug
Deputy Chief Allan Brown on behalf of Chief Brennan Sainnawap
Wapekeka First Nation
Chief Chris Moonias
Neskantaga First Nation
Chief Charlie Beardy
Muskrat Dam First Nation
Chief Jeffrey Copenace Ojibways of Onigaming
Chief Chris Skead
Wauzhushk Onigum Nation
Chief Louis Kwissiwa
Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg
______________
Chief Michele Solomon Fort William First Nation
______________
Chief Carrie Atatise-Norwegian Gakijiwanong Anishinaabe Nation
_________________
Chief Redsky
Shoal Lake 40 First Nation
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David J Wood says
I live in South Bruce where the NWMO’s second possible site for nuclear waste may be. I believe our proximity to the Bruce Nuclear Power site makes it almost a given that with the rejection of First Nations North we are by default the chosen ones. On October 28 we hold a referendum to decide. I think with the millions of dollars already given to council it is a done deal.
I only hope that the Saugeen Ojibiway Nation take the same principled stand as the north and reject the threat nuclear waste brings to the waters of the Great Lakes.
BERNARD ZIELINSKI says
They sure are eager to reap the benefits that nuclear power provides.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
We need nuclear power as there is currently simply no other way to create the clean electricity we are going to need in the future.
Although promising, wind, solar, and large, grid size batteries are not yet able to fill the need.
Our big error is in simply disposing of nuclear “used” not “waste” fuel. After use in the current reactors only about 1% of the energy has been extracted from the fuel. Burying this whole set of fuel is extremely inefficient and the original concept for nuclear energy was based on the idea that this fuel would be recycled.
This recycling can be done now. It is a proven but unused technology. If we do this we will have only a tiny portion of the waste that actually needs to be disposed of by storage. We have safe technology to do this too.
It is true that the reprocessing facility is probably best not to locate in the downtown of a city just in case but if operated conscientiously in a suitable location (of which Canada has many) we can power our energy needs nearly forever into the future, at least until we come up with something better.
We need to look at this from a risk analysis and engineering view point. Politics and ancient native lore are simply failing to address our world needs going forward. There will be too many of us to worry about much of this historical niceness and sadly I don’t think people like Mr. Ford have a clue how to proceed to a satisfactory solution for all of us. They and most of our local government are working from a 100 year old play book which is no longer accurate and matched to our changing environmental reality. They simply don’t know how to do much but “follow the book”, and get re-elected and finally collect that gold pension.
This will not work.