First Nations

Sophie Kuijper Dickson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Residents and cottagers from the Pontiac traveled to Parliament Hill on Wednesday to join a rally against the nuclear waste disposal facility that has been approved for construction at the Chalk River nuclear research station.

The rally, led by Kebaowek First Nation, followed a news conference during which Kebaowek’s chief Lance Haymond called on the federal government to intervene in the construction of the “near-surface disposal facility” (NSDF), which would be used to dispose of up to one million cubic meters of nuclear waste about a kilometer from the Ottawa River.

Wednesday’s rally came on the heels of two groups filing for separate judicial reviews of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s Jan. 9 decision to approve the construction of the waste facility
The first was filed by Kebaowek First Nation, the second by a collection of three citizens’ groups.
“The little effort that we’re doing in terms of the legal challenge, we’re doing it not only for our future generations, we’re doing it for the non-Indigenous people, the 140 municipalities, the citizens of Canada who depend on the Ottawa River for drinking water,” Chief Lance Haymond said to the crowd of more than 100 people gathered around Parliament Hill’s Centennial Flame.

Deborah Powell, president of local volunteer-based group Pontiac Environmental Protection and resident of Norway Bay, was among the Pontiacers in attendance.
“I don’t venture out that often from our beautiful Pontiac but this is an issue that’s definitely near to our hearts,” Powell said.

“I think there’s some really strong points to be made about the safety aspects of this,” she added, noting doubts about whether the proponent’s claim that only low-level radioactive waste would be disposed of in the facility was actually accurate.

“We feel increasingly powerless in the face of big commissions and experts. All I can do is give my presence here, just one other person, and feel that I am trying to do something,” Powell concluded.
Bryson resident Cathy Fox was also at the rally, with home-made signs in hand.
“This has concerned me because we live right on the river and we get our drinking water, as a town, right from the river,” Fox said, citing her concern for the possible presence of tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen that binds with water and is very difficult to remove using the proponent’s suggested wastewater treatment system.

“It seems absolutely unconscionable to me to put a landfill where we have seismic action,” said Quyon resident Katharine Fletcher, also on the Hill. “I think it’s really important to voice our objections to that.”

First Nations, allies urge Ottawa to intervene in NSDF decision

Haymond was supported by Indigenous leaders from across the Ottawa River watershed, as well as federal MPs from the Bloc Québecois and the Green Party.
Also Wednesday, Pontiac’s Liberal MP Sophie Chatel released an official statement detailing her stance on the NSDF approval.

“The Commission concluded that the design of the waste management facility project is robust, supported by a strong safety case, able to meet its required design life, and sufficient to withstand severe weather events, seismic activity, and the effects of climate change,” the statement read.
While it was not clear from the statement whether MP Chatel supports this decision, the statement did highlight her support for the position held by the Ottawa River Keeper, a non-profit conservation organization that hired experts to conduct an in-depth study of the proposed NSDF, specifically the wastewater treatment plan.

Larissa Holman, science and policy director for the Ottawa River Keeper, articulated this position at the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development on Feb. 13, answering a question from MP Chate
“One of the big concerns [we have] is how is the waste going to be identified and placed into the near-surface disposal facility,” Holman said.
“One of the recommendations we had made was to have an additional treatment for the waste water. Chalk River . . . [has] gone with a system that is considered adequate but it’s not necessarily able to treat the waste in an efficient and effective way, should the waste not meet their projections,” Holman concluded.

Federal Court called to review decision

Last week Kebaowek filed for judicial review of the CNSC’s decision to grant proponent Canadian Nuclear Laboratories a license to build the waste facility.
The First Nation did so on the grounds that it had not been adequately consulted before the facility was approved.

“The consultation process was flawed from the outset,” reads Kebaowek’s application to the court. “It was not procedurally fair and did not consider the UN Declaration, Canada’s UNDRIP Implementation Act, or how these instruments might affect the depth and scope of consultation.”
CNSC’s record of decision states that because UNDRIP is not yet law, the commission is not empowered to determine how to implement it and must instead be guided by current consultation law.
Kebawoek’s application, however, makes the case that CNSC did indeed have power to interpret and apply the UNDRIP to the question of whether First Nations had been adequately consulted, and so failed to honour several components of the declaration, notably article 29.
Article 29.2 says “States shall take effective measures to ensure that no storage or disposal of hazardous materials shall take place in the lands or territories of Indigenous peoples without their free, prior and informed consent.”

A second application for judicial review of CNSC’s decision was filed by three groups of concerned citizens, the Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area, Ralliement contre la pollution radioactive and the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility.
The application cites concerns with environmental and health effects related to radiation doses, the proponent’s history of waste classification, as well as concerns with its proposed waste acceptance criteria.