Katharine Fletcher

Katharine Fletcher
Local Journalism Initiative

QUYON – Friends of Chats Falls is an organization dedicated to preserving lands surrounding the former Chats Rapids – an area immediately west of Quyon extending into Bristol, overlooking the Ottawa River. At the organization’s annual general meeting on June 26, held at the historic Egan Mill, MRC Pontiac Warden Jane Toller praised the group’s efforts as “critical work”. Attendees also explored the restored mill site—now being revived as a museum—and celebrated a year of archaeological discoveries and cultural preservation initiatives.

“The research and work the Friends have accomplished is critical so that the significance of the original falls is never forgotten. This story needs to be remembered. It played a huge role in the economic development of the timber trade in the Pontiac,” said Toller.

In 1846, Quyon’s “Dowd’s Mill” was erected alongside the Quyon River – but after several fires, today’s structure dates from 1906. It’s being rejuvenated as a museum by Isabelle Lajoie and Marc Bergeron. Recalling the site’s industrial history, they built a flour mill, where Bergeron assembled new Danish machinery. The couple aim to grind Pontiac-grown wheat and rye into flour.

After a tour led by Lajoie, everyone re-entered the heritage mill for the AGM.

President Deborah Powell conducted the meeting, with Vice-President Hope Cadieux standing in as Secretary and Treasurer Gabrielle Dupuis delivering the financial report.

The meeting’s highlight was Powell’s report of the annual archaeological dig at Quyon’s Pointe-Indienne. Students from Quyon’s Onslow Elementary School and École de la Vallée-des-Voyageurs, Gatineau’s Grande-Rivière High School, and Shawville’s Pontiac High School joined members of the public excavating the site under careful supervision. More digs are planned this year.

Funding for the Archéo-Pontiac project came from the Cultural Development Fund of the MRC des-Collines de l’Outaouais and Caisse Populaire Desjardins, the Municipality of Pontiac, and Société d’histoire de l’Outaouais.

Photos – Friends of Chats Falls President Deborah Powell delivers the 2024-2025 Activities Report at the organization’s AGM, June 26.  (KF)

Katharine Fletcher

Local Journalism Initiative

On July 10, approximately 100 demonstrators gathered outside the Supreme Court in Ottawa in support of Kebaowek First Nation’s (KFN) challenge of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s (CNSC) decision to license the construction of a nuclear waste dump at Chalk River, ON. The facility is expected contain up to a million cubic metres of radioactive waste.

KFN’s legal counsel, Robert Janes, KC, presented the case to Federal Justice Julie Blackhawk, demanding a judicial review of the approval, citing the Commission’s – and federal government’s – failure to uphold the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UNDRIP), which the federal government assented to in July, 2021. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories presented its case in support of the licensing the next day, on July 11.

In addition to members of the Council of Canadians and many other supporters, Pontiac residents Venetia Crawford (Pontiac Archives’ President) and her granddaughter; Deborah Powell (Pontiac Environmental Protection (PEP) President), Cathy Fox (PEP), and others joined the rally. A decision from the court is pending.

PHOTO: Protestors gathered at the Supreme Court in Ottawa in support of the Kebaowek’s challenge to the NSDF licensing, July 10. (KF)

Katharine Fletcher – Local Journalism Initiative

CHALK RIVER – Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) released a Community Information Bulletin on March 27 concerning a “recent” [no date] contaminated sewage spill from Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) into the Ottawa River.

“Recent results of routine sampling conducted on effluent (treated discharge) from the conventional Sanitary Sewage Treatment Facility (SSTF) at Chalk River Laboratories were non-compliant with requirements.”

This contaminated spill means CNL remains in the news regarding plans to construct a Near Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF) at Chalk River, which would hold one million tonnes of radioactive and other hazardous waste in an above-ground mound 1.2 km from the Ottawa River, 180 km north-west of Ottawa, on the CRL property. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s January 9 licensing of the NSDF triggered a legal challenge from Kebaowek First Nation, who remain actively opposed to its construction.

CNL’s bulletin was intended to reassure community members regarding the spill: “On discovery, CNL notified all relevant regulatory agencies and initiated an investigation to identify the cause of the disruption. A corrective action plan is underway to rectify the issue, including securing support from external agencies.”

Practically one month later, on April 24, CNL published “Update #1: Non-Compliance in Sewage Effluent” in which for the first time, they admitted the contaminated spillage occurred in February.

Kebaowek First Nations noted, “For two months, Chalk River Laboratories has been unlawfully releasing hazardous pollutants into the Ottawa River, posing a risk to the environment and public health.”

As indicated in their April 24 bulletin, CNL apparently still doesn’t fully comprehend what had occurred, requiring third party consultation. “CNL is taking extensive measures to fully understand what is leading to the non-compliance and to return the SSTF to normal operations,” it stated.

The bulletin explains the “extensive measures” include:

• Increased toxicity testing on SSTF effluent

• The procurement of third-party support to complete a toxicity evaluation on SSTF effluent and to review all facility operations

• A detailed review, as well as chemical analysis, on all SSTF influent and effluent

• The delivery of company-wide training on allowable releases to the SSTF and a communication campaign to support staff education

• A review of all known discharges to the SSTF to identify abnormal activities and the cessation of a routine release within one of CNL’s research laboratories

• Facility improvements to restore the necessary treatment process

“If Canadian Nuclear Laboratories can’t even handle ‘regular’ industrial waste, how can we trust them with safely managing radioactive waste that will pose a threat for millennia?” stated Kebaowek First Nation. Their opposition to the NSDF is supported by the Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, and Sierra Club Canada Foundation.

Dr. Ole Hendrickson, chair of the National Conservation Committee of the Sierra Club Canada Foundation, said: “The NSDF project includes a water treatment plant to remove some radioactive and hazardous substances leaching from the mound before they are released to Perch Lake and the Ottawa River. CNL’s inability to operate a sewage plant safely does not bode well for their ability to operate a radioactive waste treatment plant.”

As of press time, CNL’s director of corporate communications hadn’t responded to the Journal’s questions.

Photo – Kebaowek First Nation members rally against CNL’s NSDF facility on Parliament Hill, February 14. (KF)