Nuke waste dump at Chalk River and Ottawa City . . . .

[Oscar]

Nuclear waste dump opponents press City of Ottawa to reject the upstream project at Chalk River

[ https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-ne ... halk-river ]

February 22, 2021

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 other municipalities which 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.”

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