Waterkeeper to Address Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission Tomorrow

Organization to provide comments on Cameco’s Vision 2010 proposal to nuclear

watchdog

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Lake Ontario Waterkeeper will be in Ottawa Thursday to address the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) on how the environmental assessment of Cameco’s ‘Vision 2010’ proposal for Port Hope should proceed.

Vision 2010 is a proposal to remediate historical contamination around the Cameco site, demolish old buildings on the property, and build new ones in their place. Tomorrow’s hearing at the CNSC will help inform the Commission’s recommendation to the Ministry of the Environment on whether the plan’s environmental assessment should be conducted by the government or left to the company to prepare.

Waterkeeper will submit that the plan must be overseen by a public body through through the panel review process. Already, the proposal has been raised several areas of concern that merit public scrutiny. This includes a failure to allow the community to engage in the discussion, and lack of consideration of how cleanup actions could actually release and create new environmental harm in the area.

As well, the proposal includes the construction of new buildings on the site, leading many to question whether this is really a decommissioning proposal, or in reality a refurbishment project. The Vision 2010 proposal is also linked to the Port Hope Area Initiative: a plan to transfer oversight duties of several Port Hope area radioactive waste sites to one new body. This transfer would include the Welcome Waste Management Facility, a site the Waterkeeper has asked the government to investigate for leaking radioactive waste into the surrounding area.

“When so much is at stake, environmental health and safety cannot be left in the hands of the proponent,” explains Waterkeeper and President Mark Mattson. “To ensure that community input is included, the process must be guided by the government.”

Lake Ontario Waterkeeper will make its formal presentation to the CNSC in Ottawa on Thursday, November 6th. The proceedings are open to the public, or can be viewed online at http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/commission/webcasts/

See the original press release here